# 1976 in association football

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

## Events

* 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.

## Winners club national championship
### Asia

* Qatar – Al-Rayyan SC

### Europe

* 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

### North America

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

### South America

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

## International tournaments

* African Cup of Nations in Ethiopia (February 29 – 14 1976)
** Morocco
** Guinea
** Nigeria
* 1976 British Home Championship (May 6 – May 15, 1976)
       Scotland
* UEFA European Football Championship in Yugoslavia (June 16 – 20 1976)
** Czechoslovakia
** West Germany
** Netherlands
* AFC Asian Championship in Iran (June 3 – 13 1976)
** Iran
** Kuwait
** China
* Olympic Games in Montreal, Canada (July 18 – 31 1976)
** East Germany
** Poland
** Soviet Union

## Births

* January 3 – Joël Bouchoucha, French professional footballer
* January 15 – Sunny Nwachukwu, Nigerian retired professional footballer
* January 18 – Pavel Mareš, Czech international footballer
* January 20 – Antti Kuismala, Finnish footballer
* January 22 – Diego Penalva, French retired professional footballer
* 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
* February 19 – Fernando Falce, Uruguayan professional football referee
* February 23 – Oleksandr Sokorenko, Ukrainian football coach and former player
* February 26 – Mauro Lustrinelli, Swiss international footballer
* February 28 – Uriel Pérez, former Uruguayan footballer
* March 17 – Álvaro Recoba, Uruguayan international footballer
* March 19 – Alessandro Nesta, Italian international footballer
* March 26
** Michael Frech, German former footballer
** Sylvain Ovono, retired Cameroonian footballer
* March 30 – Rustam Shelayev, former Russian professional footballer
* 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
* June 14 – Massimo Oddo, Italian international footballer
* June 19 – Denis Koretskiy, former Russian footballer
* 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
* 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
* July 22 – Roman Baranov, Russian football coach and former player
* July 26 – Danny Ortiz, Guatemalan footballer (died 2004)
* August 6 – Paweł Gamla, Polish former professional footballer
* 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
* September 18 – Ronaldo, Brazilian international footballer
* September 20 – Lewis Coady, English former professional footballer
* 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
* November 22 – Emad Bouanane, French footballer
* November 26 – José Pablo Burtovoy, Argentine footballer
* December 3 – Eran Shainzinger, Israeli footballer
* December 22 – Yuri Kolchin, former Russian footballer
* December 25 – Atko Väikmeri, Estonian footballer
* December 29 – Viktor Pyatanov, former Russian footballer
* December 31 – Yevgeni Fedotov, Russian professional football coach and former player

## Deaths
### November

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

### December

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