‘Icons of Football’ — Behind the First-Time Conversation with Zidane, Beckham and Zlatan

Sports Illustrated

NEW YORK — Inside ZZ's Club, a swanky, members-only restaurant on the edge of Manhattan, guests trickled in for a night kicking off the final weekend of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Past a host stand, they were invited to pose in a vibrant blue portrait studio, erected under bright lights next to a wall adorned by emblems of EA SPORTS and Sports Illustrated, partners for the event. Up a staircase, the floor of a top-level lounge started to swell. Yet most had no idea what—or who— occupied the next room. A private space had been reserved for an unprecedented gathering of football legacy.

Not long before doors officially opened at the EA SPORTS™ Presents House of Football with Sports Illustrated activation, three legendary players arrived: A longtime England captain-turned-pro club owner, newly knighted by his country's king. A shamelessly himself Swede, immortalized as a prolific scorer, and now an overnight star broadcaster. A calm-and-collected French World Cup champion, who coached his former club to three-straight Champions League titles and will soon lead his national team.

One by one, they discreetly navigated the venue and made their way into another studio, this one backdropped by an illuminated sign: EA SPORTS PRESENTS ICONS OF FOOTBALL.

Behind closed doors, Sir David Beckham, Zlatan Ibrahimović and Zinedine Zidane sat down for a first-time, unscripted conversation, decades in the making. Less than 48 hours separated them from the biggest football match of the year—Spain's 1-0 defeat of Argentina in extra time—which bookended a World Cup complete with countless storylines.

Yet there aren't many players in history who've transformed into career authors quite like Becks, Zizou and Zlatan. Their approximate career totals, combined: 20 player of the year awards, 70 total club trophies, 345 international caps, 460 club wins, 750 goals and 1,665 club appearances.

"We speak the same language. We speak football," said Zidane, in French, seated between Ibrahimović and Beckham. "It's really wonderful to spend a little bit of time together—just the three of us. It's the first time."

The moment marked the closest in proximity all three have been since sharing the pitch during the 2004-05 Champions League, when a round-of-16 matchup pitted Zidane and Beckham's Real Madrid against Ibrahimović's Juventus.

"I won this game," said Ibrahimović, early in conversation, recalling Juve's 2-1 aggregate win. "David was also in that game. But we should not go so far back. That's what we said."

Of the three, Beckham is the connector—teammates with Zidane at Real from 2003 to 2006, and with Ibrahimović at Paris Saint-Germain in 2013, during the last five months of his 21-year career.

In his final match, Beckham and Ibrahimović stood over the ball and debated who would take a 36th-minute free kick from 25 yards out. Beckham, who holds the Premier League's all-time record for direct free-kick goals (18), is considered one of the greatest set-piece takers the game has seen. Zlatan didn't care.

"I was happy I could join your last game," Ibrahimović told Beckham. "Even if I stole the free kick from you … I told you to celebrate with me after the kick."

Ibrahimović stepped up and curled a shot that bounced off the goalkeeper's hand and into the net. He broke out his signature "God sign" celebration, arms outstretched to the sky, before Beckham jumped into them with a big smile on his face.

"You stole my free kick," said Beckham, shaking his head. "I was like, 'Please. Please.' I wanted you to miss … But I celebrated. I didn't mind."

In the 82nd minute, Beckham was subbed off the pitch for the final time, culminating his club career, dating back to 1992, with Manchester United, Preston North End, Real Madrid, Los Angeles Galaxy, AC Milan and PSG.

Beckham was also on the pitch for Zidane's last club appearance for Real in 2006. One of his favorite stories is from the training session before the match. Sitting in the dressing room, he saw Zidane walk toward him and braced for what the man of few words prepared to deliver. "David, I just want to say, it's been a pleasure playing with you for the last few years," Zidane told him, as Beckham once recalled.

"My affection for Zizou, I've always said—I've never played with a better player than this man," Beckham said. "I've played with a lot of the best players who've ever played this game. But with Zizou, it was special."

Ibrahimović didn't hold back either, despite having faced Zidane only in two legs of the ’04-05 Champions League.

"It's the first time I sit with Zinedine Zidane," he said. "For me, he's the elegance of football. What he did, what he represents—elegance above normality."

At 17, Zidane made his professional debut for Cannes, before starring for Bordeaux, where he became one of the best young players in France. After a move to Juventus, a pair of Serie A titles and back-to-back Champions League final appearances established Zidane as world-class. In 2001, Real Madrid made him the most expensive player in football history, paying €77.5 million to bring him to Spain.

In spite of his superstardom, much of Zidane's story is built upon the mystique of his calm demeanor—visible in the stillness of his first touch and complete composure under pressure.

"Zizou has always been a very quiet, very calm, very private person …" Beckham said, before Zidane jokingly cut in.

"That's what you think, David," Zidane said, laughing. "It's true, with social media today, everybody knows who we are. But when we're back at home, among our own, it's more intimate. Thank God for that. I remember my father, when he gave me my first soccer cleats—I slept with them next to me. These are stories that are very personal to us."

Ibrahimović recalled his more humble beginning. Born in Sweden to a Bosnian mother and Croatian father, his family moved often before settling in Malmö, where he'd play for his boyhood club and first pro team.

"I couldn't afford any shoes," Ibrahimović said. "My background is foreign. I was not a typical Swedish—big nose, brown eyes. Typical Swedish is blonde, blue eyes. I was not accepted in the system. To be accepted, I had to be better than my teammates. I just kept my discipline, and I worked."

At 19, he joined Ajax—a move he made, as the story goes, without telling his mother, who found out after seeing his picture on TV. Immediately, she called him in happy tears. After transforming into a global superstar, he’s now Sweden's all-time leading scorer, with 62 goals in 122 appearances. He also tallied nearly 500 total goals in his club career, which included stints with AC Milan, Inter Milan, FC Barcelona, Manchester United and Los Angeles Galaxy. He hung up his boots at age 41, playing longer than Zidane, who retired at 34, and Beckham at 38.

“For me, it's continuity,” Ibrahimović told Beckham and Zidane. “I challenged myself to bring my backpack to different countries, different clubs, to show who I am. I was always on the hunt to demonstrate who I was. I was not afraid of a challenge. Not one year, and then I disappeared. I was lucky, because I played until I was 41. That describes my legacy.”

Only Zidane boasts the distinction of World Cup champion. In the 1998 final, he scored twice as France beat Brazil 3-0 for the country's first-ever title.

"There was before the '98 World Cup, and after," Zidane said. "It changed everything—not just how I played, but my daily life. You go from a regular life to being in public, and it's complicated. It really changes your entire life."

Candidly, Beckham asked Zidane if he felt any pressure heading into the World Cup final he starred in.

“I never really felt a lot of pressure. All I wanted to do was get onto the pitch, and, as Zlatan says, you just want to show your game,” Zidane said. “The harder the game, the more significant the game was, the less I felt pressure.”

That same ’98 World Cup reshaped Beckham's life, too—yet, infamously. Sent off in a round-of-16 loss to Argentina, he took on the brunt of the blame as England exited on penalties. Tabloids ran headlines like, "10 Heroic Lions, One Stupid Boy." Effigies of him were burned and hung. Fans mailed bullets to his club. Beckham became, quite literally, the most hated man in his country.

"After the '98 World Cup, I had a tough few years," Beckham recalled. "How I came back from that, I think, people would say that's my defining moment."

He responded by helping Manchester United to a historic treble in 1998-99 and was named England captain in 2000, a role he'd hold for six years and 58 caps. The redemption arc completed in 2001, when he scored a 93rd-minute free kick against Greece that clinched England a spot in the 2002 World Cup. That goal is often cited as the moment his country finally forgave him.

"For me personally, I would say my defining moment was being content at the end of my career," Beckham told Zidane and Ibrahimović. "Being content with what I'd done—the teams, the players, the cultures I'd been around. I have no regrets."

As the conversation wound down, Zidane eloquently unified the moment between them. 

"It was great I was able to play against you, and with you," he said. "That's football—it's what we liked to do, and you'd feel that when we were on the pitch. We were happy. That's why I became a coach—I want to keep feeling that pleasure, seeing players right in front of me. It's what I used to do when I played … It's keeping things going."

Around 9 p.m., the party now in full swing, Beckham emerged from the tucked-away studio EA SPORTS and Sports Illustrated had created for the event’s “Icons of Football.” That term— “icon”— is an interesting one, subtly signifying something that’s set in stone, perhaps even untouchable. 

Yet, in finally sharing a room and conversation, Beckham, Ibrahimović and Zidane painted a picture of how each became the makers of their own myths—all of which still live on. 

Within the crowd, a hand reached out, tapping Beckham. It was U.S. men’s national team star Folarin Balogun, who asked to take a photo with one of the most iconic footballers ever. And, of course, Beckham obliged, with a smile.