Did Zidane say he was ready to "vote a hundred times" for Messi?
Did Zidane really call the 39-year-old Messi the most deserving of the "Ballon d'Or" and the greatest football player in history? The source of the quotes, which caused discussion among millions of fans on the internet, was not found, and the publication that initially distributed them later deleted these words.
Did Zidane say he was ready to "vote a hundred times" for Messi?
On September 8, the Spanish newspaper Marca published an article containing comments about Lionel Messi attributed to the head coach of the France national team, Zinedine Zidane.
According to the publication's version, Zidane allegedly stated he was "ready to vote a hundred times" for the Argentine for the 2026 Ballon d'Or, called his performances at the age of 39 "extraordinary," and emphasized that doubting Messi's status as the greatest player in history is "not understanding football."
Marca did not specify the source of these words. There was no interview, no press conference, nor any audio recording in the text. On the very same day, relying on Marca, Goal, Yahoo, Gulf News, and many other influential publications republished and distributed these quotes.
A day later, these controversial quotes disappeared from the Marca website. The editorial office neither issued a retraction nor explained the reason for their removal. Zidane himself and the French Football Federation (FFF) remained silent on the situation.
The Swiss portal Watson, which distributed this material, suggested that Marca might have published unverified information. It was also suggested that the original source of the quote could be a parody account, automatically generated text, or an error in reporting.
The reason for such a sensation was not only the content of the quote but also the person to whom it was attributed. Zidane is a former Real Madrid player and coach, and a three-time Champions League winner alongside Cristiano Ronaldo. Barcelona and Messi, meanwhile, have been Real Madrid's main rivals for nearly two decades. When Zidane managed the Madrid club, he answered the question "Ronaldo or Messi?" differently: the best is the player who plays for Real Madrid.
For this reason, the talk about voting a hundred times for Messi and putting an end to the GOAT (greatest of all time) debate was perceived not just as a personal opinion, but as "changing camps." It was this conflict that caused the text to spread quickly and create a sensation.