High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Zinedine Yazid Zidane (French pronunciation: ) (born 23 June 1972) is a retired French footballer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. Zidane was a leading figure of a generation of French players that won the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Championship. After a brief international retirement, he returned to the national team in 2005 and captained France to the 2006 World Cup Final where he won the Golden Ball as the tournament`s most outstanding player.