2003 in association football

yearbox
in?=in football (soccer)
cp=20th Century
c=21st century
cf=22nd century

yp1=2000
yp2=2001
yp3=2002
year=2003
ya1=2004
ya2=2005
ya3=2006
dp3=1970s
dp2=1980s
dp1=1990s
d=2000s
dn1=2010s
dn2=2020s
dn3=2030s

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 FC of Brazil in a 5-1 aggregate.
*Recopa Sudamericana: Olimpia of Paraguay won 2-0 in the final against San Lorenzo of Argentina.
*England - FA Cup: Arsenal win 1-0 over Southampton
*English Premier League - Manchester United wins the English Premier League by 5 points over Arsenal.
*Women's World Cup: Germany wins the final against Sweden 2-1 after extra time.
*January 22 – Dutch club Sparta Rotterdam fires manager Dolf Roks, who is replaced on February 7 by former player Chris Dekker.
*January 28 – Head coach Robert Maaskant leaves Go Ahead Eagles and returns to RBC Roosendaal.
*March 7 – Mexican club Club Deportivo Guadalajara appoints Hans Westerhof as their new technical director.
*March 26 – Manager Mike Snoei is fired by Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem to Ajax Amsterdam, and replaced by former player Edward Sturing.
*June 17 – Manchester United sells English soccer star David Beckham to Real Madrid for 35 million euros.
*August 8 – Satellite TV's Rupert Murdoch British Sky Broadcasting pay 510 million euros for transmission England FA Premier League seasons 2004-2007.
*August 10 – PSV Eindhoven wins the Johan Cruijff Schaal, the annual opening of the new season in the Eredivisie, by a 3-1 win over FC Utrecht in the Amsterdam ArenA.
*September 25 – Dutch club FC Zwolle sacks manager Peter Boeve.
*October 1 – Technical director Hans Westerhof is named head coach of Mexican club Club Deportivo Guadalajara.
*November 20 – 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.
*November 28 – 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.
*December 14 – 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.

Winners national club championship

Asia

* Hong Kong – Sun Hei
* Iran – Sepahan

Europe

* Denmark – FC Copenhagen
* England – Manchester United
* France – Olympique Lyonnais
* Germany – Bayern Munich
* Iceland – KR
* Ireland: Shelbourne
* Italy – Juventus
* Netherlands
** Eredivisie – PSV Eindhoven
** Eerste Divisie – ADO Den Haag
* Portugal – FC Porto
* Russia – PFC CSKA Moscow
* Spain – Real Madrid
* Sweden
** Allsvenskan – Djurgårdens IF
** Svenska Cupen – IF Elfsborg

North and Central America

*Mexico:
**Clausura – Rayados de Monterrey
**Apertura – Pachuca

outh America

*Argentina
**2002-03 Clausura – River Plate
**2003-04 Apertura – Boca Juniors
* Brazil – Cruzeiro
* Paraguay – Club Libertad
* Colombia – Once Caldas
* Ecuador – LDU Quito

International tournaments

* UNCAF Nations Cup in Panama (February 9 – 23, 2003)
*# fb|CRC
*# fb|GUA
*# fb|SLV

* Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (August 2 – 15, 2003)
**Men's Tournament
*# fb|ARG
*# fb|BRA
*# fb|MEX
**Women's Tournament
*# flagicon|BRA Brazil
*# flagicon|CAN Canada
*# flagicon|MEX Mexico

* FIFA U-17 World Championship in Finland (August 13 – 30, 2003)
*# fb|BRA
*# fb|ESP
*# fb|ARG

* Afro-Asian Games in Hyderabad, India (October 22 – 31, 2003)
*# fb|IND
*# fb|UZB
*# fb|ZIM

Deaths

*January 10 – Julinho (73), Brazilian footballer
*February 28 – Albert Batteux (83), French footballer
*April 17 – Jean-Pierre Dogliani (60), French footballer
*June 26 – Marc-Vivien Foé (28), Cameroonian footballer
*August 1 – Guy Thys (80), Belgian footballer and manager
*August 8 – Jimmy Davis (21), English footballer
*August 31 – Pierre Cahuzac (76), French footballer
*November 21 – Emil Pažický (76), Slovak footballer