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#4 Zinedine Zidane (Germany 2006)
Germany 2006 would end in personal disaster for Zinedine Zidane, who made his exit from the competition and professional football having been sent off infamously for a headbutt on Marco Materazzi.
Until that point, though, he had played quite gloriously, turning in what was the best individual attacking display in a World Cup finals tournament in a generation.
After a rather bland group stage from the French, they caught light in the knockout stages and much of that owed to the brilliance of Zidane.
The graceful brilliance of his performances against Spain and Brazil in the last 16 and quarter-finals respectively will be remembered forever by footballing purists, while he was also decisive against Portugal from the penalty spot in the semi-final before putting Les Bleus ahead in the final. Again it was a penalty, but facing the great Gianluigi Buffon he simply clipped a Panenka down the middle, apparently oblivious to pressure he was supposed to be under.
Of course, it all ended with him seeing red in Berlin. Italy went on to win a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw and Zizou was denied his second World Cup trophy.
Eight years earlier, he had been France’s hero as he scored twice in the final as they beat Brazil 3-0, but there can be little doubt that this was his finest World Cup.
