Chelsea are one of the biggest and best clubs in the world. They have won six English top-flight titles, 13 major domestic cups, as well as two UEFA Champions Leagues and two FIFA Club World Cups. Indeed, they are the only side in world football to have a complete set of UEFA trophies, having won the UCL, the Europa League, the Conference League, the (now-defunct) Cup Winners’ Cup, and the UEFA Super Cup as well.
Such success can only be built with great players, and over the years the Blues have had many of those. Club legends such as Ron Harris, Bobby Tambling and, more recently, Frank Lampard and John Terry, will always be held dear by fans, but our focus here is on Chelsea players who have won the World Cup.
1966 and All That
The historical year of 1966 seems as good a place as any to start. Back then there were very few foreign players in English football but, of course, England themselves provided the Blues with a healthy crop of World Cup winners.
Only Ron Harris played for Chelsea more times than Peter Bonetti, the latter also firmly in the “club legend” camp. The Cat did not make an appearance at the home World Cup of 1966, with Gordon Banks the clear number one. However, he did receive a winner’s medal – even if it took a campaign of around 43 years for him to get one! Back then, only the 11 players on the pitch at the end of the final were given one, so he was awarded his by then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown in 2009.
We’re deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Peter Bonetti.
Peter was part of our @FIFAWorldCup-winning squad and represented the #ThreeLions seven times.
Our thoughts are with his family, friends and supporters at this time. pic.twitter.com/ubLepqA2yB
— England (@England) April 12, 2020
He was the only Chelsea player in the squad but another famous member of the ‘66 group also had a strong connection with the Stamford Bridge side. Jimmy Greaves was a Spurs player at the time of the tournament but he had already scored 132 goals (from just 169 matches) for Chelsea before that. As such, we think it is more than fair to include him among the club’s World Cup heroes.
Current Hero – Enzo Number Nine
Fast-forwarding to the present day, Chelsea do, of course, have a World Cup champion among the 2025/26 squad. Enzo Fernandez was signed by the Blues for over £100m, then a British transfer record, in January 2023. The move came shortly after the brilliant midfielder had helped Argentina win the 2022 World Cup.
Fernandez played all seven games in the 2022 World Cup, starting five times and including 120 minutes in both the final and the quarter final. He scored against Mexico in the group phase and added a further assist in the next match against Poland. He was named the tournament’s best young player and joined an elite group of World Cup winners signed by the Blues.
The Argentine dynamo became the ninth player the club had signed as a World Cup winner. Following are are the other eight.
Didier Deschamps
Chelsea have had a bit of a thing for French world champions, as we shall see, and Deschamps is a true hero for his nation. He played for them 103 times and won the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 Euros as a player. He then managed Les Bleus to glory in the 2018 World Cup, as well as taking them to the final of the following tournament and the 2016 Euros. Deschamps only played one season at Stamford Bridge, though he did help the club win the 1999/2000 FA Cup.
Emmanuel Petit
Petit was playing for some north London side when he won the World Cup in 1998. However, after a short stint at Barca, he joined Chelsea as a World Cup winner in 2001. He played 76 times for Chelsea, spread over three seasons. Injuries called time on his career and he was unable to add any silverware to his personal collection with the Blues.
Juliano Belletti
Some players on this list made a bigger impact with their country and with Chelsea than others. Defender Belletti, now a coach, didn’t have a particularly distinguished career with either Brazil or Chelsea. Even so, most of us would take 23 caps for our nation and a club career that took in Barcelona and the Blues. He won the 2002 World Cup, too, though he played just five minutes. Still, he won silverware almost everywhere he went, including the 2009/10 PL in west London.
Marco Amelia
Top marks if you knew this one. Marco Amelia “won” the World Cup with Italy in 2006. Their third-choice stopper, he eventually earned nine caps for his country. That was nine more appearances than he made for Chelsea, having signed as emergency cover in October 2015.
Fantastic Four from 2010
Spain won the World Cup for the first time in 2010 and Chelsea would go on to sign four of the players who helped them to that glorious achievement. Of the quartet, it was undoubtedly Cesc Fabregas who had the biggest impact at Stamford Bridge.
Signed from Barcelona in June 2014 for almost £30m, the classy midfielder won two PL titles, an FA Cup, EFL Cup and the 2018/19 Europa League with the Blues. He played almost 200 times for Chelsea, scoring 22 goals.
The move for Fernando Torres was less successful. The Blues signed the striker from Liverpool in January 2011 and paid a British record £50m for the former Atletico prodigy, but he was unable to reproduce his Liverpool form in London. 172 games brought 45 goals across four separate seasons. Torres did, however, win the FA Cup, the Champions League and the Europa League while at the club.
Juan Mata joined the club around seven months after Torres, the latter persuading the Valencia man to come to the Bridge. Mata scored a decent 33 times in 135 games for the Blues and it was his corner that Didier Drogba converted to equalise in the 2012 UCL final. Mata missed his penalty in the shootout but the next four Chelsea men converted and Mata’s trophy haul with the Blues was identical to that of Torres.
The final of the four Spaniards from 2010 to join Chelsea was Pedro. The attacker, still active in the 2025/26 season with Lazio, played 206 times for Chelsea, netting 43 goals. One of those was in the 2018/19 Europa League final win over Arsenal. Pedro was solid for the club, having signed in August 2015, and also won the PL and FA Cup while in England.
Five to Have Won World Cup “With” Chelsea
As well as the two Englishmen to have won the World Cup and played for Chelsea, and the nine past champions the club has signed, there have been a healthy five players to have lifted the famous gold trophy while signed to the Blues. These are:
- Marcel Desailly – rock of a centre back played 116 times for France and won the 1998 World Cup, having agreed to join Chelsea just before the tournament began
- Frank Leboeuf – Desailly’s partner at centre back for the 1998 final, Leboeuf joined Chelsea in 1996
- Andre Schurrle – German joined the Blues in 2013 and won the 2014 World Cup
- N’Golo Kante – joined from Leicester and helped the club win a lot of silverware, as well as landing the World Cup with France in 2018
- Olivier Giroud – joined Chelsea in January 2018 and won the World Cup later that year. Capped 137 times by France