2003 in association football

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The following are the football (soccer) events of the year 2003 throughout the world.

• Confederations Cup: Host nation France wins a tournament marred by tragedy (see Deaths.)
• UEFA Champions League: AC Milan wins 3–2 on penalties over Juventus, after a 0–0 draw at Old Trafford. This was AC Milan's 6th European Cup.
• UEFA Cup: FC Porto wins 3–2 in the final against Celtic, after extra time, with a silver goal by Derlei. This is Porto's first UEFA Cup title.
• European Super Cup: AC Milan beats FC Porto 1–0, winning the cup for the 4th time.
• Copa Libertadores: Boca Juniors of Argentina won the cup for the fifth time against Santos of Brazil in a 5–1 aggregate.
• Recopa Sudamericana: Olimpia of Paraguay won 2–0 in the final against San Lorenzo of Argentina.
• FA Cup: Arsenal win 1–0 over Southampton
• FA Premier league – Manchester United wins the Premier League by 5 points over Arsenal.
• Women's World Cup: Germany wins the final against Sweden 2–1 after extra time.
• 22 January – Dutch club Sparta Rotterdam fires manager Dolf Roks, who is replaced on 7 February by former player Chris Dekker.
• 28 January – Head coach Robert Maaskant leaves Go Ahead Eagles and returns to RBC Roosendaal.
• 7 March – Mexican club Guadalajara appoints Hans Westerhof as their new technical director.
• 26 March – Manager Mike Snoei is fired by Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem to Ajax, and replaced by former player Edward Sturing.
• 17 June – Manchester United sells English football star David Beckham to Real Madrid for €35 million.
• 28 June – Italy's Piedmont wins the third UEFA Regions' Cup, beating France's Maine 2–1 in Heidenheim an der Brenz.
• 8 August – Satellite TV's Rupert Murdoch British Sky Broadcasting pay €510 million for transmission of FA Premier League seasons 2004–2007.
• 10 August – PSV wins the Johan Cruijff Schaal, the annual opening of the new season in the Eredivisie, by a 3–1 win over Utrecht in the Amsterdam ArenA.
• 25 September – Dutch club Zwolle sacks manager Peter Boeve.
• 1 October – Technical director Hans Westerhof is named head coach of Mexican club Guadalajara.
• 20 November – Manager Rinus Israël leaves ADO Den Haag and moves to Al Wahda in the United Arab Emirates. Lex Schoenmaker is his successor in The Hague.
• 28 November – In an Asian Cup qualifier between Iran and Lebanon, Ali Daei scores his 85th goal for the Iranian national team, breaking the record of Hungarian legend Ferenc Puskás.
• 14 December – Boca Juniors wins the Intercontinental Cup in Tokyo, Japan for the third time, by defeating Italy's AC Milan on penalties (3–1), after a 1–1 draw at the end of extra-time.

•  Algeria – USM Alger
•  Cameroon – Cottonsport Garoua
•  Ivory Coast – ASEC Mimosas
•  Egypt – Zamalek
•  Libya – Al-Ittihad
•  Mali – Stade Malien
•  Morocco – Hassania Agadir
•  Nigeria – Enyimba
•  Tunisia – Espéance

•  Hong Kong – Sun Hei
•  Iran – Sepahan
•  Japan – Yokohama F. Marinos
•  Qatar – Al-Sadd
•  South Korea – Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma
•  Thailand – BEC Tero Sasana

•  Croatia – Dinamo Zagreb
•  Denmark – Copenhagen
•  England – Manchester United
•  France – Lyon
•  Germany – Bayern Munich
•  Iceland – KR
•  Ireland: Shelbourne
•  Italy – Juventus
•  Netherlands
  • Eredivisie – PSV
  • Eerste Divisie – Den Haag
•  Portugal – Porto
•  Russia – CSKA Moscow
•  Serbia and Montenegro – Partizan
•  Spain – Real Madrid
•  Sweden
  • Allsvenskan – Djurgården
  • Svenska Cupen – Elfsborg
•  Turkey – Beşiktaş

•  Canada – Brampton Hitmen (CPSL)
•  Mexico
  • Clausura – Monterrey
  • Apertura – Pachuca
•  United States – San Jose Earthquakes (MLS)

• Argentina
  • 2002–03 Clausura – River Plate
  • 2003–04 Apertura – Boca Juniors
• Bolivia – Bolívar
  • Torneo Apertura – The Strongest
  • Torneo Clausura – The Strongest
• Brazil – Cruzeiro
• Colombia – Once Caldas
• Ecuador – LDU Quito
• Paraguay – Club Libertad
• Uruguay – Peñarol
• Club Alianza Lima

• UNCAF Nations Cup in Panama (9–23 February 2003)
  1.  Costa Rica
  2.  Guatemala
  3.  El Salvador
• Baltic Cup in Estonia (3–5 July 2003)
  1.  Latvia
  2.  Lithuania
  3.  Estonia
• Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (2–15 August 2003)
  • Men's Tournament
  1.  Argentina
  2.  Brazil
  3.  Mexico
  • Women's Tournament
  1. Brazil
  2. Canada
  3. Mexico
• FIFA U-20 World Cup in United Arab Emirates (27 November – 19 December 2003)
  1.  Brazil
  2.  Spain
  3.  Colombia
• FIFA U-17 World Championship in Finland (13–30 August 2003)
  1.  Brazil
  2.  Spain
  3.  Argentina
• Afro–Asian Games in Hyderabad, India (22–31 October 2003)
  1.  India
  2.  Uzbekistan
  3.  Zimbabwe

• 9 January – Ricardo Pepi, US international^[1]
• 18 January – Devyne Rensch, Dutch international^[2]
• 19 January – Ilaix Moriba, Guinean international^[3]
• 21 January – Hannibal Mejbri, Tunisian international^[4]
• 23 January – Arian Moreno, Venezuelan footballer^[5]
• 27 February – Juan Ignacio Cabrera, Uruguayan footballer^[6]
• 16 March – Killian Camélé, French professional footballer^[7]
• 23 March – Ísak Bergmann Jóhannesson, Icelandic international^[8]
• 4 April – Harvey Elliott, English footballer
• 12 April – Simon Ngapandouetnbu, Cameroonian footballer^[9]
• 19 April – Rareș Ilie, Romanian youth international^[10]
• 21 April – Xavi Simons, Dutch footballer
• 27 April – Zidane Iqbal, Iraqi international^[11]
• 1 May – Charlie Savage, Welsh international^[12]
• 2 May – Marcos Leonardo, Brazilian youth international^[13]
• 4 May – Florian Wirtz, German international^[14]
• 7 May – Kevin Paredes, US youth international^[15]
• 31 May – Benjamin Šeško, Slovenian youth international^[16]
• 1 June – Jan Kuźma, Polish professional footballer^[17]
• 2 June – Yusuf Demir, Austrian-Turkish footballer^[18]
• 11 June – Antonio Bokanovic, Austrian footballer^[19]
• 28 June – Brandon Aguilera, Costa Rican international
• 29 June – Jude Bellingham, English international^[20]
• 11 July – Vishva Shinde, Indian professional footballer^[21]
• 12 August – Martín Luciano, Argentine club footballer^[22]
• 2 September – Kauã (Kauã Jesus Tenório), Brazilian footballer^[23]
• 28 October – Antonio Miuțescu, Romanian professional footballer^[24]
• 5 November – Shea Charles, Northern Irish footballer^[25]
• 7 November – Milos Kerkez, Hungarian international^[26]

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• 10 January – Julinho (73), Brazilian footballer

• 26 February – Antoni Torres (59), Spanish footballer and manager
• 28 February – Albert Batteux (83), French footballer

• 17 April – Jean-Pierre Dogliani (60), French footballer
• 24 April – Gino Orlando (73), Brazilian forward, 9 times capped for the Brazil national football team.

• 10 May – Pepillo (69), Spanish footballer

• 26 June – Marc-Vivien Foé (28), Cameroonian footballer

• 31 July – John Aston, Sr., English defender, England squad member at the 1950 FIFA World Cup. (81)
• 31 July – Bigode, Brazilian defender, runner-up at the 1950 FIFA World Cup. (81)

• 1 August – Guy Thys (80), Belgian footballer and manager
• 8 August – Jimmy Davis (21), English footballer
• 13 August – Lothar Emmerich (61), German footballer
• 14 August – Helmut Rahn (73), German footballer
• 31 August – Pierre Cahuzac (76), French footballer

• 1 October – Cheung Yiu Lun (25), Hong Kong footballer

• 21 November – Emil Pažický (76), Slovak footballer

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