First Look: adidas Predator 26 x Zidane

Thirty years after Zinedine Zidane first signed with adidas, one of football's great player-and-boot relationships gets another chapter.

The adidas Predator Elite Tongue x Zidane FG takes the familiar Predator 26 and gives it a Zizou finish for 2026. White covers almost the whole boot, metallic gold picks out the details, the French Tricolore runs through the Three Stripes and references to Zidane's career sit across the tongue and heel. What a way to celebrate 30 years together.

Trente Ans de Zizou

Zidane's adidas story began in 1996, and Predator stayed with him through the football that built the legend. Accelerator and France '98. Precision through EURO 2000 and into his Real Madrid years. Then the gold Predator Absolute at the 2006 World Cup, a pair Zidane later said he still keeps back home in Marseille.

He has spoken about that loyalty himself, saying adidas gave him the option to wear different boots but he continued to choose Predator. Thirty years on, it is difficult to think of Zinedine Zidane football boots without the fold-over tongue and Three Stripes somewhere in the picture.

The anniversary is marked directly on the new colourway. A large '30' sits on the tongue, while 'ZI30U' folds the number into the Zizou nickname. They are small references rather than the whole design, which feels right for a boot this clean.

Bleu, Blanc, Rouge... et Or

White does most of the work here. Against it, metallic gold lands across the detailing without turning the boot into another full-gold Zidane tribute. The Three Stripes carry the French connection, adding blue and red against the white upper for a neat bleu, blanc, rouge finish.

There is plenty of Zidane history in those colours. Marseille, Les Bleus, two headers in the 1998 World Cup final, EURO 2000, then Madrid in white. adidas has not tried to squeeze every chapter onto the upper, but the palette does enough of the talking.

La Volée

The heel goes back to Glasgow in 2002. Roberto Carlos hangs the ball towards the edge of the Bayer Leverkusen box, Zidane waits for it to drop and meets it first time with his left foot. Top corner. Champions League final. One of those goals that barely needs the YouTube link.

That movement is picked out in a graphic across the heel of the adidas Predator x Zidane. The goal has appeared on previous Predator tributes too, but it remains the obvious reference point. Few moments connect Zidane, Real Madrid and Predator more cleanly.

Un Mot de Zizou

The presentation carries the anniversary through to the box. The white-and-gold Predator arrives in gold packaging with a note from Zidane inside, giving the release the feel of a proper signature edition rather than simply another colour change late in the Predator 26 cycle.

There is enough here for the collectors, but the references are all football references. France. Madrid. The volley. Thirty years in Predator. Très Zizou.

The adidas Predator Elite Tongue x Zidane FG is available in limited numbers at Pro:Direct Soccer. Explore the latest adidas Predator football boots or browse all adidas football boots.