1976 in association football

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The following are the football (soccer) events of the year 1976 throughout the world.

• Copa Libertadores 1976: Won by Cruzeiro after defeating River Plate on an aggregate score of 3–2.
• September 15 – Dutch club Roda JC makes its European debut with a defeat (2–1) in Brussels against Belgium's R.S.C. Anderlecht in the second round of the Cup Winners Cup.

• Qatar – Al-Rayyan SC

•  England – Liverpool
•  France – AS Saint-Étienne
•  Italy – Torino
•  Netherlands
  • Eredivisie – PSV Eindhoven
  • Eerste Divisie – HFC Haarlem
•  Poland – Stal Mielec
•  Spain – Real Madrid
•  Turkey – Trabzonspor
•  Yugoslavia – Partizan

•  Mexico – Club América
•  United States /  Canada:
  • Toronto Metros-Croatia (NASL)

• Argentina:
  • Metropolitano – Boca Juniors
  • Nacional – Boca Juniors
• Brazil: Internacional

• African Cup of Nations in Ethiopia (February 29 – 14 1976)
  1.  Morocco
  2.  Guinea
  3.  Nigeria
• 1976 British Home Championship (May 6 – May 15, 1976)

 Scotland

• UEFA European Football Championship in Yugoslavia (June 16 – 20 1976)
  1.  Czechoslovakia
  2.  West Germany
  3.  Netherlands
• AFC Asian Championship in Iran (June 3 – 13 1976)
  1.  Iran
  2.  Kuwait
  3.  China
• Olympic Games in Montreal, Canada (July 18 – 31 1976)
  1.  East Germany
  2.  Poland
  3.  Soviet Union

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• January 3 – Joël Bouchoucha, French professional footballer^[1]
• January 15 – Sunny Nwachukwu, Nigerian retired professional footballer^[2]
• January 18 – Pavel Mareš, Czech international footballer
• January 20 – Antti Kuismala, Finnish footballer^[3]
• January 22 – Diego Penalva, French retired professional footballer^[4]
• February 5 – John Aloisi, Australian international footballer
• February 7 – Daisuke Oku, Japanese international footballer (died 2014)
• February 13 – Maksim Proshin, former Russian professional football player^[5]
• February 19 – Fernando Falce, Uruguayan professional football referee
• February 23 – Oleksandr Sokorenko, Ukrainian football coach and former player^[6]
• February 26 – Mauro Lustrinelli, Swiss international footballer
• February 28 – Uriel Pérez, former Uruguayan footballer^[7]
• March 17 – Álvaro Recoba, Uruguayan international footballer
• March 19 – Alessandro Nesta, Italian international footballer
• March 20 – Sim Sung-chol, North Korean former footballer^[8]
• March 26
  • Michael Frech, German former footballer^[9]
  • Sylvain Ovono, retired Cameroonian footballer^[10]
• March 30 – Rustam Shelayev, former Russian professional footballer^[11]
• April 1 – Clarence Seedorf, Dutch international footballer
• April 20 – Aldo Bobadilla, Paraguayan footballer
• April 23 – Darren Huckerby, English footballer and coach
• April 27 – Walter Pandiani, Uruguayan footballer
• May 2 – Amado Guevara, Honduran international footballer
• May 3 – Beto, Portuguese international footballer
• May 6 – Denny Landzaat, Dutch international footballer
• May 19 – Segundo Matamba, Ecuadorian footballer^[12]
• June 14 – Massimo Oddo, Italian international footballer
• June 19 – Denis Koretskiy, former Russian footballer^[13]
• June 23 – Patrick Vieira, French international footballer
• June 24 – Ricardo Alexandre dos Santos, Brazilian international footballer
• July 1
  • Ruud van Nistelrooy, Dutch international footballer
  • Patrick Kluivert, Dutch international footballer
• July 5 – Nuno Gomes, Portuguese international footballer
• July 10 – Lars Ricken, German international footballer
• July 13 – Yevgeni Zhelyakov, Russian professional football coach and former player^[14]
• July 16 – Carlos Humberto Paredes, Paraguayan footballer
• July 17
  • Anders Svensson, Swedish international footballer
  • Marcos Senna, Spanish international footballer
• July 21 – Giovanni Seynhaeve, retired Belgian footballer^[15]
• July 22 – Roman Baranov, Russian football coach and former player^[16]
• July 26 – Danny Ortiz, Guatemalan footballer (died 2004)
• August 6 – Paweł Gamla, Polish former professional footballer^[17]
• August 11 – Tõnis Kalde, Estonian international footballer
• August 19 – Stephan Schmidt, German footballer and manager
• August 24
  • Björn van der Doelen, Dutch footballer
  • Nordin Wooter, Surinamese-Dutch youth international
• August 26 – Giovanni Naboth, Mauritian footballer
• August 27 – Ysrael Zúñiga, Peruvian footballer
• August 28 – Federico Magallanes, Uruguayan international footballer
• August 29 – Jon Dahl Tomasson, Danish international footballer
• September 13 – Mickaël Garciau, retired French footballer^[18]
• September 18 – Ronaldo, Brazilian international footballer
• September 20 – Lewis Coady, English former professional footballer^[19]
• September 26 – Michael Ballack, German international footballer
• September 27 – Francesco Totti, Italian international footballer
• September 29 – Andriy Shevchenko, Ukrainian international footballer
• October 4 – Mauro Camoranesi, Italian international footballer
• October 26 – Ralf Oehri, Liechtensteiner former association footballer
• October 28 – Martin Lepa, Estonian footballer
• November 2 – Dúber Zapata, Peruvian retired footballer^[20]
• November 22 – Emad Bouanane, French footballer^[21]
• November 26 – José Pablo Burtovoy, Argentine footballer
• December 3 – Eran Shainzinger, Israeli footballer^[22]
• December 22 – Yuri Kolchin, former Russian footballer^[23]
• December 25 – Atko Väikmeri, Estonian footballer
• December 29 – Viktor Pyatanov, former Russian footballer^[24]
• December 31 – Yevgeni Fedotov, Russian professional football coach and former player^[25]

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• November 3 – Giuseppe Cavanna, Italian goalkeeper, winner of the 1934 FIFA World Cup. (70)

• December 25 – Conduelo Píriz, Uruguayan midfielder, winner of the 1930 FIFA World Cup. (71)

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