1981 in association football

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The following are the association football events of the year 1981 throughout the world.

• 1981 Copa Libertadores: Won by Flamengo after defeating Cobreloa on the playoff match 2–0.
• 1980–81 European Cup: Won by Liverpool FC after defeating Real Madrid in final match 1–0.
• World Club Championship: Won by Flamengo after defeating Liverpool FC on a single match 3–0.
• March 25 – Kees Rijvers makes his debut as the manager of Dutch national team with a 1–0 win in the World Cup Qualifier against France. One player makes his debut for the Dutch: defender Edo Ophof from Ajax Amsterdam.
• September 1 – Dutch striker Wim Kieft makes his debut for the Netherlands national football team in the friendly against Switzerland. It's the 400th game in the history of the Dutch national team.

• Qatar – Al-Sadd SC

•  Albania – KF Partizani Tirana
•  Austria – Austria Wien
•  Belgium – R.S.C. Anderlecht
•  Bulgaria – CSKA Sofia
•  Cyprus – AC Omonoia
•  Czechoslovakia – Baník Ostrava
•  Denmark – Hvidovre IF
•  East Germany – Dynamo Berlin
•  England – Aston Villa
•  Faroe Islands – HB Torshavn
•  Finland – HJK Helsinki
•  France – AS Saint-Étienne
•  Greece – Olympiacos F.C.
•  Hungary – Ferencváros
•  Iceland – Vikingur
•  Ireland – Athlone Town A.F.C.
•  Italy – Juventus
•  Luxembourg – Progrès Niedercorn
•  Malta – Hibernians F.C.
•  Netherlands
  • Eredivisie – AZ Alkmaar
  • Eerste Divisie – HFC Haarlem
•  Northern Ireland – Glentoran F.C.
•  Norway – Vålerenga IF
•  Poland – Widzew Łódź
•  Portugal – Benfica
•  Romania – Universitatea Craiova
•  Scotland – Celtic F.C.
•  Spain – Real Sociedad
•  Sweden – Östers IF
•  Switzerland – FC Zürich
•  Turkey – Trabzonspor
•  Soviet Union – FC Dynamo Kiev
•  West Germany – Bayern Munich
•  Yugoslavia – Red Star Belgrade

•  Mexico – UNAM
•  United States /  Canada –
  • Chicago Sting (NASL)

•  Australia – Sydney Slickers

•  Argentina
  • Metropolitano – Boca Juniors
  • Nacional – River Plate
•  Bolivia – Jorge Wilstermann
•  Brazil – Grêmio
•  Chile – Colo-Colo
•  Colombia – Atlético Nacional
•  Ecuador – Barcelona
• Paraguay – Olimpia Asunción
•  Peru – FBC Melgar
•  Uruguay – Peñarol
•  Venezuela – Deportivo Táchira

• Mundialito in Montevideo, Uruguay (December 30, 1980 – January 10, 1981)
  1.  Uruguay
  2.  Brazil
• 1981 British Home Championship (May 16–23, 1981)

Abandoned following severe civil unrest in Northern Ireland.

Date	Opponent	Final Score	Result	Competition	Venue
January 6	Italy	1–1	D	Mundialito	Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
February 22	Cyprus	3–0	W	World Cup Qualifier	Oosterpark Stadion, Groningen
March 25	France	1–0	W	World Cup Qualifier	De Kuip, Rotterdam
April 29	Cyprus	0–1	W	World Cup Qualifier	Makario Stadium, Nicosia
March 26	Switzerland	2–1	L	Friendly	Hardturm, Zürich
September 9	Republic of Ireland	2–2	D	World Cup Qualifier	De Kuip, Rotterdam
October 14	Belgium	3–0	W	World Cup Qualifier	De Kuip, Rotterdam
November 18	France	2–0	L	World Cup Qualifier	Parc des Princes, Paris

• Escape to Victory

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• January 1 – Mladen Petrić, Croatian international^[1]
• January 2
  • Hanno Balitsch, German footballer
  • Maxi Rodríguez, Argentine footballer
• January 9 – Ebi Smolarek, Polish international
• January 10 – James Coppinger, English club footballer
• January 15 – El Hadji Diouf, Senegalese international
• January 19 – Lucho González, Argentine international
• January 20 – Owen Hargreaves, Canadian-born English footballer
• January 21
  • Ivan Ergić, Serbian footballer
  • Roberto Guana Italian footballer
  • Mohd Amri Yahyah, Malaysian international
• January 23 – Lee Dong-geun, South Korean former footballer^[2]
• January 25
  • Rodrigo Calaça, Brazilian footballer^[3]
  • Dmitry Izvekov, former Russian professional footballer^[4]
• January 26 – Fernando Curcio, Uruguayan footballer^[5]
• January 28 – Thomas Schlieter, German footballer^[6]
• January 30
  • Dimitar Berbatov, Bulgarian footballer^[7]
  • Afonso Alves, Brazilian footballer
  • Peter Crouch, English footballer
• February 13
  • Durahim Jamaluddin, Malaysian international (d. 2018)
  • Liam Miller, Irish international (d. 2018)
• February 18 – Ivan Sproule, Northern Ireland international
• February 21 – Nery Fernández, Paraguayan former professional footballer^[8]
• February 23 – Gareth Barry, English footballer
• February 24
  • Felipe Baloy, Panamanian international
  • Mauro Rosales, Argentinian footballer
• February 25 – Park Ji Sung, South Korea footballer
• February 27 – Alessandro Rottoli, Italian professional footballer^[9]
• March 9 – Didi Longuet, former professional footballer^[10]
• March 10 – Samuel Eto'o, Cameroonian international^[11]
• March 15 – Aymen Mnafeg, Tunisian footballer^[12]
• March 16 – Johannes Aigner, Austrian footballer
• March 18 – Cristián Basaure, Chilean former footballer^[13]
• March 19
  • Maksim Arap, former Russian footballer^[14]
  • Matt Haddrell, English footballer^[15]
  • Kolo Touré, Ivorian footballer
• March 27 – Terry McFlynn, British footballer
• March 29 – Jlloyd Samuel, Trinidadian footballer (d. 2018)
• March 31 – Wolfgang Bubenik, Austrian footballer^[16]
• April 8 – Cédric Faivre, French professional football^[17]
• April 9 – Ireneusz Jeleń, Polish international
• April 12 – Nicolás Burdisso, Argentinian footballer
• April 29 – George McCartney, Northern Ireland international
• May 7 – Azrine Effendy Sa'duddin, Malaysian footballer^[18]
• May 8
  • Andrea Barzagli, Italian footballer
  • Sam Ketsekile, Mosotho footballer^[19]
  • Shimane Kgope Ntshweu, Botswana footballer
• May 13 – Carciano, Brazilian footballer^[20]
• May 15 – Patrice Evra, Senegalese-born French international
• May 27 – Johan Elmander, Swedish footballer
• May 31
  • Josefine Krengel, German footballer^[21]
  • Neddy Rose, Seychellois footballer^[22]
• June 4 – Giourkas Seitaridis, Greek international^[23]
• June 10 – Burton O'Brien, Scottish footballer
• June 13 – Danny Curran, English former footballer^[24]
• June 16 – David Buxo, Andorran footballer^[25]
• June 17 – Doddy Édouard, Mauritian footballer^[26]
• June 18 – Denis Shevelev, former Russian professional footballer^[27]
• June 21 – İbrahim Öztürk, Turkish club footballer
• June 22
  • Mathias Abel, German footballer
  • Péter Bajzát, Hungarian footballer
  • Ronald Spuller, Austrian retired professional footballer^[28]
• June 23 – Björn Schlicke, German youth international
• June 27
  • Jennifer Molina, Mexican female footballer
  • Jean-Renaud Nemouthé, French retired footballer^[29]
  • Cléber Santana, Brazilian footballer (d. 2016)
• June 30 – Irakli Toçi, Albanian retired footballer^[30]
• July 2 – Baptiste Lafleuriel, former French professional footballer^[31]
• July 10 – Aleksandar Tunchev, Bulgarian international
• July 14 – Khaled Aziz, Saudi Arabian midfielder
• July 16 – Paulo (Gideon Paulo da Silva), Brazilian footballer^[32]
• July 19 – Anderson Luiz de Carvalho, Brazilian club footballer
• July 20 – Damien Delaney, Irish footballer
• July 28 – Michael Carrick, English footballer
• July 30 – Bruno Parente, retired Portuguese footballer^[33]
• August 4 – Hadson da Silva Nery, Brazilian midfielder
• August 8  – Witold Sabela, Polish former professional footballer^[34]
• August 10 – Malek Mouath, Saudi Arabian footballer
• August 12 – Oliver Đokić, Serbian footballer^[35]
• August 21 – Benjamín Ruiz, Chilean footballer^[36]
• August 24 – Mickaël Germain, Guadelopean former professional footballer^[37]
• September 1
  • Mana Nopnech, Thai retired professional footballer^[38]
  • Maksim Rybalko, former Russian professional football player^[39]
• September 9 – Pacheta (Héctor Carrasco Rojo), Spanish professional footballer^[40]
• September 11 – Victor Kros, Dutch footballer
• September 22 – Alma Martinéz, Mexican female footballer
• September 23 – Jay Murray, English footballer^[41]
• October 1 – Ivan Semenets, former Russian professional footballer^[42]
• October 3
  • Zlatan Ibrahimović, Swedish footballer
  • Andreas Isaksson, Swedish football goalkeeper
  • Iván Pailós, Uruguayan footballer^[43]
• October 6 – Mikael Dorsin, Swedish footballer
• October 8 – Chris Killen, New Zealand international^[44]
• October 9 – Ryoichi Maeda, Japanese international^[45]
• October 12  - Shola Ameobi, Nigerian international
• October 13  - Koen Brack, Dutch footballer^[46]
• October 21  - Yohan Viola, Dominican Republic footballer^[47]
• October 23
  • Marcin Folc, Polish footballer^[48]
  • Olivier Occéan, Canadian international
• October 24 – Soeris Baidjoe, Dutch footballer^[49]
• October 28 – Milan Baroš, Czech footballer^[50]
• November 8 – Joe Cole, English footballer
• November 20
  • Espen Hoff, Norwegian footballer
  • İbrahim Toraman, Turkish international footballer
• November 21 – Martin van Leeuwen, Dutch footballer
• November 22 – Seweryn Gancarczyk, Polish international
• November 25 – Xabi Alonso, Spanish international
• December 3 – David Villa, Spanish footballer^[51]
• December 3
  • Ioannis Amanatidis, Greek footballer
  • Aleksandr Galakhov, former Russian professional footballer^[52]
• December 6 – Gil Ferreira, Brazilian footballer^[53]
• December 12 – Federico Tafani, Italian footballer^[54]
• December 20 – Leo Bertos, New Zealand international^[55]
• December 21 – Cristian Zaccardo, Italian international defender
• December 28 – Khalid Boulahrouz, Dutch footballer
• December 30 – Umar Karsanov, former Russian professional footballer^[56]
• December 31 – Dadi Mayuma, Congolese former footballer^[57]

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• January 29 – Lajos Korányi, Hungarian international (b. 1907)

• May 9 – Ralph Allen, English club footballer (b. 1906)
• May 14 – Michele Andreolo, Italian midfielder, winner of the 1938 FIFA World Cup. (68)

• June 21 – Alberto Suppici, Uruguayan midfielder, winner of the 1930 FIFA World Cup as manager. (82)

• August 15  – Carlo Buscaglia, Italian footballer (born 1900)

• September 22 – Néstor Carballo, Uruguayan international footballer (born 1929)

• October 9 – František Fadrhonc (66), Czech football manager (born 1914)

• November 3 – Eraldo Monzeglio, Italian defender, winner of the 1934 FIFA World Cup and 1938 FIFA World Cup. (75)

• December 4 – Zoilo Saldombide, Uruguayan striker, winner of the 1930 FIFA World Cup. (76)

• Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
• VoetbalStats (in Dutch)

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