As part of our buildup to the 2026 FIFA men’s World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico, we are publishing excerpted chapters from The Soccer 100, The Athletic’s definitive book on the 100 greatest players of all time, courtesy of HarperCollins Publishers.The 10 players we will feature are the highest-ranked World Cup winners among our 100. Today’s article takes us back to the summer of 2006, and a tournament in Germany that will be remembered for the impact, both positive and negative, of one man.Imagine Zinédine Zidane at home, in the dead of night, having a mysterious conversation with a person or force he has vowed to never name.This was the scenario that compelled him to come out of retirement for one last dance with Les Bleus. It makes sense that it happened this way — suitably enigmatic. It would not be right for a player of his supernatural style to suddenly rewrite his story in a mundane way. That wouldn’t do.Zidane had withdrawn from international football in the summer of 2004. His place in the pantheon of French football was supremely established as the man who epitomized the 1998 World Cup, bringing France’s first star on their shirt, and followed it up with an imperious exhibition of his mastery as they won the European Championship two years later.He was the symbol of an extraordinary era of French football, with his face illuminating the Arc de Triomphe as crowds sang for “Zizou Président.” He had done enough, hadn’t he?No, intoned the voice to Zidane. With his country flailing in their pitiful attempts to qualify for the 2006 World Cup, at the age of 33, Zidane underwent his change of heart.He explained it all to an astonished public on his website: “One night, at 3am, I suddenly woke up and I then spoke with someone. Until I die, I will never tell. This is just too crazy. This is someone that you will probably never meet. During the hours that followed, I was on my own with that person, at home, and I took the decision to come back. I had never experienced that before. I felt pushed by this force which dictated my behaviour. It was a revelation for me. I had to obey that voice that was advising me.”Zinedine Zidane back in the France fold (Pascal Pavani/AFP via Getty Images)Zidane and two of his experienced compatriots who had also said their farewells to international football, Lilian Thuram and Claude Makélélé, agreed to return together to fix France’s broken team. The news was greeted like a religious happening. This second-coming made those whose faith was waning find renewed belief. Even within the camp, the impact was extraordinary.Thierry Henry did not hold back when asked how he felt about the return of Zidane. “What I am going to say may sound over the top, but it’s the truth: God exists, and he has returned to the France team.”These three prodigal sons helped to pull the team from a perilous position in the qualification table to finish as group winners.The rekindling of an old love affair was aflame.There is a reason that two artists, Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno, chose Zidane as the focus of their film in 2005. It was an interesting idea: to follow one player within a team game, in real time, for the duration of a match.They used 17 synchronized cameras to capture every detail of their subject’s performance during a La Liga match between Real Madrid and Villarreal to make ‘Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait’. Such is the nature of live art; there are no guarantees of any particular drama, depth, or outcome. As it happened, Zidane was observed jogging and scanning for much of the film. But because it zooms in on its central character, what the movie does not easily transmit is the perspective of how he interpreted the game in relation to all the moving parts around him, which was a key part of his magic.He did provide a chipped assist for Ronaldo, and for his part in a ruckus at the end of the game, he was sent off. But those things were almost incidental or accidental. The film is more a study of a player who possesses a certain magnetism, a certain allure. That is why he was the obvious choice for that kind of project, ahead of any of his skilled contemporaries.