Zinedine Zidane is one of the most mythical names in soccer history. Hence, every player that appears with that last name is instantly tied to the former legendary player. But is Luca Zidane, the Algeria goalkeeper, actually a blood relative to one of France‘s biggest icons?
Well, it turns out that he is. Luca Zidane is one of four sons that Zinedine Zidane has. In fact, he will become the first Zinedine son to play in a major World Cup, as the others all have soccer careers.
The eldest son is Enzo Zidane, who after a low-profile career in many second-tier teams in Spain, France, Switzerland, and Portugal, retired at just 29. Luca is the second oldest. Theo Zidane was born in 2002, and plays for LaLiga2 team Cordoba. The youngest is Elyaz Zidane, who is 20 years old and plays for the developmental team of Real Betis. He’s been called for France’s youth international teams.
Why is Luca Zidane playing for Algeria and not France?
Despite being born in Aix-en-Provence, France, on 13 May 1998, Luca Zidane opted to play for Algeria, where his father Zinedine was born. At the end of the day, Algeria offered Luca Zidane a more direct path towards having an international career, as there isn’t as much competition on the roster.
Luca Zidane of Algeria
Not only that, but he also wanted to play for the country to honor his family roots. In fact, Luca Zidane is just one of many French players representing Algeria at the 2026 World Cup.
Luca Zidane is a goalkeeper who came from Real Madrid’s ranks and quickly had to find playing minutes elsewhere. While he debuted for Madrid, he didn’t cut it to be the team’s starting goalkeeper. Hence, he spent time at Racing, Rayo Vallecano, Eibar, and now Granada in LaLiga 2.
Luca has big shoes to fill as a Zidane at the World Cup
Zinedine Zidane is arguably one of the top-6 players of all time. Much of his legacy was made in the World Cup scene. He guided France to its first World Cup title in 1998, scoring twice in the final. Then, in his swan song tournament in Germany 2006, he delivered arguably the best individual soccer game ever against Brazil in the quarterfinals, and went to score in the final, though he ended with a red card after headbutting Marco Materazzi from Italy.
Hence, you cannot tell the story of World Cups without mentioning Zinedine Zidane. For Luca, he is a goalkeeper, so he can’t just bamboozle defenders and score, but for Algeria’s expectations, he must stop incredibly well and live up to his last name.
