Zinedine Zidane accepted that his red card for headbutting Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup final was the correct decision, match referee Horacio Elizondo has revealed on the 20th anniversary of the match.
The Argentine official disclosed that the France captain calmly removed his armband before approaching him with a question about the incident’s context. “Calm, the red card is correct, but didn’t you hear or see what happened before?” Zidane asked, according to Elizondo’s account published in Gazzetta.
The decision-making process
The dismissal occurred ten minutes before the penalty shootout in Berlin, which Italy won to claim their fourth World Cup title. It proved to be Zidane’s final appearance as a professional footballer, ending a career that included World Cup and European Championship victories with France.
Elizondo explained the difficulty of the decision-making process. He had stopped play after noticing Materazzi lying on the ground, but neither he nor his two assistant referees had witnessed the actual confrontation. While running towards the players, he questioned both assistants, who confirmed they had seen nothing.
The breakthrough came from the fourth official, Medina Cantalejo, who alerted him to the headbutt. Elizondo faced a dilemma: he trusted Cantalejo’s information, but knew the crowd and millions watching on television had not seen the offence.
The referee therefore employed a deliberate tactic to ensure the stadium understood the severity of the decision. He pretended to consult with an assistant while walking towards the incident, despite knowing the assistant had seen nothing.
“I started talking to the assistant, pretending that he knew something,” Elizondo said. “I wanted to make this ‘acting’ to make people understand [we were making a decision].”
A dramatic final chapter
Elizondo admitted he felt relieved when he saw Zidane removing his captain’s armband, realising the player would not contest the dismissal. After showing the red card, he was preparing to record the decision when Zidane touched his shoulder and posed his question about the events preceding the headbutt.
The incident remains one of the most discussed moments in World Cup history, overshadowing Italy’s triumph and marking a dramatic conclusion to Zidane’s illustrious playing career.
Two decades on from that final in Berlin, Italy have endured a difficult World Cup record. The Azzurri have not progressed beyond the group stage since 2014 and failed to qualify for the tournaments in 2018, 2022, and 2026.