Bloated by eight teams to 32, the 1998 tournament in France underscored the World Cup's position as the king of sports events. The 64 matches were watched by an estimated 36 billion people on TV.
Aime Jacquet's France gathered unstoppable momentum as the tournament progressed before defeating Brazil 3-0 in a one-sided final.
The star of the show for France was Zinedine Zidane, who bounced back from the shame of a red card against Saudi Arabia early in the competition to score two goals in the final.
Brazil's campaign ended in mystery, with star player Ronaldo excluded from the team-sheet for the final in favour of Edmundo. Minutes before kick-off, however, Edmundo was replaced by Ronaldo. It later emerged Ronaldo had had a fit in his hotel room hours before the match, leading many to question why he had been allowed to play.
Final: France 3-Brazil 0
1998 WORLD CUP LEGEND
A shy boy born to Algerian parents in the Marseille suburbs, Zinedine Zidane led his country to their first World Cup triumph in 1998.
Sinewy playmaker with an almost balletic grace, he made his international bow in August 1994 as Les Bleus sought to rebuild after failing to qualify for that year's World Cup in America.
Four years later he had become the team's creative fulcrum and he scored two uncharacteristic headers as France defeated Brazil 3-0 in the Paris final.
Won the 2000 European Championship with France and became the world's most expensive footballer when he joined Real Madrid from Juventus for around 75 million euros the year after.
Coaxed out of international retirement for the 2006 World Cup, Zidane rolled back the years to inspire France to the final but was sent off for headbutting Italy's Marco Materazzi and never played football again.
1998 WORLD CUP SCORERS
Davor Suker (CRO) 6
Gabriel Batistuta (ARG) 5
Christian Vieri (ITA) 5
Marcelo Salas (CHI) 4
Ronaldo (BRA) 4
Luis Hernandez (MEX) 4
1998 WORLD CUP TRIVIA
- The 1998 World Cup saw the retirement of FIFA president Joao Havelange after 24 years. Swiss official Sepp Blatter was elected as his replacement after a bitter election battle with UEFA's Lennart Johansson.
- Croatia's Robert Prosinecki became the only player to score goals for different countries at the World Cup. His goal against Jamaica followed one for Yugoslavia against the United Arab Emirates at the 1990 finals.
- Denmark's Ebbe Sand wrote his way into the history books with the fastest goal by a substitute, scoring just 16 seconds after coming on in the 4-1 victory over Nigeria.
- The 22 red cards brandished in France eclipsed the previous highest total of 16 set at Italia '90. Cameroon's Rigobert Song became the only player to have been sent off at a World Cup more than once. His red card against Chile followed an expulsion against Brazil in 1994.
1998 WORLD CUP WINNING SQUAD
France
Goalkeepers: Fabien Barthez, Bernard Lama, Lionel Charbonnier
Defenders: Laurent Blanc, Marcel Desailly, Franck Leboeuf, Lilian Thuram, Vincent Candela, Bixente Lizarazu
Midfielders: Alain Boghossian, Emmanuel Petit, Didier Deschamps, Patrick Vieira, Christian Karembeu, Zinedine Zidane
Strikers: Youri Djorkaeff, Robert Pires, Bernard Diomede, David Trezeguet, Christophe Dugarry, Stephane Guivarc'h, Thierry Henry