Clip of Zinedine Zidane in the Stands During Argentina 3-0 Algeria Goes Viral

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Zinedine Zidane watched on from the stands as an Algeria side featuring his son, Luca, were beaten by Argentina at the 2026 World Cup.

Luca, a goalkeeper, was born in France and has spent much of his life in Spain. However, he has always been eligible to represent Algeria and officially switched allegiances ahead of this summer's tournament.

The 28-year-old, who plays for Spanish second tier side Granada at club level, was named in his nation's starting lineup for their opening match of the 2026 World Cup against Argentina.

Luca was powerless to resist as the reigning World Cup champions picked up a comfortable victory courtesy of the brilliant Lionel Messi. The Inter Miami forward, who was perhaps fortunate not to be sent off, netted a stunning hat-trick as the South Americans won 3-0.

Luca did not have his best match in goal. According to SofaScore, he made just three saves during the game and had a goals-prevented stat of -0.78, meaning he conceded more goals than expected.

Despite completing all 37 of his passes, Luca was given a rating of just 6.3/10.

The camera panned to his father, Zinedine, with Argentina leading 2-0 with just over 15 minutes of the game remaining. The Real Madrid and France legend did not look impressed at all as he shook his hand before falling back into his seat.

Football fans watching the match were not impressed with Luca's performance. One fan was especially brutal as they said: "The Algerian FA should be investigating everyone involved in getting Luca Zidane a starting spot in the XI. There’s no way he starts for them without serious strings being pulled behind the scenes. They’re risking an early World Cup exit and possibly losing out on millions of dollars."

Another stated: "He doesn’t even know how to do the simple basics of goalkeeping. [The] first goal was genuinely embarrassing, and he went and conceded an even worse goal the second time."

A third said: "Algeria's population is 48 million. Is it possible there's no better goalkeeper than this?" While a fourth commented: "There’s no way this guy goes professional without Zidane."

In the spring, Luca fractured his jaw and chin, while suffering a severe concussion, following a sickening collision during a match against Almeria. He subsequently missed the rest of the domestic season and had to have surgery.

Despite that injury, Luca was named in Algeria's 26-man squad for the World Cup. He hasn't fully recovered, though, and is only allowed to play while wearing a black mask that covers the perimeter of his face.

Luca gave an update on his injury ahead of the tournament. He said: “I’m doing well, I don’t have any pain anymore. The surgery went well and five weeks have passed now. I returned to training on the pitch two weeks ago and I’m very happy.”

Luca and Algeria will be looking to bounce back when they face Jordan in their next Group J match on Monday, June 22.

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