Photo: cerolene, https://www.flickr.com/people/81179433@N00/ / CC BY 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Chelsea sent 11 players to the 1998 World Cup in France and completed three transfers during the tournament itself, marking a defining moment in the club's modern history. Only Barcelona, with 13, had more representatives at the finals that summer.
Marcel Desailly was the headline signing. Chelsea managing director Colin Hutchinson negotiated the defender's move from AC Milan for £4.8 million, meeting club representatives at the Chelsea Village Hotel before flying to France to conclude the deal personally. Competing interest from Real Madrid, Manchester United, Lazio, Liverpool and Atletico Madrid had been reported.
Brian Laudrup signed on Saturday 6 June in Copenhagen, shortly after becoming a free agent following his departure from Rangers. The winger, formerly of Bayern Munich and Fiorentina, made his World Cup debut as a Chelsea player days later, providing the assist for the only goal as Denmark beat Saudi Arabia 1-0.
Albert Ferrer was the third pre-tournament acquisition. Hutchinson flew to Spain on Monday 8 June and spent six hours at the Nou Camp negotiating with Barcelona, agreeing a fee of £2.2 million for the experienced right-back. Hutchinson met Ferrer at Spain's training camp in Chantilly at midnight to conclude the deal, with then player-manager Gianluca Vialli speaking to Ferrer by phone to welcome him to the club.
Gianfranco Zola, who had scored the winning goal in Chelsea's 1998 Cup Winners' Cup final victory in Stockholm days earlier, did not make the Italy squad. Manager Cesare Maldini selected Alessandro Del Piero, Enrico Chiesa, Roberto Baggio, Christian Vieri and Filippo Inzaghi ahead of him. Zola would never play for Italy again.
Dan Petrescu scored the first-ever World Cup finals goal by a Chelsea player when his late strike gave Romania a 2-1 victory over England in Toulouse. The goal came against Glenn Hoddle, the manager who had brought Petrescu to Stamford Bridge.
'After the game Glenn came in our coach and congratulated me for my goal,' Petrescu said. 'Everybody was very surprised, especially my manager. I had a very good relationship with Glenn. For me, he was the best manager I had in my life. I'd wanted to go to him after the match, but didn't know what to say.'
Tore Andre Flo scored as Norway beat holders Brazil 1-0 in the group stage, then won an 88th-minute penalty that sealed the result. Norway advanced to the last 16 before losing 1-0 to Italy.
Frank Leboeuf and Desailly both featured in France's run to the title, starting the final together at the Stade de France. France beat Brazil 3-0, with Zinedine Zidane scoring twice. Desailly was sent off in the second half; Leboeuf remained on the pitch throughout.
'I knew that I was to be a reserve because I spoke to the manager when we played Norway in March, April,' Leboeuf said. 'He asked me if I was ready to do this job if Thuram, Blanc, Desailly were injured. That was no problem because I just wanted to be involved. I knew I had a destiny, and that destiny was to play in the Final.'
On Ronaldo, who played despite suffering a seizure on the day of the final, Desailly said: 'We were thinking only that they were trying to destabilise us, to worry us over whether he was playing or not. We were ready to play against him and if he didn't, unlucky for them. Ronaldo is one of the best players in the world but we kept our same four-man defence and we didn't put any players on him.'
Laudrup's time at Chelsea proved short-lived. He returned to Denmark to join FC Copenhagen in November 1998, five months after signing, having been unsatisfied with his playing time under Vialli. Ferrer, by contrast, spent five years at the club, making 113 appearances before retiring in 2003.
Pierluigi Casiraghi, signed in late May 1998 before the tournament began, suffered a career-ending knee injury 20 minutes into his 13th appearance for the club, away to West Ham United. He broke his anterior cruciate ligament, his posterior cruciate ligament and the connecting nerves. After almost two years and 11 surgeries, Casiraghi retired from football.
Chelsea finished second in the 1998-99 Premier League season behind Manchester United, their closest title challenge between winning the league in 1955 and 2005. Desailly went on to succeed Dennis Wise as club captain in 2001.