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Zidane headbutt
Zidane headbutt on Materazzi during the World Cup Final 2006. FIFA Youtube channel

Berlin, 20 years on: The night Italy broke France's heart

The chip off the crossbar, Materazzi's equaliser, Buffon's save, the headbutt, Trezeguet's miss and Grosso's winning penalty. The 2006 World Cup final retold in full, plus where the boys of Berlin are now and why Zidane's first home game as France coach against Italy carries so much history.

01.10.26, 14:28

Berlin, 20 years on: The night Italy broke France's heart

There is a photograph that every football fan of a certain age can picture without looking it up. A man in a blue shirt, head slightly bowed, walks past the World Cup trophy on his way to the tunnel. He does not look at it. He cannot. A few minutes earlier, Zinedine Zidane had been sent off in the final match of his career, and the trophy he was walking past would soon be lifted by Italy.

That was 9 July 2006, at the Olympiastadion in Berlin. Twenty years later, Zidane is back in the dugout as France head coach, and on Friday night at the Stade de France he faces the Azzurri for the first time in that role.

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Andrea Locorotondo

is an SJA- and AIPS-accredited sports journalist with venue access across UEFA and FIFA competitions. He is the founder and editor of Calcio Society, and co-founded the independent Aston Villa title The Holte Roar.

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