Paris, April 26:

France and Real Madrid midfielder Zinedine Zidane said on Tuesday he will retire after the World Cup.

Zidane helped France win the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 European Championship. He was FIFA’s World Player of the Year thrice in 1998, 2000 and 2003.

“I am stopping for good and I am stopping everything,” Zidane told Canal Plus television. “Most of all, I think it’s my body. I told myself that I can’t do another year.” Zidane, who had another year to run on his contract with Madrid, will turn 34 during the June 9-July 9 World Cup.

Zidane joined Madrid in 2001 from Juventus for a then-record fee of US$65 million. He led Madrid to the 2002 Champions League title, the 2002 European Super Cup and the 2003 Spanish league title.

But with his club without a trophy since, Zidane will play his last match at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium on May 7 against Villarreal. “I don’t want to start a third year knowing that I won’t be able to do better than I’ve done in the past,” Zidane said. “I’m getting to an age where it is getting harder and harder.”He said he wanted to focus on the World Cup — “my last objective” — and give Madrid time to find a replacement.