When football fans see the name Zidane and see Zinedine Zidane on the front page they are always thinking of one Zidane. He was the 1998 FIFA World Cup winner, he conquered Europe with France and he was one of the greatest football players of all time. At the FIFA World Cup 2026 another Zidane is in the headlines more than three decades later and Luca Zidane, the son of the French legend, is trying to create his own.
Luca has played a completely different role on the field than his father, who captivated football fans with his elegant play in midfield. The 28-year-old goalkeeper plays for Spain’s Granada. He came up through the Real Madrid academy in Spain as well as making the first team with Racing Santander, Rayo Vallecano, Eibar and Granada.
Luca’s trip to the World Cup has been anything but ordinary. He had been with France as a youth but later moved to Algeria, the country of his paternal grandparents. FIFA approved the change in 2025 and it opened the way for him to represent Algeria on the biggest stage of football.
But carrying the Zidane surname is a huge pressure.
Every save Luca makes is compared to his father’s achievements. Every mistake gets extra attention. He is first known to fans and pundits as Zinedine Zidane’s son and only later as a professional footballer. Very few players in world football have had to face such expectations from the very beginning of their careers.
That pressure was very real in Algeria's World Cup match against Argentina. There in front of the Algerian goalposts was Luca Zidane and at the other end was Argentina’s Lionel Messi, the greatest football player ever in the history of the game. Messi rolled back the years with a hat-trick and Argentina scored 3-0. So at the end of the day Luca had a rough night from the start of the match; three goals sailed past him on the biggest stage of football. But it was far more than the score. Every goal he conceded immediately drew comparisons with his legendary father and added another layer of pressure to an already demanding career. But playing a World Cup pitch with Messi was also proof Luca has soared to the highest level of the sport, regardless of his name.
Luca was even more anxious to do so because he arrived at the tournament after recovering from a broken jaw and chin in a club match. Wearing a protective mask, he knew millions of people around the world were watching him not only because of his talent but also because of the name on the back of his shirt.
The history of football is littered with sons following the footsteps of great fathers. Paolo Maldini surpassed the achievements of his father Cesare Maldini to become one of the world's best defenders. After Peter Schmeichel's great career, Kasper Schmeichel built his own reputation. Justin Kluivert is following the path of Dutch football great Patrick Kluivert, and Timothy Weah represented the USA after the fame of his father George Weah. Giovanni Simeone has also started his own career while carrying Diego Simeone's famous name.
There were some who flourished, some who didn’t; all of them had the same problem to face: living up to the expectations set by someone else’s greatness.
Luca Zidane cares more about the 2026 World Cup than the win/loss statistics and predictions. It is an opportunity for him to show that although he has inherited one of the most popular surnames in football, he will work hard to create a legacy which is his own.
He’s not going to be able to replicate the great success of Zinedine Zidane. But success isn’t always about repeating history. Sometimes it’s about building your own.
And for Luca Zidane, that journey is only beginning.
