Zinedine Zidane’s son officially makes decision as FIFA approve unexpected snub

Granada goalkeeper Luca Zidane, the son of France and Real Madrid legend Zinedine Zidane, has decided to change nationality to represent Algeria

Zinedine Zidane’s son Luca Zidane will not follow in his father’s footsteps and represent France at international level after he chose to change his sporting nationality to Algeria. Luca, 27, is Zinedine’s second son and plays his club football at La Liga 2 side Granada, having been at Eibar, Rayo Vallecano, Racing Santander and Real Madrid in the past.

Born just outside of Marseille, the goalkeeper represented France up to Under 20s level but hasn’t yet received a first-team call-up, with Hugo Lloris and Mike Maigan among those picked above him. Now, Luca has made the decision to switch to play for Algeria, the country of origin of his paternal grandparents.

Zinedine also holds dual French-Algerian nationality, and FIFA have since approved the move. It’s a rather unexpected choice for the ‘keeper, given the mark left on France by Zinedine, a World Cup and European Championship winner with Les Bleus during his illustrious career.

Luca played for all French national teams from the U16 to the U20 level, winning the U17 Euros in 2015. However, he didn’t end up making it further to progress to the U21s age group.

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He could make his debut for Algeria in their World Cup qualifiers against Somalia and Uganda during the October international break. The African nation have put themselves in a strong position to qualify for next summer’s tournament in North America and sit top of their group on 19 points from eight matches.

Former Manchester City and Leicester star Riyad Mahrez and Al-Ittihad’s Houssem Aouar are among those part of the Algeria squad right now ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations in the winter and then the World Cup.

Luca’s immediate focus, however, will be on Granada’s La Liga trip to Burgos on Monday night, as they look to get themselves away from danger following a disastrous start to the season.

Indeed, Granada have failed to win a game so far this season, picking up just one point from a possible 15. Luca, who was dropped for last Sunday’s 2-0 defeat to Leganes, has conceded 10 times in four league matches in 2025/26.

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