Sports

Zinedine Zidane

Street football on a Marseille housing estate; the son of Algerian immigrants became France's symbol.

Born: 1972 · Marseille, France
Roots: French; Algerian Kabyle (Berber) parents
Family: Working class; His father, an immigrant from Kabylie, worked warehouses and night shifts; five children in the La Castellane estate.
Education: Left for the Cannes academy at 14, boarding with a club director's family
Started with: Place Tartane; Street football on the concrete square of La Castellane, the estate where he grew up.
Affiliations & societies: None documented.; Information only — claims like these are often unverifiable and may be wrong.

The pathway

1986 · age 14
Spotted for Cannes
A scout at a junior tournament sends him north; he boards with a club director's family.
1991 · age 18
First goal, first car
The club president had promised a car for his first Ligue 1 goal — a red Renault Clio.
1998 · age 26
Two headers in the final
France's first World Cup; the son of Algerian immigrants is projected on the Arc de Triomphe.
2001 · age 29
World-record transfer to Real Madrid€77.5M
2002 · age 29
The Hampden volley
The Champions League-winning goal often ranked the final's greatest.
2006 · age 34
The headbutt
Sent off in the World Cup final — his last match — after Materazzi's provocation; still voted the tournament's best player.
2016 · age 43
Coach
Wins three consecutive Champions Leagues with Madrid — a first for any coach.

Sources

Compiled from these references and contemporaneous press reporting. Figures are approximate; verify before relying on them.