Argentina will open its 2026 World Cup campaign on Tuesday in Kansas against Argelia with Luca Zidane set to start in goal despite undergoing surgery for a fractured jaw and chin in April.
Zidane, 28, has seven caps for Argelia since switching his international allegiance late last year and arrives in Kansas with five clean sheets and only three goals conceded for the national side. At club level he found steady minutes with Granada, where he played 27 matches, conceded 33 goals and kept nine clean sheets during the season.
The selection gives Argelia a goalkeeper with recent form and tournament experience in warm-up fixtures: Zidane helped the side beat the Netherlands in Rotterdam and kept a clean sheet in a friendly against Uruguay in Torino. Those results are a key reason coach and supporters are willing to back him for a high-profile opener against Argentina.
Background explains some of the appetite for Zidane’s presence. Born in Aix-en-Provence and raised in Madrid, he came through Real Madrid’s youth system and made his first-team debut for Real on May 19, 2018. He won the 2015 UEFA Under-17 European Championship with France and played in that year’s FIFA Under-17 World Cup before changing federations to represent the country of his paternal grandparents.
The pick is not without friction. Zidane suffered a fractured jaw and chin after a collision with Óscar Naasei in a Granada-Almería match in April and required an operation. He returned to training on the pitch two weeks before speaking to Algerian media and has been wearing a black rigid protective mask that covers much of his forehead, cheeks and chin. Zidane told Algerian outlets that he had no pain, the operation went well, and he was happy to be back on the field five weeks after the procedure.
Those facts create a clear, testable tension for Tuesday: can a goalkeeper so recently operated on stand up to Argentina’s front line in a World Cup opener? Zidane’s international record—seven matches, five clean sheets—argues he has settled quickly into the Argelia setup, but the facial injury and the protective mask are immediate, visible reminders of how recent his recovery is.
Practical details matter for what fans should watch in Kansas. Zidane will wear the black protective mask that has become part of his image since April; beyond that, attention will focus on his command of the penalty area on crosses and set pieces, his distribution under pressure, and how he handles sustained attacking phases from Argentina. His club season at Granada and the two friendlies before the tournament supply the limited sample size on which Argelia is relying.
The single most consequential unanswered question heading into kickoff is straightforward: will Luca Zidane’s recent surgery and short lead-in time blunt his ability to manage Argentina’s attack in a match that will set the tone for both teams’ Group stage? The answer will arrive in Kansas on Tuesday, when the goalkeeper wearing the mask — and carrying the Zidane name — faces the sport’s highest stakes for his country.
