Zinedine Zidane Career Achievements
Zinedine Zidane’s career achievements highlight everything that he has accomplished as a footballer professionally. The legendary football player was born on June 23, 1972, in Marseille, France. Standing at an impressive height of 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in), Zidane dominated the midfield position with his fluid movements, exceptional vision on the pitch, precise passing, and his effortless ability to control the ball.
Throughout his senior career, he appeared in an astonishing 506 matches, scoring a remarkable 95 goals. As for his contribution to the France national team, he played 108 times, scoring an impressive 31 goals.
Club Achievements:
He played for three different teams Bordeaux, Juventus, and Real Madrid, and won many important titles with them.
With Bordeaux, he won the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 1995 and was second place in the UEFA Cup in the same year.
With Juventus, he won the Serie A twice, Supercoppa Italiana, UEFA Super Cup, Intercontinental Cup, and UEFA Intertoto Cup, but was second place in the UEFA Champions League twice.
With Real Madrid, he won the La Liga, Supercopa de España twice, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, and Intercontinental Cup.
As a member of the French national team, Zidane won the Syrenka Cup with the France U16 team in 1987. He also won the FIFA World Cup in 1998 and was second place in 2006. Additionally, he won the UEFA European Championship in 2000 with France.
Individual Player Achievements:
Zinedine Zidane won a lot of numerous individual awards and titles throughout his career. He was recognized as the French Division 1 Young Player of the Year in 1993-94, and the French Division 1 Player of the Year in 1995-96.
Zidane also won the Serie A Foreign Footballer of the Year twice, in 1996-97 and 2000-01, and was named to the FIFA XI four times in 1997, 1998, 2000, and 2002.
He was also recognized as the World Soccer Awards Player of the Year in 1998, and the FIFA World Player of the Year three times in 1998, 2000, and 2003.
Other notable awards Zidane received include the Ballon d’Or in 1998, the El País European Player of the Year award four times between 1998 and 2003, and the UEFA European Championship Player of the Tournament award in 2000.
He was named to the UEFA Team of the Year three times, in 2001, 2002, and 2003, and was recognized as the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year in 2002.
Zidane was also awarded the FIFA World Cup Golden Ball in 2006 and was included in the FIFA 100 list of the world’s greatest living players in 2004.
Zidane’s achievements and contributions to the sport have been recognized by various organizations and publications.
He was named to the UEFA Ultimate Team of the Year as a substitute in 2015 and was included in FourFourTwo’s Selection of the 100 Greatest Footballers of All Time at number 8 in 2017.
In 2022, he was named to the IFFHS All-time Men’s B Dream Team, the IFFHS All-time Europe Men’s Dream Team, and FourFourTwo’s 100 best football players of all time at number 5.
He was also inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame in 2022.
Records As a Player:
Zinedine Zidane holds several football records including being the most expensive footballer in history from 2001 to 2009.
He also shares the record for the most FIFA World Cup final matches scored in with Pelé, Vavá, Paul Breitner, and Kylian Mbappé.
Additionally, he has received the reddest cards in FIFA World Cup matches along with Rigobert Song.
Zidane is the midfielder with the most appearances in the ESM Team of the Season and is one of the two players in history to be named Player of the Year in 3 of the Top 5 Leagues.
He won the Division 1 Player of the Year in 1996, Serie A Footballer of the Year in 2001, and the Don Balón Award in 2002.
Zidane is the only player in history to win the World Cup and the European Championship while being named the best player of both competitions.
He has received the most Onze d’Or awards, a total of 7 shared with Cristiano Ronaldo, and the most FIFA World Player of the Year awards, a total of 6.
Orders Given to Zidane
Zidane was awarded the Knight of the Legion of Honour in 1998, National Order of Merit in 2006, and Officer of the Legion of Honour in 2008.
Achievement As a Manager:
Zidane took Real Madrid to win the La Liga title twice, in 2016-17 and 2019-20. He also won the Supercopa de España twice in 2017 and 2019-20, the UEFA Champions League four times, in 2013-14 (as assistant manager), 2015-16, 2016-17, and 2017-18, the UEFA Super Cup twice in 2016 and 2017, and the FIFA Club World Cup twice in 2016 and 2017.
Individual Awards as a Manager:
Zinedine Zidane has been recognized with multiple awards and accolades for his accomplishments as a football manager.
He was named La Liga Manager of the Month in April 2016 and May 2017 and was awarded the UEFA La Liga Team Revelation of the Year in 2015-16.
He was also named in the UEFA Champions League Breakthrough XI in 2015-16 and was the runner-up for the IFFHS World’s Best Club Coach in 2016.
In 2017, Zidane was named The Best FIFA Football Coach and was the runner-up for the same award in 2016 and 2018.
He also won the France Football French Manager of the Year award in 2016 and 2017 and was named Le Buteur Coach of the Year in 2016.
Zidane has also been awarded several team accolades, including the UEFA La Liga Team of the Season in 2016-17 and 2019-20, and the France Football UEFA Champions League Team of the Season in 2016-17.
He was also named the Onze d’Or Coach of the Year in 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2020-21.
Other awards and recognitions that Zidane has received include the ESPN Manager of the Year in 2017, IFFHS World’s Best Club Coach in 2017 and 2018, and RMC French Manager of the Year in 2017.
Globe Soccer Awards Best Coach of the Year in 2017, World Soccer Magazine World Manager of the Year in 2017, and the Miguel Muñoz Trophy in 2019-20.
He was also named the 22nd Greatest Manager of All Time by France Football in 2019, and the 34th Greatest Manager of All Time by Sports Illustrated in the same year.
Zidane was recognized as L’Equipe’s Best Club Coach in 2020 and was named the 36th Greatest Manager of All Time by FourFourTwo in the same year.
He was also awarded the Globe Soccer Awards Coach of the Century 2001-2020 and was the runner-up for the same award.
In 2021, he was recognized as the 38th All-Time World’s Best Coach by IFFHS.
Records Held as a Manager:
Zinedine Zidane holds numerous impressive records as a manager in football. Some of his notable achievements include:
Holding the record for the most consecutive wins in La Liga, along with Pep Guardiola, at 16 games.
Holding the record for the most consecutive away wins in La Liga, with 13 games.
Having the lowest number of defeats after 100 games as a manager in Spanish football, with just 8 losses.
Winning the most trophies after 100 games as a manager in Spanish football, with 7 titles.
Overseeing the longest unbeaten run in Real Madrid history, with 40 games, which is also the longest unbeaten run in Spanish football.
Becoming the first French manager, after the French-Argentinian Helenio Herrera, to win the UEFA Champions League in 2015-16.
Holding the record for the longest-scoring run in European football across all major competitions, with 73 games.
Being the only manager in history to win two consecutive UEFA Champions League trophies in its modern format, in 2015-16 and 2016-17.
Being the only manager to have won three consecutive European Cup/UEFA Champions League finals, in 2015-16, 2016-17, and 2017-18.
Being the only manager in Real Madrid history to win four trophies in one season and winning the UEFA Super Cup twice.
Being the first manager to win two consecutive UEFA Super Cup titles since Arrigo Sacchi.
He was the quickest manager in the history of the top 5 leagues to win 7 titles with a single club, achieving this feat in just 19 months, and being the quickest to win 8 titles with a single club, which he did in 23 months.
Being the quickest manager in history to be named FIFA Football Coach of the Year, taking just 653 days.
Winning the most The Best FIFA Football Coach awards with a total of 3.
Being the only person in history to win the Onze d’Or award as both a player and a manager.
Being the only person to win both the FIFA Player of the Year award and the Coach of the Year award.
Being the only person to win the IFFHS award as the best playmaker and as a manager.
Being the only person to win the FIFA Club World Cup trophy successively as a manager.
Being the only manager in Real Madrid history to win five trophies in a calendar year.
Being the only person in history to win the FIFA Club World Cup/Intercontinental Cup twice as a player and twice as a manager.
Being the only person in history to be named French Player of the Year twice and French Manager of the Year twice.
Achieving the highest score for a manager winning the IFFHS World’s Best Club Coach award, with 326 points.
Being the first manager to reach three consecutive UEFA Champions League finals since Marcello Lippi, achieving this in 2015-16, 2016-17, and 2017-18.
