Zidane put France ahead on seven minutes with a coolly-taken chipped penalty, after Florent Malouda had won the spot-kick with a theatrical fall inside the Italy penalty box.

Italy responded magnificently and were soon on level terms. Andrea Pirlo floated in a corner and Materazzi made amends for his part in the penalty drama by outjumping Vieira to bury his header on 19 minutes.

The equaliser was just reward for a positive first-half performance from Italy, where Gennaro Gattuso and Andrea Pirlo effectively controlled the game from central midfield.

Playing his last game before retiring, Zinedine Zidane's career ended in disgrace after he was sent off with 10 minutes left of extra-time for crazily headbutting Marco Materazzi.

After the extra-time, the two teams drew 1-1 and entered a penalty shoot-out. Pirlo, Materazzi, Daniele de Rossi, Alessandro Del Piero and Grosso made no mistake to secure the World Cup trophy for Italy.

It was the first time Italy had won a penalty shoot-out in four attempts and it handed coach Marcello Lippi's men a fourth World Cup crown to set alongside victories in 1934, 1938 and 1982.