Luca Zidane's World Cup debut for Algeria in Kansas City has put the son of Zinedine Zidane back under the spotlight, this time with a protective mask after a brutal facial injury kept him out for more than a month.
The goalkeeper started against Argentina on Tuesday in Algeria's opening match, a striking turn for a player whose international path has been as personal as it has been sporting.
Algeria's World Cup Gamble
The news came after Luca Zidane, 28, switched his senior international allegiance to Algeria in 2025, having previously represented France at youth level. He is eligible through his grandparents' birthplace, and he has been open about the cultural pull that helped shape the decision.
'We've lived in an Algerian culture since we were small,' he told The Athletic, adding that the final call was his, after speaking with family, including his father, Zinedine Zidane.
The mask, though, added a grim little twist. Zidane fractured his jaw and chin in April while playing for Granada in Spain's second division after a collision against Almeria, and the injury was serious enough to require surgery.
Reuters reported that Granada said medical examinations confirmed fractures to both his jaw and chin, following a concussion in the match.
For Algeria, the calculation is simple enough. They are not just carrying a famous surname in goal, they are carrying a goalkeeper who had barely returned to action before the tournament.
Zidane had not played since 26 April before friendly appearances for Algeria earlier this month, which makes his presence against Argentina all the more notable. Nothing is confirmed yet so everything should be taken with a grain of salt when it comes to how comfortably he will handle the demands of a full World Cup campaign.
Road To This Moment
To recall, Zidane's international switch was not a sudden whim. He came through France's youth set-up, but 2025 brought the change of heart that pushed him towards Algeria, a country tied to his family history and, by his own account, to his upbringing as well.
He is related to Zinedine Zidane, and the family link is doing a lot of heavy lifting here, because in football terms Luca has spent years trying to build a career separate from his father's shadow.
The World Cup stage now gives him the biggest possible platform to do that. He arrived in the tournament after keeping a clean sheet in Algeria's pre-tournament win over the Netherlands, making six saves in a 1-0 victory on 3 June.
That performance, more than the family name, offered Algeria a reason to believe they had found a goalkeeper capable of handling a high-pressure month.
His route to the match was hardly straightforward. The April injury against Almeria left him in real doubt for the World Cup, with multiple reports saying he faced a race against time after the jaw and chin fractures.
By the end of May and into June, however, he had been named in Algeria's squad, and BBC Sport reported on 31 May that he was included in the final group for the tournament.
Why The Mask Matters For Algeria
The mask is more than a piece of kit. It is a visible reminder that Zidane's World Cup appearance was almost derailed before it started, and that Algeria are asking a goalkeeper to compete after a fairly nasty injury, however protected he now may be.
There is something a bit mad about the image, frankly, but football is full of these moments where medical recovery, national hope and sheer celebrity collide in public.
Algeria opened against Argentina in Kansas City, with Jordan and Austria also in Group J. That makes every early point valuable, and every decision in goal slightly magnified. Zidane's selection says Algeria trust him enough to start, even if the memory of April still hangs around him like a warning label.
Algeria must get through a demanding group, and Zidane must prove that the mask is only a footnote rather than a symbol of fragility. For a player whose surname has followed him from France's youth ranks to Granada and now to a World Cup opener in Kansas City, that is a rather loaded ask.
