Goalkeeper Luca Zidane, son of the French idol Zinédine Zidane, changed sports nationality to compete for the Algerian team, the African country’s Football Federation (FAF) announced.
“FIFA has officially granted goalkeeper Luca Zinedine Zidane the authorization to represent the National Self -company,” FAF said in a statement.
Luca Zidane, 27, has been a Granada player, the Spanish Second Division, since July 2024.
According to the son of Zinédine Zidane, he has defended France’s grassroots teams and will now represent the country of origin of his paternal grandparents.
Revealed by Real Madrid, Luca debuted as a professional for the Merengue team in 2018, when his father was the coach, before being loaned for a season to Racing Santander and playing two years at Rayo Vallecano, with which he got access to the Spanish championship elite in 2021.
Months after the end of his contract with Rayo, he signed in September 2022 with Eibar (Second Division), where he remained until he transferred to Granada.
Zidane’s family originates from a village in the province of Bouira, which is more than 200 km east of the Algerian capital, Algiers.
Zinédine visited Algeria at least twice since he retired in 2006. One of them occurred in December of that same year, at the invitation of then -President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, when he was received as a hero.
