Wayne Rooney reveals the country he came 'close' to playing for instead of England as Man Utd and Three Lions legend admits call-up mistake changed his mind

In a surprising revelation, Manchester United legend Rooney admitted he came close to representing the Republic of Ireland at international level after talking with Everton team-mate Lee Carsley. The former England striker, who has Irish heritage, almost donned the green jersey as a teenager as he looked to make the jump into the international game.

Rooney burst onto the scene as a teenager at Everton, stunning the world with a brilliant, late goal to beat Arsenal when he was just 16. His prodigious talent attracted interest from the Republic of Ireland, but he would ultimately go on to become a legend for England after making his debut against Australia aged just 17 in 2003. This made him the Three Lions' youngest ever player at the time, while he would also go on to become his country's all-time leading scorer with 53 goals until Harry Kane surpassed his record in 2023.

Asked which country other than England he would've represented on the latest episode of Stick to Football, Rooney said: "Mine would be Ireland. I spoke to Lee Carsley, and he spoke to Mick [McCarthy] and I was close to doing it and then, they called me up for Ireland U21s.

"I was like, 'I'm not playing for Ireland U21s'. It obviously never happened, and I went to play for England. I would have probably went [and played for Ireland if they put me in the first team]."

Rooney is England's most-capped outfield player of all time, having played for his country 120 times before retiring from international duty back in 2018. He is second on the list of all-time Three Lions goalscorers behind Kane, but is still the youngest player to ever score for the Three Lions having netted against Macedonia when he was just 17.