France's Zinedine Zidane stands on the pitch during their World Cup 2006 final soccer match against Italy in Berlin in this July 9, 2006 file photo. [Reuters]

Zidane came first in a ranking of France's Top 50 personalities², beating ex-tennis champion Yannick Noah who came in the second place, and leaving singers Charles Aznavour and Johnny Hallyday, as well as actor Gerard Depardieu behind.

The footballer had already come first in a comparable survey by pollster Ifop six months ago.

Socialist³ presidential candidate Segolene Royal came in 23rd place, up from 49th in last July, and her likely conservative challenger for next year's election, Nicolas Sarkozy, came 42nd in the Ifop poll.

Sarkozy had not appeared on the list in July.

Both Royal and Sarkozy were overtaken by television star Nicolas Hulot, who has threatened to run for president unless mainstream⁴ politicians do more for the environment. He came third in the poll of 1,064 people.

Zidane was shown a red card 10 minutes before the end of extra time in the July 9 final after head butting⁵ Materazzi in the chest. That ensured he missed the penalty shootout that decided⁶ the match in Italy's favour.

The incident inspired the summer hit "Coup⁷ de Boule" (Head Butt) in France, and an Italian designer has come up with a line of sweatshirts with two stick figures depicting⁸ the incident printed on the back.