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The following are theassociation football events of the year1997 throughout the world.

• January 1 – ManagerLeo Beenhakker is named technical director at Dutch clubVitesse Arnhem and replaced as manager bySparta Rotterdam head coachHenk ten Cate.
• Roberto Carlos scored his famous 'banana shot'free kick againstFrance in1997 Tournoi de France
• Copa Libertadores 1997: is won byCruzeiro after defeatingSporting Cristal on an aggregate score of 1–0.
• UEFA Champions League:Borussia Dortmund won 3–1 infinal against Juventus in theOlympiastadion. The goals for the Germans were scored byRiedle in the 29th and 34th minute andRicken in the 71st minute.
• Scottish Cup:Kilmarnock FC beatFalkirk 1–0.
• February 25 – ManagerHans Westerhof is sacked byFC Groningen.
• April 30 – StrikerBoudewijn Zenden fromPSV Eindhoven plays his first international match for theNetherlands national football team, when Holland defeats San Marino 6–0 inSerravalle.
• May 17 –Chelsea wins theFA Cup by defeatingMiddlesbrough 2–0.
• May 18 –Eric Cantona, the famous and controversial French footballer in thePremiership, announces his retirement from football.
• June 29 –Brazil wins the1997 Copa América by defeating home nationBolivia 3–1 in the final in theEstadio Hernando Siles in La Paz.
• July 20 –Gudjon Thordarson makes his debut as the manager ofIceland with a 1–0 loss againstNorway.
• August 17 –PSV Eindhoven wins theJohan Cruijff Schaal, the annual opening of the new season in theEredivisie, with a 3–1 win overRoda JC in theAmsterdam ArenA.
• November 2 –Borussia Dortmund wins theIntercontinental Cup inTokyo, Japan by defeatingBrazil'sCruzeiro 2–0. The goals for the Germans are scored byMichael Zorc andHeiko Herrlich.

•  Japan -Júbilo Iwata
•  Lebanon –Al-Ansar
•  Qatar –Al-Arabi
•  South Korea -Pusan Daewoo Royals
•  Thailand -Bangkok Bank,Royal Thai Air Force

•  Bulgaria –CSKA Sofia
•  Croatia –Croatia Zagreb
•  England –Manchester United
•  France –AS Monaco
•  Germany –Bayern Munich
•  Greece –Olympiacos
•  Italy –Juventus
•  Netherlands –PSV Eindhoven
•  Norway –Rosenborg
•  Poland –Widzew Łódź
•  Portugal –Porto
•  Spain –Real Madrid
•  Turkey –Galatasaray
• FR Yugoslavia –Partizan

•  Mexico
  • Verano –Chivas
  • Invierno –Cruz Azul
•  United States –D.C. United (MLS)

•  Argentina
  • Clausura –River Plate
  • Apertura –River Plate
•  Bolivia –Bolívar
•  Brazil –Vasco da Gama
•  Chile
  • Apertura –Universidad Católica
  • Clausura –Colo-Colo
• Paraguay –Olimpia Asunción
•  Peru –Alianza Lima

• UNCAF Nations Cup inGuatemala City, Guatemala (April 16–27, 1997)
  1.  Costa Rica
  2.  Guatemala
  3.  El Salvador
• Copa América in Bolivia (June 11–29, 1997)
  1.  Brazil
  2.  Bolivia
  3.  Mexico
• Baltic Cup inVilnius, Lithuania (July 9 – 11 1997)
  1.  Lithuania
  2.  Latvia
  3.  Estonia
• FIFA U-20 World Cup in Malaysia (June 16 – July 5, 1997)
  1.  Argentina
  2.  Uruguay
  3.  Republic of Ireland
• FIFA U-17 World Championship in Egypt (September 5–21, 1997)
  1.  Brazil
  2.  Ghana
  3.  Spain
• Tournoi de France in France (June 3–11, 1997)
  1.  England
  2.  Brazil
  3.  France

• January 1
  • Hamidou Bojang, Gambian international footballer^[1]
  • Amr Yehia, Egyptian professional footballer^[2]
  • Quique Fornos, Spanish footballer
• January 5 –Jesús Vallejo, Spanish footballer
• January 7 –Izzy Brown, English footballer
• January 8 –Fran Brodić, Croatian footballer
• January 10 –Davide Ramponi, Italian footballer^[3]
• January 13
  • Luis Díaz, Colombian footballer
  • Bünyamin Kasal, Turkish footballer^[4]
• January 16
  • Pau Torres, Spanish footballer
  • Zev van Melick, Dutch footballer^[5]
• January 26 –Gedion Zelalem, American soccer player
• January 31 –Arnaut Danjuma, Dutch footballer
• February 3
  • Lewis Cook, English footballer
  • Anton Maikkula, Swedish footballer^[6]
• February 6 –Gogi Shoniya, Russian former footballer^[7]
• February 10
  • Adam Armstrong, English footballer
• February 12 –Tomi Mikkelsson, Finnish footballer^[8]
• February 14 –Severin Buchta, German footballer^[9]
• February 26 –Malcom, Brazilian footballer
• March 3
  • Elia Alessandrini, Swiss footballer (d. 2022)
  • Jaime Carreño, Chilean footballer
• March 6 –Daniel De Silva, Australian youth international
• March 7 –Laurent Lopes, French Guianan professional footballer^[10]
• March 12
  • Dean Henderson, English footballer
  • Allan Saint-Maximin, French footballer
• March 19 –Adam Lipčák, Slovak footballer^[11]
• March 29 –Ezequiel Ponce, Argentine footballer
• April 2 –Abdelhak Nouri, Dutch footballer
• April 5 –Borja Mayoral, Spanish footballer
• April 9 –Omar Mbapandza, Comoran international footballer^[12]
• April 10 –Claudio García, Peruvian footballer^[13]
• April 13
  • Mateo Cassierra, Colombian footballer
  • Theodoros Lampiris, Greek professional footballer^[14]
• April 17 –Jorge Meré, Spanish footballer
• April 18 –Donny van de Beek, Dutch footballer
• April 21 –Henrique Brito, Portuguese professional footballer^[15]
• April 22 –Jill Roord, Dutch footballer
• April 24 –Francisco Afonso, Portuguese footballer^[16]
• April 27 –Josh Onomah, English footballer
• May 7 –Orlande Kpassa, Ivorian professional footballer^[17]
• May 12
  • Connor Ellis, English professional footballer^[18]
  • Frenkie de Jong, Dutch footballer
• May 14 –Rúben Dias, Portuguese footballer
• May 17
  • Andrea Favilli, Italian footballer
  • Ayron Verkindere, Belgian footballer
• June 1 –Amimu Nahimana, Burundian footballer^[19]
• June 2 –Sandy Sauber, former Luxembourgish footballer^[20]
• June 10 –Achraf Akhamrane, Dutch footballer^[21]
• June 11 –Giuseppe Altea, Italian footballer^[22]
• June 16 –Jean-Kévin Augustin, French footballer
• June 22 –Gabriel Rojas, Argentine footballer
• July 2 –Charles (José Charles Soares Matos), Brazilian footballer^[23]
• July 3 –Filip Sachpekidis, Swedish footballer
• July 4 –Juan Izquierdo, Uruguayan footballer (d.2024)^[24]
• July 7 –Di Livio Jungschleger, Dutch professional footballer^[25]
• July 11
  • Ryan Hok-A-Hin, Sint Maartener international footballer^[26]
  • Rasmus Kristensen, Danish footballer
• July 14 –Cengiz Ünder, Turkish footballer
• July 17 –Amadou Diawara, Guinean footballer
• July 23 –Matija Sarkic, English-born Montenegrin footballer (d.2024)^[27]
• July 25 –Louis Reed, English footballer
• August 2 –Ivan Šaponjić, Serbian footballer
• August 3
  • Daniel Crowley, English youth international
  • Adrian Lillebekk Ovlien, Norwegian footballer (d.2018)
• August 4 –Cinzia Zehnder, Swiss footballer
• August 6
  • Rick Sena, Brazilian footballer^[28]
  • Sander Svendsen, Norwegian youth international
• August 9 –Leon Bailey, Jamaican international
• August 12 –Taiwo Awoniyi, Nigerian footballer
• August 13 –Manuel Manari, Italian footballer^[29]
• August 19 –Bartłomiej Drągowski, Polish footballer
• August 22 –Lautaro Martínez, Argentine footballer
• August 29 –Ainsley Maitland-Niles, English footballer
• September 15 –Jeisson Vargas, Chilean footballer
• September 16 –Zsanett Kaján, Hungarian women's international^[30]
• September 19 –Luca Buongiorno, Italian footballer^[31]
• September 23 –Luis Corredor, Venezuelan footballer^[32]
• October 2 –Tammy Abraham, English international
• October 6 –Kasper Dolberg, Danish international^[33]
• October 9 -Samuel Leach Holm, Swedish-Israeli professional footballer^[34]
• October 12 –Xhon Marinaj, Albanian professional footballer^[35]
• October 17 –Václav Černý, Czech footballer
• October 19 – René Beltrán, Mexican footballer^[36]
• October 22 –Jodi Jones, Maltese footballer^[37]
• October 24 –Fabian (Fabian Maria Lago Vilela de Abreu), Brazilian footballer^[38]
• October 26 –Fortuné Oré, Beninese professional footballer^[39]
• November 1 –Nordi Mukiele, French footballer
• November 5 –Abdoulie Bah, Gambian footballer^[40]
• November 13 –Evraim Toncy Awes, Indonesian professional footballer^[41]
• November 14 –Christopher Nkunku, French footballer
• November 18
  • Olivier Boscagli, French footballer
  • Robert Sánchez, Spanish footballer
• November 19 –Mattia Sanzone, Italian footballer^[42]
• November 25 –Mohamed Amelhaf, French footballer^[43]
• November 26 –Aaron Wan-Bissaka, English footballer
• December 6 –Arenc Palluqi, Albanian professional footballer^[44]
• December 7 –Abi Harrison, Scottish footballer^[45]
• December 11 –Konstantinos Mavropanos, Greek footballer
• December 15
  • Rui Neves, Portuguese footballer^[46]
  • Oskari Qvick, Finnish former professional footballer^[47]
• December 18 –Joan Monterde, Spanish professional footballer^[48]
• December 22 –Devaughn Williamson, Bahamian footballer^[49]
• December 26 –Bruno Gaúcho, Brazilian footballer^[50]
• December 27 –Alessandro Durante, Italian footballer^[51]

• January 10 –Francisco Aramburu, Brazilian striker, runner-up at the1950 FIFA World Cup. (75)

• February 19 –Afonso Guimarães da Silva, Brazilian midfielder, semi-finalist at the1938 FIFA World Cup. (82)
• February 21 –Josef Posipal, West-German defender, winner of the1954 FIFA World Cup. (69, heart failure)

• March 25 –Baltazar, Brazilian striker, runner-up at the1950 FIFA World Cup. (71)

• April 23 –Brian Alderson (46), Scottish footballer

• June 4 –Pedro Zaballa (58), Spanish footballer
• June 18 –Héctor Yazalde (51), Argentinian footballer

• July 8 –Dick van Dijk (51), Dutch footballer
• July 10 –Ivor Allchurch (67), Welsh footballer

• September 21 –Juan Burgueño, Uruguayan forward, winner of the1950 FIFA World Cup. (91)
• September 29 –Dequinha, Brazilian midfielder, Brazilian squad member at the1954 FIFA World Cup. (69)

• October 18 –Ramiro Castillo (31), Bolivian footballer
• October 31 –Bram Appel (76), Dutch footballer
• October 31 –Hans Bauer, West-German defender, winner of the1954 FIFA World Cup. (70)

• November 1 –Roger Marche (73), French footballer
• November 9 –Helenio Herrera (80), Argentine-French footballer and manager

• December 7 –Billy Bremner (54), Scottish footballer^[52]
• December 28 –William Martínez, Uruguayan midfielder, winner of the1950 FIFA World Cup. (69)

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