Materazzi has said the confrontation began with repeated physical contact in the penalty area.
“There had been a bit of contact between us in the area,” he recalled. “After the third clash, I frowned and he retorted: ‘I'll give you my shirt later.’”
Materazzi’s reply became football folklore. Zidane’s headbutt followed in extra time, earning the French captain a red card and turning the final into a permanent debate about provocation, responsibility and the thin line between verbal combat and violence.
Materazzi has described his words as “stupid”, but maintained they did not justify Zidane’s response. His later clarification also challenged the most persistent version of the story.
The incident is often remembered as Materazzi’s defining contribution, yet his role in Italy’s triumph was far broader. He conceded the penalty that gave France an early lead, then equalised with a header before converting in the shootout.
His tournament had already been turbulent. He began as a substitute, entered after Alessandro Nesta’s injury and scored in the group stage. A red card against Australia then ruled him out of Italy’s quarter-final, before he returned for the semi-final and final.
That resilience mirrored a career that had rarely been straightforward.
Materazzi’s brief spell at Everton was similarly eventful. His lone season on Merseyside included disciplinary trouble and ended in tears after a dismissal, but it also gave the club a distinctive place in World Cup history.
He remains closely associated with Everton as the club’s only player to score in a World Cup final - a remarkable footnote to a career otherwise dominated by his years in Italy.
“My mother died while I was a teenager, I would never insult his,” Materazzi later said. As another anniversary of Berlin approaches, the next chapter of the story will likely revisit the same question: where does provocation end, and responsibility begin?