1988 in association football

The following are the association football events of the year 1988 throughout the world.

Events

 * March 27 – Cameroon wins the 1988 African Cup of Nations by defeating Nigeria: 1–0. The only goal in Casablanca's Stade Mohammed V is scored by Emmanuel Kundé from a penalty kick.
 * June 25 – Thanks to goals from captain Ruud Gullit and top goalscorer Marco van Basten, the Netherlands defeat the Soviet Union (2–0) in the final of UEFA Euro 1988 in Munich.
 * July 12 – Italian club Juventus receive The UEFA Plaque in Geneva (Switzerland) as first club in European football history to win the three main UEFA club competitions.
 * 1988 Copa Libertadores – won by Nacional after defeating Newell's Old Boys on an aggregate score of 3–1.
 * England – FA Cup – Wimbledon won 1–0 over Liverpool.
 * The Football League celebrates its Centenary.
 * With great surprise worldwide FIFA gives the 1994 FIFA World Cup to United States.
 * August 24 – The Faroe Islands record their first international victory, defeating Canada 1–0.
 * September 14 – Thijs Libregts makes his debut as the manager of Dutch national team with a 1–0 win over Wales, replacing successful coach Rinus Michels.
 * October 1 – Soviet Union wins the Olympic gold medal in football by defeating Brazil: 2–1 after extra time in Seoul's Olympic Stadium.
 * December 11 – Uruguay's Nacional wins the Intercontinental Cup in Tokyo, Japan by defeating Dutch PSV Eindhoven on penalties (7–6), after the match ended in 2–2.

International tournaments

 * African Cup of Nations in Morocco (March 13 – 27 1988)
 * 🇨🇲 cameroon
 * 🇳🇬 nigeria
 * Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea (September 17 – October 1, 1988)
 * 🇧🇷 brazil
 * UEFA European Football Championship in West Germany (June 10 – 25 1988)
 * and 🇮🇹 italy
 * UEFA European Football Championship in West Germany (June 10 – 25 1988)
 * and 🇮🇹 italy
 * and 🇮🇹 italy
 * and 🇮🇹 italy
 * and 🇮🇹 italy

January

 * 1 January:
 * Diego Basto, Colombian footballer
 * Sékou Fadiga, Ivorian footballer
 * 3 January: Crispin Olando, Kenyan international footballer
 * 4 January:
 * Anestis Argyriou, Greek footballer
 * Maximilian Riedmüller, German footballer
 * 8 January:
 * Vitaliy Hoshkoderya, Ukrainian footballer
 * Adrián López, Spanish footballer
 * Michael Mancienne, English footballer
 * 9 January: Marc Crosas, Spanish footballer
 * 13 January: Daniel Scheinig, German footballer
 * 20 January:
 * Uwa Elderson Echiéjilé, Nigerian international
 * Jougle (Jougle Manoel Rodrigues), Brazilian footballer
 * Jeffrén Suárez, Spanish footballer
 * 23 January: Marko Šimić, Croatian junior international
 * 28 January: Alaa Ali, Egyptian footballer (d. 2019)
 * 29 January: Bohdan Karkovskyi, Ukrainian former professional footballer

February

 * 3 February: Pouria Gheidar, Iranian footballer
 * 4 February: Sergei Yuvenko, Russian professional football player
 * 12 February:
 * Linda Bengtsson, Swedish footballer
 * Nicolás Otamendi, Argentine international football player
 * 23 February: Nicolás Gaitán, Argentine international football player
 * 24 February: Levi Hanssen, New Zealand/Faroe Islands footballer
 * 26 February: İsmail Baydil, Turkish footballer
 * 28 February: Jorge Gastélum, Mexican footballer
 * 29 February:
 * Mikel Balenziaga, Spanish footballer
 * Fabiano Ribeiro de Freitas, Brazilian footballer
 * Scott Golbourne, English footballer
 * Benedikt Höwedes, German footballer
 * Viktor Prodell, Swedish footballer
 * Evgeni Cheremisin, Russian footballer
 * Hamza Ziad, Algerian footballer

March

 * 3 March: Eike Mund, German footballer
 * 18 March: Matthieu Onoseke, Democratic Republic of the Congo footballer
 * 11 March: Joaelton (Joaelton Jonathan Sampaio), Brazilian footballer
 * 12 March: Aarón Torlà, Spanish footballer
 * 21 March: Lee Cattermole, English footballer

April

 * 2 April: Edinaldo (Edinaldo Malcher de França Filho), Brazilian footballer
 * 3 April: Tim Krul, Dutch international
 * 11 April: Oleg Sibalov, Russian professional football player
 * 12 April: Fred Santana, Brazilian footballer

May

 * 2 May; Ahn Il-joo, South Korean professional footballer
 * 4 May:
 * Artur Gieraga, Polish footballer
 * Michael Ludäscher, Swiss footballer
 * 6 May: Maximilian Pfaffinger, German former footballer
 * 12 May: Araújo (Rodrigo Araújo Gomes Costa), Brazilian footballer
 * 14 May: Kumron Chinsri, Thai professional footballer
 * 15 May: Ruslan Tarala, former Russian professional footballer
 * 17 May: Jennison Myrie-Williams, English youth international
 * 21 May: Jonny Howson, English footballer
 * 23 May: Angelo Ogbonna, Italian footballer
 * 25 May: Adrián González Morales, Spanish junior international
 * 29 May:
 * Łukasz Bocian, Polish footballer
 * Alex Porfirio, Brazilian footballer

June

 * 1 June: Javier Hernández, Mexican international football player
 * 9 June: Martín Castillo, Mexican professional footballer
 * 15 June: Cristopher Toselli, Chilean footballer
 * 22 June: Silvio Arango, Colombian former footballer
 * 23 June: Adrian Chomiuk, Polish footballer
 * 24 June: Micah Richards, England international footballer

July

 * 2 July: Abderahmane Hachoud, Algerian international footballer
 * 6 July: Gustavo Mencia, Paraguayan footballer
 * 8 July:
 * Enoch Oteng, Belgian footballer
 * Cédric De Troetsel, Belgian retired footballer
 * 11 July: Bongane Twala, South African footballer
 * 18 July: Elvin Mammadov, Azerbaijani international
 * 19 July: Azrul Azmi, Malaysian footballer

August

 * 1 August: Yousef Al-Reshedi, Saudi Arabian footballer
 * 5 August: Eddie Nolan, Irish international footballer
 * 6 August: José Márquez, Guatemalan footballer
 * 27 August: Sergio Villarreal, Colombian former professional footballer
 * 28 August: Ray Jones, English footballer (d. 2007)
 * 31 August: Faber Cañaveral, Colombian professional footballer

September

 * 2 September: Javi Martínez, Spanish international footballer
 * 5 September:
 * Nuri Şahin, Turkish footballer
 * Felipe Caicedo, Ecuadorian association footballer
 * 12 September: Aleksei Buryanov, former Russian professional footballer
 * 13 September: Luis Rentería, Panamanian international footballer (died 2014)
 * 18 September:
 * Mateusz Jeleń, Polish footballer
 * Tobias Scheifler, German former professional footballer
 * Ferdinand Sinaga, Indonesian international
 * 19 September: José Pedro Sousa, Portuguese football
 * 23 September: Anthony Straker, English footballer
 * 25 September: Chinta Chandrashekar Rao, Indian footballer
 * 28 September: Alex Marello, Canadian professional soccer player
 * 30 September: Manfred Ekwe-Ebele, French footballer

October

 * 4 October: Marcos Román, Nicaraguan professional footballer
 * 7 October: Diego Costa, Spanish international
 * 12 October: Abdou Boinaheri, French international footballer
 * 13 October: Marco Gasparri, Italian professional footballer
 * 14 October
 * Will Atkinson, English footballer
 * Mario Titone, Italian footballer
 * 15 October: Mesut Özil, German international football player
 * 16 October: Luizinho, Brazilian footballer

November

 * 7 November: Andri Abubakar, Indonesian footballer
 * 12 November: B Zoramthara, Indian professional footballer
 * 15 November: Sascha Imholz, Swiss footballer
 * 18 November: Andreas Niederquell, German former footballer
 * 23 November: Juha-Pekka Inkeröinen, Finnish club footballer
 * 24 November: Michel Mondeguer, Democratic Republic of the Congo former professional footballer

December

 * 5 December: Kamil Cholerzyński, Polish professional footballer
 * 9 December: Ibrahim Morad, Emirati footballer
 * 10 December:
 * Wilfried Bony, Ivorian international footballer
 * Mitchell Donald, Dutch footballer
 * Neven Subotić, Serbian international footballer
 * 17 December: Thaísa Moreno, Brazilian footballer
 * 27 December: Achmad Syaful Amry, Indonesian former footballer

Deaths

 * January 27 – Kemal Faruki, Turkish football player (77)
 * February 8 – Pietro Arcari, Italian forward, winner of the 1934 FIFA World Cup and one of four Italian players who won the FIFA World Cup while never being capped. (78)
 * February 26 – Euclydes Barbosa, Brazilian defender, semi-finalist at the 1938 FIFA World Cup. (82)
 * March 13 – Rodolpho Barteczko, Brazilian striker, semi-finalist at the 1938 FIFA World Cup. (77)
 * March 16 – Erich Probst, Austrian football player (60)
 * October 19 – Marcos Carneiro de Mendonça, Brazilian goalkeeper, the inaugural goalkeeper for Brazil National Football Team and winner of the 1919 South American Championship and 1922 South American Championship. (93)