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2006 World Cup

What I am going to say may sound over the top, but it's the truth. God exists and he has returned to the France team.

Thierry Henry, on Zidane's return.

With the mass retirement of veteran key players such as Bixente Lizarazu, Marcel Desailly, Claude Makélélé and Lilian Thuram, France struggled to qualify for the 2006 World Cup. At the urging of coach Raymond Domenech, Zidane came out of retirement and was immediately reinstated as team captain. Zidane, along with Thuram and Makélélé, made his competitive return for France in a 3–0 win over the Faroe Islands on 3 September 2005. The trio helped France rise from fourth place to win their qualifying group. On 27 May 2006, Zidane earned his hundredth cap for France in a 1–0 friendly win over Mexico, in what would also be his last match at the Stade de France. Zidane became France's fourth player to reach 100 caps, after Desailly, Thuram and Didier Deschamps.

France had a slow start to the 2006 Finals and, after being suspended for the third match of the group stage, Zidane returned to set up a goal for Patrick Vieira and score one himself in the second round match against Spain. In the quarter-final France held Brazil to just one shot on goal in the rematch of the 1998 final. Zidane assisted Thierry Henry 's deciding goal and was named Man of the Match by FIFA. France faced Portugal in the semi-final and, as in Brussels six years earlier; once again, Zidane's penalty kick decided the contest and sent France to another major final.

Having already announced he was to retire after the expiration of his Real Madrid contract at the end of the 2005–06 season, the world of football already knew Zidane's second World Cup final was to be the last match of his career. Seven minutes into the 2006 World Cup final in Berlin, Zidane put France ahead with a Panenka -style penalty kick which struck the crossbar and bounced just over the goal line to become only the fourth player in World Cup history to score in two different finals, along with Pelé, Paul Breitner, and Vavá, in addition to being tied for first place with Vavá, Pelé and Geoff Hurst with three World Cup final goals apiece, a record at the time, later broken by compatriot Kylian Mbappé in 2022. He almost scored a second goal during the first period of extra time but his header was saved by Italy's goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. Zidane was then sent off in the 110th minute of the game after headbutting Marco Materazzi in the chest, so he did not participate in the penalty shootout, which Italy won 5–3. This marked the 14th overall expulsion of Zidane's career, and joined him with Cameroon 's Rigobert Song as the only players ever to be sent off during two separate World Cup tournaments. Something curious about Zidane's expulsion was that the referee didn't even see the headbutting, so he went to ask the linesmen, who didn't see anything either. But the fourth referee did see the play, and convinced of his expression, he sent off the 10th of the French team. He also became the fourth player red-carded in a World Cup final, in addition to being the first sent off in extra time. Zidane's actions made headlines all over the world, while in France Le Figaro called his head-butt "odious", and the front page of L'Équipe asked, "What should we tell our children, for whom you have become an example for ever?... How could that happen to a man like you?" Zidane had received plaudits for his performances during the tournament, with Pep Guardiola writing he exerts so much influence on the team that "France are never disorganised". The day after the final, Zidane was awarded the Golden Ball as the player of the tournament.

"The match you played last night was full of talent and professionalism. I know that you are sad and disappointed but what I want to tell you is that the whole country is extremely proud of you. You have honoured the country with your exceptional qualities and your fantastic fighting spirit, which was your strength in difficult times, but also in winning times."

—President of France, Jacques Chirac, pays tribute to Zidane in Paris after the 2006 World Cup.

Upon his return to France, the Place de la Concorde in Paris was filled with thousands of fans waving flags and rhythmically chanting "Zizou! Zizou!", and tributes were led by the French president Jacques Chirac. Chirac's words reflected the feeling of the French public, with polls done in the immediate wake of the incident showing support for Zidane: 61% of French people said they had already forgiven him for his actions while 52% said they understood them. According to French journalist Philippe Auclair, Zidane's performances in the knock-out rounds were "ranked among his finest in a blue shirt." As the player of the tournament, Zidane had given the team hope, with the French daily newspaper Libération stating, "For a month, France was dreaming with Zidane." Zidane remained an icon to the French public, and one French writer stated, "It's good for us to see our national hero is fallible." It was later revealed through interviews that Marco Materazzi had insulted Zidane's sister, which led to Zidane's heightened anger and reaction. In 2010, Zidane said that he would "rather die than apologize" to Materazzi for the headbutt in the final, but also admitted that he "could never have lived with himself" had he been allowed to remain on the pitch and help France win the match. He later said, "If you look at the fourteen red cards I had in my career, twelve of them were a result of provocation. This isn't justification, this isn't an excuse, but my passion, temper and blood made me react."

Following his red card in the final, Zidane retired from professional football and confirmed that he would not go back on his decision. He was sentenced by FIFA to complete three days of community service with children in one of FIFA's humanitarian projects rather than three-match suspension for the red card given that he already retired. Zidane ended up tying with Brazil's Cafu for the record for most cards given in World Cup matches, with six.