One Photo That Perfectly Sums Up FIFA's Flexible Nationality Rules For The World Cup

The question of nationality at the World Cup took another bizarre turn as Germany faced Ghana in the World Cup. During the match, brothers Jerome Boateng of Germany and Kevin-Prince Boateng of Ghana played for opposing sides and even battled each other at times.

This led to this amazing photo of two brothers battling for opposing countries at the World Cup.

This is actually the second time the two brothers have faced each other in the World Cup, having also done so in 2010.

Despite growing up in Germany and playing for Germany at the youth level, Kevin-Prince chose to play for Ghana during the 2010 World Cup when he was passed over by the German national team. The Boateng's father is Ghanaian.

The move was allowed because FIFA had recently removed the age limit for switching nationalities if the player had represented one country at the youth level. Kevin-Prince was 23 at the time.

It is no secret that FIFA's nationality rules combined with the flexibility in citizenship rules for star soccer players around the world creates some interesting situations in deciding who can represent which countries at the World Cup.

Diego Costa is a Brazilian who now represents Spain in the World Cup. Likewise, five of the 23 players on the U.S. national team are German, with four being born to fathers who were American servicemen stationed in Germany.

But all of that is less strange than seeing two brothers play for opposing countries.