The repercussions of the 2006 FIFA World Cup final between France and Italy were felt long after the July match after ...

The 2006 World Cup final produced the most incredible end to a football career there has ever been.Already planning ...

Former Italy defender Marco Materazzi reveals what Zinedine Zidane told him before giving him a headbutt in the 2006 World Cup Final between Italy and France: ‘If you want my shirt, I’ll give it to ...

A version of this piece was published in 2020. It has been updated to run as part of our special World Cup: Reconsidered series… This is a series re-assessing famous individual or team performances in ...

The French icon fell victim to his emotions and was denied the chance to lift the World Cup with France at Germany 2006 after ...

BERLIN — There is some precedent for Zinedine Zidane’s unceremonious ejection from the World Cup final Sunday night for his startling head butt that floored Italy’s Marco Materazzi. In 1998, when ...

Our countdown continues with a Zinedine Zidane masterclass in 2006. The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ is now just 95 days away. The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ is now just 95 days away. As we count down ...

As part of our buildup to the 2026 FIFA men’s World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico, we are publishing excerpted chapters from The Soccer 100, The Athletic’s definitive book on the 100 ...

Berlin’s Olympiastadion was hot and humid on July 9, 2006. There had been storms all week. Zinedine Zidane had converted a penalty early in the World Cup final. Marco Materazzi had headed an equalizer ...

"Materazzi was the protagonist of that match." Former France national team coach Raymond Domenech said in an interview with Italy's Gazzetta dello Sport on the 18th (Korea time), "I wonder why ...

Zinédine Zidane’s famous “Panenka” in the 2006 FIFA World Cup final remains one of the most iconic moments in football history. Nearly twenty years after that legendary move, the former French ...

Perhaps the contradiction is what confounds most. How could a player known for exceptional class, elegance and an almost regal nature in possession, end his career in such an embarrassing, ...