Emanuele Giaccherini, John O'Shea and Sebastian Larsson all started for their countries in the first round of fixtures, as Euro 2016 got underway last Friday.
The three Wearsiders are Sunderland's only representatives at the tournament, and are all competing against each other in Group D of the competition.
As O'Shea and Larsson faced off, Giaccherini's Italy took on one of the tournament favourites in Belgium, but how did they all fare in round one?
Emanuele Giaccherini
The Italian winger gave Italy lift off in Lyon as they defeated Belgium 2-0 on Monday evening.
Giaccherini, who has spent the season on loan at Bologna, gave Gli Azzurri the lead after 32 minutes, latching on to a long ball before sweeping the ball past Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
The 31-year-old played the full 90 minutes as Antonio Conte's side shut out Marc Wilmots' Red Devils. Italy wrapped up victory late on as Southampton forward Graziano Pelle crashed home a volley in stoppage time.
Italy's next game is on Friday against Sweden.
John O'Shea
Sunderland skipper O'Shea captained his country in the absence of Robbie Keane, and led a defence who were tasked with handling Manchester United-bound Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
It was a task that O'Shea and co dealt with, ensuring that the Sweden captain did not grace the scoresheet with his presence, but they could not stop him having some impact on the game in Paris.
The Republic of Ireland looked to be on course for a huge victory when Norwich City midfielder Wes Hoolahan put them in front, but Sweden got their equaliser when Ciaran Clark headed into his own net.
Martin O'Neill's side now face Belgium on Saturday, and will feel they can get something from the game after the Red Devils' poor showing against Italy.
Sebastian Larsson
Despite not featuring much for Sunderland this season, Larsson started on the right-hand side of Sweden's midfield and was so close to being the hero for Erik Hamren's team.
Had Aston Villa defender Clark not headed Ibrahimovic's cross into his own net, the blonde-haired winger was poised to score himself and bring his nation level.
Larsson had to do a lot of defensive work as Irish left back Robbie Brady bombed on and supplied a lot of width for Ireland.
Sunderland's number seven played the full game and is expected to start again on Friday against Italy.