2006 World Cup Final Match

The final began on each side scoring within the first twenty minutes. Zinedine Zidane opened the scoring from changing a controversial seventh-minute penalty kick, which glanced off the underside of the crossbar and into the goal. Marco Materazzi and then leveled the scores in the nineteenth minute following an Andrea Pirlo corner. Some squads had chances to score the victorious goal in normal time: Luca Toni hit the crossbar in the thirty-fifth minute for Italy (he later had a header disallowed for off sides), although France weren't awarded a possible second penalty in the 53rd minute while Florent Malouda came down in the box after a tackle from Gianluca Zambrotta. They were not able to capitalize, however, and the score remained at one goal each.

At the end of the regulation 90 minutes, the score was still level at 1–1, and the match was forced into overtime. Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon made a possibly game-saving save in overtime while he tipped a Zidane heading over the crossbar. Further controversy ensued near the end of overtime, when Zidane head-butted Materazzi in the chest in an off-the-ball incident and was sent off. Overtime produced no more further goals and a penalty shootout followed, which Italy won 5–3. France's David Trezeguet, the man who scored the Golden Goal against Italy in Euro 2000, was the only player not to score his penalty; his spot kick hit the crossbar, landed on the goal line and got out. Them was the 1st all-European final since Italy's triumph over West Germany in the 1982 World Cup, and the 2d final, after 1994, to be decided with penalties. They were also Italy's 1st world championship in twenty-four years, and their 4th overall, making it the 2nd most successful World Cup squad of all time. The victory also helped Italy big top the FIFA World Rankings in February 2007 for the 1st time since November 1993.