F.I.F.A. World Cup 2006 Germany 🇩🇪 Finals Match: Italy 🇮🇹 vs France 🇫🇷 – Zinedine "El Mago" Zidane gets sent off with red card in F.I.F.A. World Cup 2006 Finals penalties loss vs Italy

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What seasoned international soccer fan can ever forget the infamous Zinedine “El Mago” Zidane headbutt on Italy defender Marco Materazzi during the 2006 F.I.F.A.World Cup hosted by Germany? Not to mention the global viewing audience (one billion+ viewers) who shockingly witnessed the incident on July 9, 2006. The embarassing incident happened during extra time (at the end of the regulation 90 minutes) with the score level at 1–1 at Berlin’s Olympiastadion, before 69,000 fans in attendance. Italian keeper Gianluigi “Gigi” Buffon made a potentially game-saving save in extra time when he instinctively tipped a Zidane header over the crossbar. As Zidane and Materazzi were jogging up the pitch within talking distance to each other, they briefly exchanged words after Materazzi was seen tugging at Zidane’s jersey before Zidane began to walk away from him.

Moments later, Zidane spontaneously stopped, turned around and head-butted Materazzi’s chest, knocking him to the ground. Although play was halted, referee Horacio Elizondo did not appear to have seen the confrontation. After consulting with his assistants, Elizondo issued Zidane a red card in the 110th minute, dismissing him from his last soccer match with the French national team. It was the 14th overall expulsion of Zidane’s career, joining him with Cameroon’s Rigobert Song as the only players ever to be sent off during two separate World Cup tournaments. He also became the fourth player to be red-carded in a World Cup final, in addition to being the first sent off in extra time.

Extra time produced no further goals and a penalty shoot-out ensued, which Italy won 5–3. France’s striker David Trezeguet, the man who scored the golden goal against Italy in the Euro 2000 final, was the only player not to score his penalty; his spot kick hit the crossbar, leaving defender Fabio Grosso – who scored Italy’s first goal in the semi-final against Germany – to score the winning penalty. Materazzi said he had been provoked before confronting Zidane and explained that he had made a comment about the Zidane’s sister, not his mother as had been reported, before he was head-butted. He admitted he had used “stupid words,” but added: “They didn’t deserve to provoke such a reaction. “If you go to a football pitch in the suburbs of Rome, Naples, Turin, Milan or Paris, you’ll realise that what I said was quite soft compared to what you hear there.” Materazzi continued, “What annoyed me most was that some supporters or journalists said that I insulted his mother. I would never have allowed myself to offend his mother, because I lost mine a long time ago.”

Materazzi claimed Zidane had provoked him by saying: “If you want my jersey, I’ll give it to you at the end.” “You see on the images that he’s talking to me,” he said. “I asked him two times to repeat himself to be sure that I understood. The third time I responded because I understood that he was making fun of me. “In fact, we were playing the same match, we had both scored but he was the great champion and I was useless — I wasn’t in the same world. That’s how I took his mocking, and I reacted.” He said he had “no bitterness” about the incident but added that he had never met Zidane since, and that the Frenchman — who had been playing in his last-ever match — had not attempted to apologise.

I was personally surprised to see the normally mild-mannered Zidane acting out of character, especially during one of the most important matches of his career. I would have liked to see the legendary Frenchman walk away from the game a World Cup champion, as opposed to a second-place finish. Especially considering that Zidane was a 3-time F.I.F.A. World Player of the Year winner (1998, 2000 and 2003). What an embarrassing way for the soccer genius Zinedine “El Mago” Zidane to end a splendid career.

Below are some F.I.F.A. World Cup Germany 2006 Finals Match statistics:

F.I.F.A. World Cup Germany 2006 Finals Match Italy vs France Box Score

F.I.F.A. World Cup Germany 2006 Finals Match Italy vs France Statistics

France and Italy F.I.F.A. World Cup Germany 2006 Finals Match Results

France vs Italy F.I.F.A. World Cup All-Time Head-to-Head Match Results

F.I.F.A. World Cup Germany 2006 Finals Match – France 1-1 Italy -Complete Match (Olympiastadion – Berlin, Germany – July 9, 2006)

F.I.F.A. World Cup Germany 2006 Finals Match – France 1-1 Italy – Zinedine Zidane headbutt on Marco Materazzi

F.I.F.A. World Cup Germany 2006 Quarterfinals Match – France 1-0 Brazil – Complete Match (Waldstadion – Frankfurt, Germany – July 1, 2006)

F.I.F.A. World Cup Germany 2006 Round of 16 Match – France 3-1 Spain Highlights (AWD Arena – Hanover, Germany – June 27, 2006)

Sources: Wikipedia–https://www.en.wikipedia.org, E.S.P.N.–https://www.espn.com, F.I.F.A.–https://www.fifa.com, YouTube–https://www.youtube.com