How many brothers have played together in MLS?

Like all sports, soccer can be very much a family affair at times with fathers, mothers, sons and daughters all getting involved - occasionally at the same time. Many siblings will have played together since childhood and a fortunate few might make the grade and turn professional. An even smaller number will be from the same family, carving out their playing careers at the same time.

Famous soccer siblings

Over the years there have been many famous football brothers - Michael and Brian Laudrup, Ronald and Frank De Boer, Filippo and Simone Inzaghi, the Neville brothers at Man United and Athletic Club’s Iñaki and Nico Williams. All of them made, or are still making their mark in Europe’s top leagues but there are examples in MLS too.

This week Cavan Sullivan came on as a late sub for the Philadelphia Union in Wednesday’s home game against the New England Revolution to become the youngest player to debut in Major League Soccer and also join a small but growing list of brothers who have played alongside each other in the league.

In total, 19 siblings have played a game together, at the same time, for the same team in MLS. Curiously, the list includes Union coach Jim Curtin, who brought on the Sullivans for the final minutes of last night’s match. He was part of Dave Sarachan’s Chicago Fire with his brother Jeff, also a defender, back in 2007.

Before the Sullivans’ joint appearance for the Union last night, the previous case involved the Higuaín brothers, Federico and Gonzalo who did it with two different teams. They were on the pitch together in two games when they were both on the books at River Plate in 2005 and were reunited at Inter Miami when Federico joined the Herons from DC United in October 2020. The brothers made their first joint appearance in the 1-1 draw against Atlanta United on 14 October 2020 - Gonzalo in the starting XI and Federico coming off the bench.

The Higuaíns, MLS’ Argentine hermanos

That was the first of 25 games in which the Higuaín brothers starred together for Miami. They both appeared in the starting XI for the first time in the 2-3 win over Cincinnati in May 2021, Federico playing in the hole just behind his younger brother and providing the assist for the first of Gonzalo’s two goals in the game.

Federico and Gonzalo started a total of seven games together during their time at Inter Miami with the crowning moment for the family coming on 23 October 2021 when both brothers ended on the scoresheet - Fede opening the scoring in the 5-1 win over Cincinnati then supplying his brother Gonzalo to score the team’s second after the break.

Before them, the Chará brothers, Yimmi and Diego, played together with the Portland Timbers. They took had already played for the same team earlier in their respective careers in Colombia with Deportes Tolima. They both featured in the starting line-up in the 1-3 home defeat to Minnesota in February 2020 - the first of 96 games in which they were both on the pitch at the same time for Portland.

Other well-known brothers who have played together in MLS include Chicago Fire’s Gabriel and Nicholas Slonina and Seattle’s Cristian and Alex Roldan. The first brothers to star together in an MLS match were Chris and Sean Henderson, who lined up together in the Colorado Rapids midfield in the 1-0 defeat to San Jose Clash in August 1996.

And worthy of a special mention are the Dos Santos brothers Giovani and Jonathan, who played together 66 times both at club and international level. They coincided at LA Galaxy for two seasons from 2017-2018, playing a total of 22 MLS games together, having previously starred for Villarreal and Mexico’s national team.