He began his career with local club Como in 1994, and gained prominence while playing for Bari, which earned him a transfer to Juventus in 1999.

During his seven seasons with the club, he won two consecutive Serie A and Supercoppa Italiana titles in 2002 and 2003, also reaching the 2003 UEFA Champions League final.

He was most notably a key member of the starting lineup of the Italian squad that won the 2006 World Cup, and he was selected in the Team of the Tournament for his performances.

He made his Serie A debut on 31 August 1997 in a 2–0 home defeat to Parma, and in his first year in the top flight, he played on the left wing and scored 2 goals in 27 appearances.

Zambrotta continued to shine and was the key figure for Bari's surprise start to the campaign, demonstrating his technical attributes and tactical intelligence and versatility.

After Zambrotta suffered an injury in the game against South Korea during the 2002 World Cup, he missed the beginning of the 2002–03 Serie A campaign.

Zambrotta remained a regular first team player as Juventus won their second consecutive Scudetto and reached the Champions League final, in which they were defeated by AC Milan in a penalty shoot-out after a goalless draw.

The following season, Juventus avenged the defeat by beating Milan to the 2003 Supercoppa Italiana on penalties, and also reached the 2004 Coppa Italia final, although they failed to retain their league title or progress in Europe.

[10] Zambrotta signed a four-year contract with Barça, where he joined Juventus teammate Lilian Thuram, who also left the club.

He formed defensive partnerships with the likes of Mark Iuliano, Paolo Montero, Ciro Ferrara, Thuram, Jonathan Zebina, Nicola Legrottaglie, Alessandro Birindelli, Fabio Cannavaro and Giorgio Chiellini.

[6][7] On 4 August 2006, after his holiday following the 2006 World Cup, Zambrotta reported to his new club Barcelona for the first time in Los Angeles, where Barça were staying for their pre-season tour in North America.

Zambrotta's official debut in Barça shirt was on 17 August against local rivals Espanyol in the first leg of the Supercopa de España.

[16] His move forced Milan right back Massimo Oddo to be loaned out to Bayern Munich for more chances to play regularly.

[17] Milan decided not to renew the contracts of several of their veteran players and Zambrotta was one of those along with Filippo Inzaghi, Mark van Bommel, Alessandro Nesta and Gennaro Gattuso.

[6][7] It was on tour with the under-21 team that Zambrotta earned the nickname "the Mermaid" for his allegedly spending one hour every night in front of the mirror grooming at his now trademark goatee.

[citation needed] After some impressive displays for the U21 and an excellent start to the 1998–99 season, Zambrotta earned his first senior cap on 10 February 1999, nine days before his 22nd birthday, in an 0–0 friendly draw with Norway.

[6][7][29] Due to his consistent performances, he featured in Italy's senior squad at UEFA Euro 2000 under manager Dino Zoff, in which they reached the final, with Zambrotta making four appearances throughout the tournament.

Zambrotta missed out on Italy's defeat at the hands of the defending world champions France in the final, however, after being sent off in the semi-final match against co-hosts Netherlands following a double booking.

[6][7] Under new manager Giovanni Trapattoni, Zambrotta also represented the Italy senior side at the 2002 World Cup,[31] where Italy were controversially eliminated in the round of 16 by co-hosts South Korea, on a golden goal;[6][7][32] during the second round defeat, Zambrotta was forced off the pitch with an injury following a hard, two-footed foul from Choi Jin-cheul in the second half of regulation time, and was replaced by Angelo Di Livio.

A Bernardo Corradi header was flapped out for Zambrotta's fierce volley into the roof of the net in the 89th minute while Italy won the game by 4–0.

This brought certain fears for the Italian squad and Lippi decided to keep Daniele Bonera on stand-by in case Zambrotta could not recover in time.

Medical ultrasonography scans on Zambrotta's thigh in the final days before Italy's first group match revealed that he would only miss the opening game against Ghana.

[41] In the quarter-final on 30 June, Italy defeated Ukraine 3–0, with Zambrotta scoring the opening goal after six minutes with a left-footed long-range shot after a one-two with Francesco Totti.

In the 69th minute, he dribbled down the left flank into the edge of the penalty area and passed the ball across to Luca Toni to score his second goal of the match.

Close to the end of the match, Romania was awarded a penalty, but Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon saved Mutu's shot, securing a 1–1 draw.

Italy, however, failed to progress past the first round, eliminated on goal differential after finishing level on points with the United States.

The match was initially delayed, and eventually abandoned after only six minutes due to crowd trouble, with the score at 0–0, after some of the Serbian fans had thrown flares onto the pitch; Italy were later handed a 3–0 victory by UEFA.

[6][58][59][60][61] His main attributes were his pace, marking ability, tackling, strength, intelligence, tenacity, discipline, and stamina, which allowed him to make surging, overlapping attacking runs with the ball up the flank after winning back possession.

[6][7][59][60][62][63] A dynamic, tenacious, athletic, and hard-working player, he was also gifted with good technique and ball skills, as well as an excellent crossing ability and a powerful shot from outside the area, which enabled him to contribute to his team's offensive plays.

[66] On 14 June 2017, Delhi Dynamos announced that they had mutually terminated their contract with Zambrotta as he prepared to take the role of assistant manager at CSL side Jiangsu Suning.