French football great Zinedine Zidane's son Luca has been called up by Algeria for the first time, with the team close to qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America.
Luca Zidane, a 27-year-old goalkeeper, represented France at the youth level but never for the senior national team and is eligible for Algeria through his father's family ties.
FIFA approved a change of national eligibility two weeks ago for Zidane, who once played at Real Madrid when his father was coach there. He is now with the Spanish second-division team Granada.
Algeria coach Vladimir Petkovic picked Zidane in a 26-player squad for qualifying games against Somalia on Oct. 9 and Uganda five days later.
Algeria lead the qualifying group by four points and a win in either game would send the team to the World Cup being co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Algeria have played at four men's World Cups and reached the round of 16 at its last appearance in 2014.
Zinedine Zidane played at three World Cups for France, winning the 1998 title at home and losing the final in 2006. His red card in extra time of the 2006 final for headbutting Italy defender Marco Materazzi is part of World Cup lore and was his final game as a player.
Meanwhile, Algeria have qualified for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, set to begin on Dec. 21 in Morocco.
Luca played for Real Madrid's reserve team after working his way up from the club's youth academy, which he joined in 2004.
He debuted with the main team in their last league game in the 2017-18 season and was the third-choice goalkeeper when Real won their 13th European title in 2018.
Although Zinedine Zidane was born in Marseille, his family was originally from a small village in Bejaia, some 250 kilometers east of Algiers.
