Spain’s Aymeric Laporte will line up against the country of his birth in Tuesday’s 2026 World Cup semifinal against France, although in a parallel universe he could have been joined in the Spanish defense by two other French-born stars who will instead be lining up for the opposition in Dallas.

Brothers Lucas and Théo Hernandez were born in Marseille, France’s second-largest city, but moved to Madrid as young children after their father, former footballer Jean-François Hernandez, signed for Rayo Vallecano in 1998.

Hernandez Sr. finished his career in the Spanish capital, and the siblings remained there, beginning their own professional journeys with Atlético Madrid, where their father also had a brief spell.

“I feel Spanish”

The brothers represented France at youth level, but both briefly flirted with the idea of switching allegiance to the country where they had grown up.

In early 2018, Lucas Hernandez, the elder of the two, addressed his international future in an interview with Spanish state broadcaster RTVE, saying, “I feel Spanish, Spain has given me everything. If I’m called up, I’ll go. I am an ambitious player. I have no news from France and it makes you think about things.”

However, the defender, now 30, later backtracked after receiving a call from France head coach Didier Deschamps.

“When I say that Spain gave me everything, personally and professionally, it’s true,” Hernandez admitted in a postgame press conference after making his France debut in March 2018.

“I studied there, made my career as a footballer. When I say that I speak better Spanish, that’s also true. When you don’t practise a language for a while, you lose the accent a little, you can hear it. But this doesn’t stop my country from being France. Some words were misunderstood, but at no time did I want to say that my country was Spain and not France. It is the opposite.”

Hernandez quickly established himself in the French defense, playing an important role at left back as Les Bleus won their second World Cup in Russia in 2018.

Théo follows Lucas’ path

Brother Théo, who is 20 months younger, had similar thoughts early in his career. After representing France from the U18 through U20 levels, Hernandez was overlooked by the U21 team and later turned down the opportunity to join the squad after eventually being called up.

“I am not closing the door to playing for Spain but it’s now been two call-ups when the France U21 side hasn’t called me up and it’s driving me crazy,” Hernandez told AS in the midst of his dilemma.

“If they continue to omit me, I will look at other options.”

Unlike Lucas, Théo reportedly began the process of obtaining a Spanish passport, but ultimately changed his mind and committed to the country of his birth.

“I made this decision in the last few years, what happened before is history, it was a youthful mistake,” Hernandez told L’Équipe of his threat to declare for Spain. “If Deschamps calls me up, I will go.”

Deschamps did call the defender up for the first time in April 2018, a month after his brother, although he had to wait almost three and a half years to make his debut in a 2022 World Cup qualifier in September 2021.

Hernandez brothers unlikely to face Spain

Both brothers were in France’s squads for the 2022 World Cup and again this year. Lucas has earned 42 caps to date, while his younger brother has 47, although neither is currently first choice in defense.

Théo Hernandez started France’s first and last group-stage matches of the 2026 World Cup against Senegal and Norway but has since lost his place at left back to Lucas Digne. Lucas Hernandez has yet to play a single minute in this year’s tournament.

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