World Cup: Zinedine Zidane's highlights from 1998 final

Zinedine Zidane is arguably the greatest player France have ever produced.

Michel Platini is perhaps the only other French footballer who can lay claim to being superior, although we’d always side with ‘Zizou’.

Throughout his glittering professional career, Zidane made the game look ridiculously easy with his slick movement, ambidexterity, sublime passing range and – most importantly – outrageously good first touch.

In his prime, no one could really lay a glove on the Real Madrid legend and it’s why he was named FIFA World Player of the Year on three separate occasions (1998, 2000 and 2003).

The first of those individual triumphs came shortly after his heroics at the World Cup.

In the 1998 edition of sport’s biggest tournament, Zidane dropped an absolute masterclass in the final to help Aime Jacquet’s side defeat Brazil 3-0 on home soil.

Zidane scored twice in the match that saw France win the World Cup for the very first time, with both of them headers from corner kicks.

But the graceful midfielder’s display was about far more than just goals. He was simply unplayable on the day, gliding past players with ease and creating chances for his teammates.

A short video clip containing Zidane’s highlights from the 1998 final between France and Brazil has gone viral on social media and believe us when we say the footage is a work of art.

1998 World Cup Final Zidane vs Brazil pic.twitter.com/h6QIKhIYXJ

Performances like that are why football is often referred to as ‘the beautiful game’.

A team containing the likes of Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Bebeto, Roberto Carlos, Cafu and Dunga was made to look distinctly average and that takes some doing.

Zidane’s Man of the Match display made him a national hero and he was duly rewarded with the