Zinedine Zidane Returns as Head Coach of France National Team
Zinedine Zidane is heading back to the France national team, this time not as the conductor on the pitch but as the man in charge on the touchline. News that the 1998 World Cup icon has agreed to become head coach of Les Bleus has sent French football into a familiar state of excitement.
According to L’Équipe, Zidane will officially take over on September 1, with other reports indicating a deal that runs through the middle of 2030. It is the kind of long-term commitment that underlines France’s faith in a figure who already sits at the heart of the country’s football mythology.
While the father prepares to script a new chapter with France, the son has chosen a different flag.
Luca Zidane, a different path
Luca Zidane stepped away from the French setup last September and committed his international future to Algeria. At 28, the goalkeeper has taken a route that contrasts sharply with his father’s, but one that has already put him on a World Cup stage.
Despite carrying a chin and jaw injury into the tournament, Luca started in goal for the North African side, entrusted with the No 1 shirt at the highest level. It was a bold call from Algeria, and a bold move from a player who had long been seen through the lens of his surname and his French youth career.
From Real Madrid’s academy to La Liga 2
Luca’s story began in the most demanding of environments. He came through the youth ranks at Real Madrid and made his professional debut for the club in 2018, at a time when his father was in charge at the Santiago Bernabéu. The spotlight was unavoidable.
He made two La Liga appearances for Real Madrid before moving on in search of regular football. In 2020, he signed a two-year deal with Rayo Vallecano, having already spent time on loan at Racing de Santander during his final season with Madrid.
The search for minutes and maturity took him into Spain’s second tier. After Rayo, Luca joined SD Eibar in 2022, spending two seasons there and establishing himself as a solid option in goal in a fiercely competitive division.
His performances earned him another step: a move to Granada CF, also in La Liga 2, where he currently plays. It is a career built not on the glitter of his surname, but on the grind of the Spanish lower divisions.
As Zinedine Zidane prepares to lead France from the dugout, Luca Zidane stands in a different goal, under a different flag, writing a story that refuses to be a simple extension of his father’s legend.
