Home · Sports · Zinedine Zidane

Zinedine Zidane

Former attacking midfielder, France & Real Madrid

Sports France Hall No. 33

Profile

Why they shine

Zinedine Zidane won the Ballon d'Or in 1998 with 244 points, the same year he captained France to the World Cup and scored twice in the final at the Stade de France. His peak at Real Madrid produced three European Cups, the last of them in 2002 when his two goals settled the final against Bayer Leverkusen in Rotterdam. He was also named FIFA's World Player of the Year three times, in 1998, 1999 and 2003, a run of individual honours no French player has matched since. France conceded only twice in seven matches on the way to the trophy in his own country.

Full name: Zinedine Zidane Zidan
Nationality: France
Former clubs: Bordeaux, Juventus, Real Madrid
Position: Attacking midfielder
Ballon d'Or: 1998 — 244 points
World Cup 1998: Champions and Golden Boot — two goals in the final

Record

Honor record

Ballon d'Or

1998 · Dec 22, 1998

Paris, France

His only Ballon d'Or, won with 244 points, more than triple Davor Šuker's 68, in the year he lifted the World Cup. He scored twice in the final against Brazil at the Stade de France and the trophy was handed over in Paris three weeks later, with France having conceded only twice in seven matches.

Ballon d'Or

2000 · Dec 19, 2000

Paris, France

The 2000 Ballon d'Or was won by Luís Figo, with Zidane behind him in a year that ended with Real Madrid's defeat by Valencia in the European Cup final. Zidane's other two individual crowns are FIFA's World Player of the Year awards of 1999 and 2003; the Ballon d'Or he did take was the 1998 one, and this record stands for the year of the award rather than a claim on it.

FIFA World Cup

1998 · Jul 12, 1998

Stade de France, Saint-Denis

Two goals in the final against Brazil, the first a header and the second a slaloming run past Roberto Carlos, and the second World Cup for France 20 years after the 1978 final in Buenos Aires. Zidane's pair answered Ronaldo's early free-kick, and France conceded only twice in seven matches on the way to the trophy in his own country.

UEFA Champions League

2002 · May 15, 2002

De Kuip, Rotterdam

Real Madrid's third European Cup, won 2-0 against Bayer Leverkusen with both goals scored by Zidane, the first a header and the second a right-footed finish, each from a Roberto Carlos cross. It was the last of his three European titles as a player, and it came in the same stadium where Ajax had won the cup in 1972.

Keep exploring