2003 in association football

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

Events

 * 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.

Africa

 * – USM Alger
 * 🇨🇲 – Cottonsport Garoua
 * 🇨🇮 – ASEC Mimosas
 * 🇪🇬 – Zamalek
 * 🇱🇾 Libya – Al-Ittihad
 * undefined – Stade Malien
 * 🇲🇦 – Hassania Agadir
 * 🇳🇬 – Enyimba
 * 🇹🇳 – Espéance

Asia

 * 🇭🇰 – Sun Hei
 * 🇮🇷 – Sepahan
 * – Yokohama F. Marinos
 * 🇶🇦 – Al-Sadd
 * 🇰🇷 – Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma
 * 🇹🇭 – BEC Tero Sasana

Europe

 * 🇭🇷 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

North and Central America

 * 🇨🇦 – Brampton Hitmen (CPSL)
 * Clausura – Monterrey
 * Apertura – Pachuca
 * 🇺🇸 – San Jose Earthquakes (MLS)
 * 🇺🇸 – San Jose Earthquakes (MLS)

South America

 * 🇦🇷 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

International tournaments

 * UNCAF Nations Cup in Panama (9–23 February 2003)
 * 🇸🇻 el salvador
 * Baltic Cup in Estonia (3–5 July 2003)
 * 🇱🇹 lithuania
 * 🇪🇪 estonia
 * Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (2–15 August 2003)
 * Men's Tournament
 * 🇦🇷 argentina
 * 🇧🇷 brazil
 * 🇲🇽 mexico
 * Women's Tournament
 * 🇧🇷 Brazil
 * 🇨🇦 Canada
 * 🇲🇽 Mexico
 * FIFA U-20 World Cup in United Arab Emirates (27 November – 19 December 2003)
 * 🇧🇷 brazil
 * 🇪🇸 spain
 * 🇨🇴 colombia
 * FIFA U-17 World Championship in Finland (13–30 August 2003)
 * 🇧🇷 brazil
 * 🇪🇸 spain
 * 🇦🇷 argentina
 * Afro–Asian Games in Hyderabad, India (22–31 October 2003)
 * 🇮🇳 india
 * 🇺🇿 uzbekistan
 * Afro–Asian Games in Hyderabad, India (22–31 October 2003)
 * 🇮🇳 india
 * 🇺🇿 uzbekistan

Births

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

January

 * 10 January – Julinho (73), Brazilian footballer

February

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

April

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

May

 * 10 May – Pepillo (69), Spanish footballer

June

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

July

 * 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)

August

 * 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

October

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

November

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