Germany 2006: Zidane's headbutt in his final match and Italy's triumph in the storm
- Zinedine Zidane played his last international match in the Germany 2006 final with a headbutt that marked an iconic moment of his career
- Italy won the 2006 World Cup in adverse weather conditions, demonstrating their ability to triumph in the midst of a storm
- The Germany 2006 tournament went down in history as one of the most memorable World Cups for its protagonists and decisive moments
Some careers end with a lap of honour. Zidane's ended with a walk across the centre of Berlin's Olympiastadion pitch, passing right by the World Cup trophy without looking at it, heading for the tunnel. It's one of the strangest images sport has ever produced.
🇩🇪 2006 World Cup by the numbers
- Host nation
- Germany
- Teams
- 32
- Champions
- 🏆 Italy
- Runners-up
- France
- Final
- Italy 1-1 (5-3 pens.) France
- Stadium
- Olympiastadion · Berlin
- Attendance
- 69,000
- Top scorer
- Miroslav Klose (Germany), 5 goals
The headbutt
The final was 1-1. Zidane had scored in the 7th minute from a penalty with a Panenka-style chip over the keeper, the ball hitting the bar and going in. Materazzi had equalised with a header shortly after.
110th minute of extra time. The two walk together, exchange words, Zidane takes a few steps away, turns around and headbutts him in the chest, sending him to the ground. The referee didn't see it directly; the VAR team flagged it. Red card.
France lost on penalties. Zidane never played again.
Italy champions amid Calciopoli chaos
While the World Cup was being played, Italy was exploding with its biggest football scandal ever: Calciopoli, a web of fixed referee appointments that ended with Juventus relegated to Serie B and stripped of two Serie A titles, and Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio all sanctioned.
Thirteen of the twenty-three players in that Italian squad belonged to implicated clubs. They won the World Cup with their clubs burning behind them, and several returned to teams playing in the second division.
The World Cup where Germany made peace with its flag
They called it Sommermärchen, the summer's tale. Germany put up giant screens in the streets — the Fan Mile in Berlin drew hundreds of thousands of people — and for the first time since the war the country filled with German flags without it feeling uncomfortable. It was a social shift they still talk about there.
On the pitch, Germany finished third, with Miroslav Klose as the top scorer.
Spain's story, and the Battle of Nuremberg
Spain won all three group matches — including a 4-0 thrashing of Ukraine — and in the round of 16 faced France. They lost 3-1 after going ahead, with Zidane scoring the third. Another early exit to add to the pile.
And in that same round of 16 tie was played the wildest match of the century: Portugal 1-0 Netherlands, known as the Battle of Nuremberg. The Russian referee dished out 16 yellow cards and 4 red cards. It's still the record for cards in a World Cup match.
That the insult which provoked the headbutt was racist or religious in nature, aimed at Zidane's Algerian origins. This was taken as fact for days.
That Materazzi denied it from the start and has always stuck to the same story: he publicly admitted in 2010 that he insulted Zidane's sister after a row over a shirt, and denied calling him a terrorist or making any reference to his origins or religion. Zidane has never contradicted this; he stated the words were «very harsh» about his mother and sister, apologized to the children watching and at the same time said he couldn't regret it, because doing so would be giving in to the one who provoked him. A FIFA commission sanctioned both: three matches for Zidane and two for Materazzi.
That FIFA gave the award for best player of the tournament to a footballer who had just been sent off in the final, which would be absurd.
That the journalists' vote closed before the end of the match, and there's the explanation for the muddle. FIFA even considered taking it away from him and didn't. Either way, the sporting argument holds up: Zidane had a massive tournament, with decisive performances against Spain and Brazil, and scored in the final. The odd thing isn't the award: it's the timing coincidence.
That the Italian match-fixing scandal had something to do with the 2006 title.
That they're two separate things and there's no documented connection. Calciopoli was a web of referee assignments in the Italian league, investigated and sanctioned by Italian sports justice; no one has ever accused the national team's run in Germany of anything. What is true, and it's a brilliant story, is the context: those players crowned themselves world champions without knowing which division they'd be playing in when they got home.
What remained
Italy's fourth title remained, putting them just one Copa away from Brazil. The model of the World Cup as an urban festival with giant screens remained, one that hasn't been abandoned since. And Zidane walking past the trophy remained, a scene that's become a painting, a sculpture and analytical material for half of France.
Four years later, in South Africa, it would be the turn of someone who had been waiting eighty years.
- On what Zidane and Materazzi said to each other: this gathers the public statements of both protagonists, which essentially match, not the versions from third parties that circulated those days.
- Photo disclaimer: match material belongs to agencies. The images are in the public domain or Creative Commons.
