This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "1981 in association football" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(August 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The following are theassociation football events of the year1981 throughout the world.

• 1981 Copa Libertadores: Won byFlamengo after defeatingCobreloa on the playoff match 2–0.
• 1980–81 European Cup: Won byLiverpool FC after defeatingReal Madrid infinal match 1–0.
• World Club Championship: Won byFlamengo after defeatingLiverpool FC on a single match 3–0.
• March 25 –Kees Rijvers makes his debut as the manager ofDutch national team with a 1–0 win in the World Cup Qualifier againstFrance. One player makes his debut for the Dutch: defenderEdo Ophof fromAjax Amsterdam.
• September 1 – Dutch strikerWim Kieft makes his debut for theNetherlands national football team in the friendly againstSwitzerland. It's the 400th game in the history of the Dutch national team.

• Qatar –Al-Sadd SC

•  Albania –KF Partizani Tirana
•  Austria –Austria Wien
•  Belgium –R.S.C. Anderlecht
•  Bulgaria –CSKA Sofia
•  Cyprus –AC Omonoia
•  Czechoslovakia –Baník Ostrava
•  Denmark –Hvidovre IF
•  East Germany –Dynamo Berlin
•  England –Aston Villa
•  Faroe Islands –HB Torshavn
•  Finland –HJK Helsinki
•  France –AS Saint-Étienne
•  Greece –Olympiacos F.C.
•  Hungary –Ferencváros
•  Iceland –Vikingur
•  Ireland –Athlone Town A.F.C.
•  Italy –Juventus
•  Luxembourg –Progrès Niedercorn
•  Malta –Hibernians F.C.
•  Netherlands –AZ Alkmaar
•  Northern Ireland –Glentoran F.C.
•  Norway –Vålerenga IF
•  Poland –Widzew Łódź
•  Portugal –Benfica
•  Romania –Universitatea Craiova
•  Scotland –Celtic F.C.
•  Spain –Real Sociedad
•  Sweden –Östers IF
•  Switzerland –FC Zürich
•  Turkey –Trabzonspor
•  Soviet Union –FC Dynamo Kiev
•  West Germany –Bayern Munich
•  Yugoslavia –Red Star Belgrade

•  Mexico –UNAM
•  United States / Canada –
  • Chicago Sting (NASL)

•  Australia –Sydney Slickers

•  Argentina
  • Metropolitano –Boca Juniors
  • Nacional –River Plate
•  Bolivia –Jorge Wilstermann
•  Brazil –Grêmio
•  Chile –Colo-Colo
•  Colombia –Atlético Nacional
•  Ecuador –Barcelona
•  ParaguayParaguay –Olimpia Asunción
•  Peru –FBC Melgar
•  Uruguay –Peñarol
•  Venezuela –Deportivo Táchira

• Mundialito inMontevideo, Uruguay (December 30, 1980 – January 10, 1981)
  1.  Uruguay
  2.  Brazil
• 1981 British Home Championship (May 16–23, 1981)

Abandoned following severe civil unrest inNorthern Ireland.

Date	Opponent	Final Score	Result	Competition	Venue
January 6	Italy	1–1	D	Mundialito	Estadio Centenario,Montevideo
February 22	Cyprus	3–0	W	World Cup Qualifier	Oosterpark Stadion,Groningen
March 25	France	1–0	W	World Cup Qualifier	De Kuip,Rotterdam
April 29	Cyprus	0–1	W	World Cup Qualifier	Makario Stadium,Nicosia
March 26	Switzerland	2–1	L	Friendly	Hardturm,Zürich
September 9	Republic of Ireland	2–2	D	World Cup Qualifier	De Kuip,Rotterdam
October 14	Belgium	3–0	W	World Cup Qualifier	De Kuip,Rotterdam
November 18	France	2–0	L	World Cup Qualifier	Parc des Princes, Paris

• Escape to Victory

This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(January 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

• January 1 –Mladen Petrić, Croatian international^[1]
• January 2
  • Hanno Balitsch, German footballer
  • Maxi Rodríguez, Argentine footballer
• January 9 –Ebi Smolarek, Polish international
• January 10 –James Coppinger, English club footballer
• January 15 –El Hadji Diouf, Senegalese international
• January 19 –Lucho González, Argentine international
• January 20 –Owen Hargreaves, Canadian-born English footballer
• January 21
  • Ivan Ergić, Serbian footballer
  • Roberto Guana Italian footballer
  • Mohd Amri Yahyah, Malaysian international
• January 23 –Lee Dong-geun, South Korean former footballer^[2]
• January 25
  • Rodrigo Calaça, Brazilian footballer^[3]
  • Dmitry Izvekov, former Russian professional footballer^[4]
• January 26 –Fernando Curcio, Uruguayan footballer^[5]
• January 28 –Thomas Schlieter, German footballer^[6]
• January 30
  • Dimitar Berbatov, Bulgarian footballer^[7]
  • Afonso Alves, Brazilian footballer
  • Peter Crouch, English footballer
• February 13
  • Durahim Jamaluddin, Malaysian international (d.2018)
  • Liam Miller, Irish international (d.2018)
• February 18 –Ivan Sproule, Northern Ireland international
• February 21 –Nery Fernández, Paraguayan former professional footballer^[8]
• February 23 –Gareth Barry, English footballer
• February 24
  • Felipe Baloy, Panamanian international
  • Mauro Rosales, Argentinian footballer
• February 25 –Park Ji Sung, South Korea footballer
• February 27 –Alessandro Rottoli, Italian professional footballer^[9]
• March 9 –Didi Longuet, former professional footballer^[10]
• March 10 –Samuel Eto'o, Cameroonian international^[11]
• March 15 –Aymen Mnafeg, Tunisian footballer^[12]
• March 16 –Johannes Aigner, Austrian footballer
• March 18 –Cristián Basaure, Chilean former footballer^[13]
• March 19
  • Maksim Arap, former Russian footballer^[14]
  • Matt Haddrell, English footballer^[15]
  • Kolo Touré, Ivorian footballer
• March 27 –Terry McFlynn, British footballer
• March 29 –Jlloyd Samuel, Trinidadian footballer (d.2018)
• March 31 –Wolfgang Bubenik, Austrian footballer^[16]
• April 8 –Cédric Faivre, French professional football^[17]
• April 9 –Ireneusz Jeleń, Polish international
• April 12 –Nicolás Burdisso, Argentinian footballer
• April 29 –George McCartney, Northern Ireland international
• May 7 –Azrine Effendy Sa'duddin, Malaysian footballer^[18]
• May 8
  • Andrea Barzagli, Italian footballer
  • Sam Ketsekile, Mosotho footballer^[19]
  • Shimane Kgope Ntshweu, Botswana footballer
• May 13 –Carciano, Brazilian footballer^[20]
• May 15 –Patrice Evra, Senegalese-born French international
• May 27 –Johan Elmander, Swedish footballer
• May 31
  • Josefine Krengel, German footballer^{[citation needed]}
  • Neddy Rose, Seychellois footballer^[21]
• June 4 –Giourkas Seitaridis, Greek international^[22]
• June 10 –Burton O'Brien, Scottish footballer
• June 13 –Danny Curran, English former footballer^[23]
• June 16 –David Buxo, Andorran footballer^[24]
• June 17 –Doddy Édouard, Mauritian footballer^[25]
• June 18 –Denis Shevelev, former Russian professional footballer^[26]
• June 21 –İbrahim Öztürk, Turkish club footballer
• June 22
  • Mathias Abel, German footballer
  • Péter Bajzát, Hungarian footballer
  • Ronald Spuller, Austrian retired professional footballer^[27]
• June 23 –Björn Schlicke, German youth international
• June 27
  • Jennifer Molina, Mexican female footballer
  • Jean-Renaud Nemouthé, French retired footballer^[28]
  • Cléber Santana, Brazilian footballer (d.2016)
• July 2 –Baptiste Lafleuriel, former French professional footballer^[29]
• July 10 –Aleksandar Tunchev, Bulgarian international
• July 14 –Khaled Aziz, Saudi Arabian midfielder
• July 16 –Paulo (Gideon Paulo da Silva), Brazilian footballer^[30]
• July 19 –Anderson Luiz de Carvalho, Brazilian club footballer
• July 20 –Damien Delaney, Irish footballer
• July 28 –Michael Carrick, English footballer
• July 30 –Bruno Parente, retired Portuguese footballer^[31]
• August 4 –Hadson, Brazilian midfielder
• August 8  –Witold Sabela, Polish former professional footballer^[32]
• August 10 –Malek Mouath, Saudi Arabian footballer
• August 12 –Oliver Đokić, Serbian footballer^[33]
• August 21 –Benjamín Ruiz, Chilean footballer^[34]
• August 24 –Mickaël Germain, Guadelopean former professional footballer^[35]
• August 27 –Fernando Martín, Spanish footballer (d.2025)^[36]
• September 1
  • Mana Nopnech, Thai retired professional footballer^[37]
  • Maksim Rybalko, former Russian professional football player^[38]
• September 9 –Pacheta (Héctor Carrasco Rojo), Spanish professional footballer^[39]
• September 11 –Victor Kros, Dutch footballer
• September 22 –Alma Martinéz, Mexican female footballer
• September 23 –Jay Murray, English footballer^[40]
• October 1 –Ivan Semenets, former Russian professional footballer^[41]
• October 3
  • Zlatan Ibrahimović, Swedish footballer
  • Andreas Isaksson, Swedish football goalkeeper
  • Iván Pailós, Uruguayan footballer^[42]
• October 6 –Mikael Dorsin, Swedish footballer
• October 8 –Chris Killen, New Zealand international^[43]
• October 9 –Ryoichi Maeda, Japanese international^[44]
• October 12  -Shola Ameobi, Nigerian international
• October 13  -Koen Brack, Dutch footballer^[45]
• October 21  -Yohan Viola, Dominican Republic footballer^[46]
• October 23
  • Marcin Folc, Polish footballer^[47]
  • Olivier Occéan, Canadian international
• October 24 –Soeris Baidjoe, Dutch footballer^[48]
• October 28 –Milan Baroš, Czech footballer^[49]
• November 8 –Joe Cole, English footballer
• November 20
  • Espen Hoff, Norwegian footballer
  • İbrahim Toraman, Turkish international footballer
• November 21 –Martin van Leeuwen, Dutch footballer
• November 22 –Seweryn Gancarczyk, Polish international
• November 25 –Xabi Alonso, Spanish international
• December 3 –David Villa, Spanish footballer^[50]
• December 3
  • Ioannis Amanatidis, Greek footballer
  • Aleksandr Galakhov, former Russian professional footballer^[51]
• December 6 –Gil Ferreira, Brazilian footballer^[52]
• December 12 –Federico Tafani, Italian footballer^[53]
• December 20 –Leo Bertos, New Zealand international^[54]
• December 21 –Cristian Zaccardo, Italian international defender
• December 28 –Khalid Boulahrouz, Dutch footballer
• December 30 –Umar Karsanov, former Russian professional footballer^[55]
• December 31 –Dadi Mayuma, Congolese former footballer^[56]

This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(August 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

• January 29 –Lajos Korányi, Hungarian international (b.1907)

• May 9 –Ralph Allen, English club footballer (b.1906)
• May 14 –Michele Andreolo, Italian midfielder, winner of the1938 FIFA World Cup. (68)

• June 21 –Alberto Suppici, Uruguayan midfielder, winner of the1930 FIFA World Cup as manager. (82)

• August 15  –Carlo Buscaglia, Italian footballer (born 1900)

• September 22 –Néstor Carballo, Uruguayan international footballer (born 1929)

• October 9 –František Fadrhonc (66), Czech football manager (born 1914)

• November 3 –Eraldo Monzeglio, Italian defender, winner of the1934 FIFA World Cup and1938 FIFA World Cup. (75)

• December 4 –Zoilo Saldombide, Uruguayan striker, winner of the1930 FIFA World Cup. (76)

• Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
• VoetbalStats(in Dutch)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to1981 in association football.

• 1981 in association football
• Association football by year

• CS1 Korean-language sources (ko)
• NFT template with ID not in Wikidata
• Articles with Russian-language sources (ru)
• FootballFacts.ru template with ID not in Wikidata
• CS1 uses Russian-language script (ru)
• CS1 Russian-language sources (ru)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles needing additional references from August 2022
• All articles needing additional references
• Articles needing additional references from January 2023
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from October 2025
• Articles with Dutch-language sources (nl)
• Commons category link from Wikidata