1976 in association football

The following are the football (soccer) events of the year 1976 throughout the world.

Events

 * Copa Libertadores 1976: Won by Cruzeiro after defeating River Plate on an aggregate score of 3–2.
 * September 15 – Dutch club Roda JC makes its European debut with a defeat (2–1) in Brussels against Belgium's R.S.C. Anderlecht in the second round of the Cup Winners Cup.

Asia

 * 🇶🇦 Qatar – Al-Rayyan SC

Europe

 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England – Liverpool
 * 🇫🇷 France – AS Saint-Étienne
 * 🇮🇹 Italy – Torino
 * 🇳🇱 Netherlands
 * Eredivisie – PSV Eindhoven
 * Eerste Divisie – HFC Haarlem
 * 🇵🇱 Poland – Stal Mielec
 * 🇪🇸 Spain – Real Madrid
 * 🇹🇷 Turkey – Trabzonspor
 * – Partizan

North America

 * 🇲🇽 – Club América
 * Toronto Metros-Croatia (NASL)
 * Toronto Metros-Croatia (NASL)

South America

 * 🇦🇷 Argentina:
 * Metropolitano – Boca Juniors
 * Nacional – Boca Juniors
 * 🇧🇷 Brazil: Internacional

International tournaments

 * African Cup of Nations in Ethiopia (February 29 – 14 1976)
 * 🇲🇦 morocco
 * 🇳🇬 nigeria
 * 1976 British Home Championship (May 6 – May 15, 1976)
 * 1976 British Home Championship (May 6 – May 15, 1976)


 * UEFA European Football Championship in Yugoslavia (June 16 – 20 1976)
 * AFC Asian Championship in Iran (June 3 – 13 1976)
 * 🇮🇷 iran
 * 🇨🇳 china
 * Olympic Games in Montreal, Canada (July 18 – 31 1976)
 * 🇵🇱 poland
 * 🇨🇳 china
 * Olympic Games in Montreal, Canada (July 18 – 31 1976)
 * 🇵🇱 poland
 * 🇵🇱 poland
 * 🇵🇱 poland

Births

 * January 3 – Joël Bouchoucha, French professional footballer
 * January 15 – Sunny Nwachukwu, Nigerian retired professional footballer
 * January 18 – Pavel Mareš, Czech international footballer
 * January 20 – Antti Kuismala, Finnish footballer
 * January 22 – Diego Penalva, French retired professional footballer
 * February 5 – John Aloisi, Australian international footballer
 * February 7 – Daisuke Oku, Japanese international footballer (died 2014)
 * February 13 – Maksim Proshin, former Russian professional football player
 * February 19 – Fernando Falce, Uruguayan professional football referee
 * February 26 – Mauro Lustrinelli, Swiss international footballer
 * February 28 – Uriel Pérez, former Uruguayan footballer
 * March 17 – Álvaro Recoba, Uruguayan international footballer
 * March 19 – Alessandro Nesta, Italian international footballer
 * March 20 – Sim Sung-chol, North Korean former footballer
 * March 26
 * Michael Frech, German former footballer
 * Sylvain Ovono, retired Cameroonian footballer
 * March 30 – Rustam Shelayev, former Russian professional footballer
 * April 1 – Clarence Seedorf, Dutch international footballer
 * April 10 – Adrian Čeman, Slovak footballer
 * April 20 – Aldo Bobadilla, Paraguayan footballer
 * April 23 – Darren Huckerby, English footballer and coach
 * April 27 – Walter Pandiani, Uruguayan footballer
 * April 28 – Patrik Brezina, Slovak retired footballer
 * May 2 – Amado Guevara, Honduran international footballer
 * May 3 – Beto, Portuguese international footballer
 * May 6 – Denny Landzaat, Dutch international footballer
 * May 19 – Segundo Matamba, Ecuadorian footballer
 * June 14 – Massimo Oddo, Italian international footballer
 * June 19 – Denis Koretskiy, former Russian footballer
 * June 23 – Patrick Vieira, French international footballer
 * June 24 – Ricardo Alexandre dos Santos, Brazilian international footballer
 * July 1
 * Ruud van Nistelrooy, Dutch international footballer
 * Patrick Kluivert, Dutch international footballer
 * July 5 – Nuno Gomes, Portuguese international footballer
 * July 10 – Lars Ricken, German international footballer
 * July 13 – Yevgeni Zhelyakov, Russian professional football coach and former player
 * July 16 – Carlos Humberto Paredes, Paraguayan footballer
 * July 17
 * Anders Svensson, Swedish international footballer
 * Marcos Senna, Spanish international footballer
 * July 21 – Giovanni Seynhaeve, retired Belgian footballer
 * July 22 – Roman Baranov, Russian football coach and former player
 * July 26 – Danny Ortiz, Guatemalan footballer (died 2004)
 * August 6 – Paweł Gamla, Polish former professional footballer
 * August 11 – Tõnis Kalde, Estonian international footballer
 * August 19 – Stephan Schmidt, German footballer and manager
 * August 24
 * Björn van der Doelen, Dutch footballer
 * Nordin Wooter, Surinamese-Dutch youth international
 * August 26 – Giovanni Naboth, Mauritian footballer
 * August 27 – Ysrael Zúñiga, Peruvian footballer
 * August 28 – Federico Magallanes, Uruguayan international footballer
 * August 29 – Jon Dahl Tomasson, Danish international footballer
 * September 18 – Ronaldo, Brazilian international footballer
 * September 20 – Lewis Coady, English former professional footballer
 * September 26 – Michael Ballack, German international footballer
 * September 27 – Francesco Totti, Italian international footballer
 * September 29 – Andriy Shevchenko, Ukrainian international footballer
 * October 4 – Mauro Camoranesi, Italian international footballer
 * October 26 – Ralf Oehri, Liechtensteiner former association footballer
 * October 28 – Martin Lepa, Estonian footballer
 * November 2 – Dúber Zapata, Peruvian retired footballer
 * November 26 – José Pablo Burtovoy, Argentine footballer
 * December 3 – Eran Shainzinger, Israeli footballer
 * December 22 – Yuri Kolchin, former Russian footballer
 * December 25 – Atko Väikmeri, Estonian footballer
 * December 29 – Viktor Pyatanov, former Russian footballer
 * December 31 – Yevgeni Fedotov, Russian professional football coach and former player

November

 * November 3 – Giuseppe Cavanna, Italian goalkeeper, winner of the 1934 FIFA World Cup. (70)

December

 * December 25 – Conduelo Píriz, Uruguayan midfielder, winner of the 1930 FIFA World Cup. (71)