1972 in association football

The following are the football (soccer) events of the year 1972 throughout the world.

Events

 * 24 May – Copa Libertadores 1972: Won by Independiente after defeating Universitario de Deportes on an aggregate score of 2-1.
 * 11 May – Ajax Amsterdam claims the Dutch Cup by defeating FC Den Haag: 3-2.
 * 12 October – the 1972–73 Honduran League was canceled due to economic problems.
 * 18 November 1972 –1972 Scotland v England women's football match

Asia

 * 🇶🇦: Al-Sadd SC

Europe

 * Vejle BK
 * Magdeburg
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿: Derby County
 * 🇫🇷: Olympique de Marseille
 * 🇭🇺: Újpest FC
 * 🇮🇹: Juventus
 * Ajax Amsterdam
 * Zorya Voroshilovgrad
 * 🇪🇸: Real Madrid
 * 🇹🇷: Galatasaray S.K.
 * Bayern Munich

North America

 * 🇲🇽: Cruz Azul
 * New York Cosmos (NASL)
 * New York Cosmos (NASL)

South America

 * San Lorenzo - Metropolitano
 * San Lorenzo - Nacional
 * 🇧🇷: Palmeiras
 * 🇧🇷: Palmeiras

International tournaments

 * African Cup of Nations in Cameroon (February 23 – March 5, 1972)
 * 🇲🇱 mali
 * 🇨🇲 cameroon
 * 1972 British Home Championship (May 20 – May 27, 1972)
 * Shared by 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england and
 * Shared by 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 england and


 * UEFA European Football Championship in Belgium (June 14 – 18 1972)
 * 🇧🇪 belgium
 * Olympic Games in Munich, West Germany (August 26 – September 10, 1972)
 * 🇵🇱 poland
 * 🇭🇺 hungary
 * and
 * 🇭🇺 hungary
 * and

Births

 * January 1 – Lilian Thuram, French international footballer
 * January 2 – Eduardo Pereira, Timorese footballer
 * January 3 – Manuel Martínez, Mexican international footballer
 * January 5 – Richard Sosa, Uruguayan former footballer
 * January 8
 * Paul Clement, English footballer, coach, and manager
 * Giuseppe Favalli, Italian footballer
 * Esteban Valencia, Chilean international footballer
 * January 11 – Huub Loeffen, Dutch footballer
 * January 16
 * Ruben Bagger, Danish footballer
 * Yuri Alekseevich Drozdov, Russian footballer
 * Ezra Hendrickson, Vincentian footballer
 * Alen Peternac, Croatian footballer
 * January 29
 * Artur Belotserkovets, Russian former professional footballer
 * Joseph Oosting, Dutch footballer
 * February 11 – Steve McManaman, English international footballer
 * March 2 – Mauricio Pochettino, Argentine football player and manager
 * March 3
 * Darren Anderton, English international footballer
 * Karel Poborský, Czech international footballer
 * March 17 – Mia Hamm, American women's soccer player
 * March 23 – Daniel Prodan, Romanian international footballer (died 2016)
 * March 28 – Péter Lipcsei, Hungarian footballer
 * March 29 – Rui Costa, Portuguese footballer
 * April 28 – Jean-Paul van Gastel, Dutch footballer
 * April 28 – Wilmer Velásquez, Honduran international footballer
 * May 8 – José Alberto Guadarrama, Mexican footballer
 * May 10 – Radosław Majdan, Polish goalkeeper
 * May 13 – Gytis Padimanskas, Lithuanian professional footballer
 * June 15 – Marcus Hahnemann, American soccer player
 * June 23 – Zinedine Zidane, French international footballer
 * August 7 – Goran Vlaović, Croatian footballer
 * August 30 – Pavel Nedvěd, Czech international footballer
 * September 8 – Markus Babbel, German international footballer and manager
 * September 9 – Alexandre Clot, retired Swiss footballer
 * September 10 – João Carlos dos Santos, Brazilian international footballer
 * September 10 – Mariano Bombarda, Spanish footballer
 * October 1 – Jean Paulo Fernandes, Brazilian footballer
 * November 2 – Derlis Gómez, Paraguayan footballer
 * November 2 – Darío Silva, Uruguayan footballer
 * November 4 – Luís Figo, Portuguese international footballer
 * November 11 – Nurmat Mirzabaev, Kazakhstani footballer
 * December 11 – Andriy Husin, Ukrainian international footballer and coach (died 2014)
 * December 16 – Aleksei Morochko, former Russian footballer
 * December 22 – Claudio Guerra, former Uruguayan footballer
 * December 29 – Losseni Konaté, Ivorian footballer
 * December 31 – Roberto Baldassari, retired Swiss footballer

Deaths

 * June 9 – Caesar ten Cate, Dutch international footballer (born 1890)
 * September 16 – Jan de Natris (76), Dutch international footballer (born 1895)