From Kane to Rice and Grealish - the incredible team Ireland could have had

Most notable will be Crystal Palace's Wilfried Zaha, now playing for the African nation, and Declan Rice.

Rice featured three times for the Republic of Ireland senior side before swapping for the Three Lions.

It has certainly created plenty of debate on talkSPORT and Simon Jordan had his own forthright views on the matter.

"I believe that if you make an international appearance, a full cap for your country, then you are in," he said on White and Jordan.

"Then it becomes about your performances that determine if you will be an International become forward.

"We need to value the absolute prestige and privilege you have for choosing to play for a country.

"While the try and buy mentality has some merit, I don't think once you've had that phenomenal privilege to play for your country, amongst the list of 1200 or 1300 people who have had the privilege to pick up a cap. That is you locked in."

Using Rice as an example, Ireland is an intriguing case as plenty of International stars qualified for the country, with many playing at youth level, before deciding to play elsewhere.

Here at talkSPORT.com, we've taken a look at the XI they could have fielded.

Goalkeeper - Alex McCarthy

Southampton goalkeeper McCarthy made his one and only appearance for England in 2018 as a half-time substitute in a friendly against USA.

According to Football Manager, he qualifies to play for Ireland and in theory could still play for the country.

Defence: Harry Maguire, Ethan Ampadu, Conor Coady

Manchester United captain Maguire has Irish grandparents and could have represented both Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland.

He instead chose England and has gone on to earn 41 caps, featuring in the brilliant runs to the World Cup semi-final in 2018 and the Euro 2020 final.

Wolves defender Coady is another who qualifies for Ireland through a grandparent, but it seems a career away from England was never on the cards.

He has been on the fringes of the Three Lions team for some time and may have had many more if he'd have chosen the Emerald Isle.

Ampadu's father, Kwame, is the former Arsenal and West Brom midfielder who grew up in Dublin and represented Ireland at Under-21 level.

Ethan, who is still with Chelsea, qualified to play for Wales, England, Ireland and Ghana. He chose Wales and has been a key member of their squad.

Midfield: Jack Grealish, Conor Gallagher, Kalvin Phillips, Declan Rice, Nathan Redmond

West Ham star Rice had grandparents from Cork and initially made his international debut for Ireland, featuring three times.

As they were getting ready to build their team around him, he announced a switch to England and played in all seven matches at Euro 2020.

Rice and England teammate Phillips were rocks at the heart of the England midfield last summer, but they could have lined-up together for Ireland.

His mother has roots in Ireland, but they never came calling and he has gone on to star for the Three Lions.

Man City star Grealish represented Ireland at youth level, qualifying on both paternal and maternal sides, but switched to England at Under-21 level.

Gallagher has been a star for Crystal Palace this season, while on loan from Chelsea, and was rewarded with his first England cap against San Marino before playing against Switzerland at the weekend.

He qualifies for both Ireland and Scotland, but always chose England at youth level.

Redmond made his England debut in a friendly in 2017, but has also been on the radar for the Republic of Ireland.

As recently as 2019 Mick McCarthy tried to recruit him, but later had to accept that he would not switch allegiances from England.

Strikers: Patrick Bamford, Harry Kane

Kane will likely break Wayne Rooney's England record, and is just four away from matching it, but things could have worked out a lot differently.

The Tottenham striker qualifies for Ireland through his father, who is originally from Galway.

Leeds star Bamford has a grandparent from Ireland and there was plenty of speculation that he could represent the country one day.

But that was effectively ended when he received his first call-up in 2021, making his debut in a World Cup qualifier.

How Republic of Ireland could have looked