# 2003 in association football

"none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]]
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 of Brazil in a 5–1 aggregate.
* Recopa Sudamericana: Olimpia of Paraguay won 2–0 in the final against San Lorenzo of Argentina.
* FA Cup: Arsenal win 1–0 over Southampton
* FA Premier league – Manchester United wins the Premier League by 5 points over Arsenal.
* Women's World Cup: Germany wins the final against Sweden 2–1 after extra time.
* 22 January – Dutch club Sparta Rotterdam fires manager Dolf Roks, who is replaced on 7 February by former player Chris Dekker.
* 28 January – Head coach Robert Maaskant leaves Go Ahead Eagles and returns to RBC Roosendaal.
* 7 March – Mexican club Guadalajara appoints Hans Westerhof as their new technical director.
* 26 March – Manager Mike Snoei is fired by Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem to Ajax, and replaced by former player Edward Sturing.
* 17 June – Manchester United sells English football star David Beckham to Real Madrid for €35 million.
* 28 June – Italy's Piedmont wins the third UEFA Regions' Cup, beating France's Maine 2–1 in Heidenheim an der Brenz.
* 8 August – Satellite TV's Rupert Murdoch British Sky Broadcasting pay €510 million for transmission of FA Premier League seasons 2004–2007.
* 10 August – PSV wins the Johan Cruijff Schaal, the annual opening of the new season in the Eredivisie, by a 3–1 win over Utrecht in the Amsterdam ArenA.
* 25 September – Dutch club Zwolle sacks manager Peter Boeve.
* 1 October – Technical director Hans Westerhof is named head coach of Mexican club Guadalajara.
* 20 November – 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.
* 28 November – 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.
* 14 December – 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
### Africa

* Algeria – USM Alger
* Cameroon – Cottonsport Garoua
* Ivory Coast – ASEC Mimosas
* Egypt – Zamalek
* Libya – Al-Ittihad
* Mali – Stade Malien
* Morocco – Hassania Agadir
* Nigeria – Enyimba
* Tunisia – Espéance

### Asia

* Hong Kong – Sun Hei
* Iran – Sepahan
* Japan – Yokohama F. Marinos
* Qatar – Al-Sadd
* South Korea – Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma
* Thailand – BEC Tero Sasana

### Europe

* Croatia – Dinamo Zagreb
* Denmark – Copenhagen
* England – Blackburn Rovers
* France – Lyon
* Germany – Bayern Munich
* Iceland – KR
* Ireland: Shelbourne
* Italy – Juventus
* Netherlands
** Eredivisie – PSV
** Eerste Divisie – Den Haag
* Portugal – Porto
* Russia – CSKA Moscow
* Serbia and Montenegro – Partizan
* Spain – Real Madrid
* Sweden
** Allsvenskan – Djurgården
** Svenska Cupen – Elfsborg
* Turkey – Beşiktaş

### North and Central America

* Canada – Brampton Hitmen (CPSL)
* Mexico
** Clausura – Monterrey
** Apertura – Pachuca
* United States – San Jose Earthquakes (MLS)

### South America

* Argentina
** 2002–03 Clausura – River Plate
** 2003–04 Apertura – Boca Juniors
* Bolivia – Bolívar
** Torneo Apertura – The Strongest
** Torneo Clausura – The Strongest
* Brazil – Cruzeiro
* Colombia – Once Caldas
* Ecuador – LDU Quito
* Paraguay – Club Libertad
* Uruguay – Peñarol
* Club Alianza Lima

## International tournaments

* UNCAF Nations Cup in Panama (9–23 February 2003)
** Costa Rica
** Guatemala
** El Salvador
* Baltic Cup in Estonia (3–5 July 2003)
** Latvia
** Lithuania
** Estonia
* Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (2–15 August 2003)
** Men's Tournament
** Argentina
** Brazil
** Mexico
** Women's Tournament
** Brazil
** Canada
** Mexico
* FIFA U-20 World Cup in United Arab Emirates (27 November – 19 December 2003)
** Brazil
** Spain
** Colombia
* FIFA U-17 World Championship in Finland (13–30 August 2003)
** Brazil
** Spain
** Argentina
* Afro–Asian Games in Hyderabad, India (22–31 October 2003)
** India
** Uzbekistan
** Zimbabwe

## Births

* 9 January – Ricardo Pepi, US international
* 18 January – Devyne Rensch, Dutch international
* 19 January – Ilaix Moriba, Guinean international
* 21 January – Hannibal Mejbri, Tunisian international
* 23 January – Arian Moreno, Venezuelan footballer
* 27 February – Juan Ignacio Cabrera, Uruguayan footballer
* 16 March – Killian Camélé, French professional footballer
* 23 March – Ísak Bergmann Jóhannesson, Icelandic international
* 4 April – Harvey Elliott, English footballer
* 12 April – Simon Ngapandouetnbu, Cameroonian footballer
* 19 April – Rareș Ilie, Romanian youth international
* 21 April – Xavi Simons, Dutch footballer
* 27 April – Zidane Iqbal, Iraqi international
* 1 May – Charlie Savage, Welsh international
* 2 May – Marcos Leonardo, Brazilian youth international
* 4 May – Florian Wirtz, German international
* 7 May – Kevin Paredes, US youth international
* 31 May – Benjamin Šeško, Slovenian youth international
* 1 June – Jan Kuźma, Polish professional footballer
* 2 June – Yusuf Demir, Austrian-Turkish footballer
* 11 June – Antonio Bokanovic, Austrian footballer
* 28 June – Brandon Aguilera, Costa Rican international
* 29 June – Jude Bellingham, English international
* 11 July – Vishva Shinde, Indian professional footballer
* 12 August – Martín Luciano, Argentine club footballer
* 2 September – Kauã (Kauã Jesus Tenório), Brazilian footballer
* 28 October – Antonio Miuțescu, Romanian professional footballer
* 5 November – Shea Charles, Northern Irish footballer
* 7 November – Milos Kerkez, Hungarian international

## Deaths
### January

* 10 January – Julinho (73), Brazilian footballer

### February

* 26 February – Antoni Torres (59), Spanish footballer and manager
* 28 February – Albert Batteux (83), French footballer

### April

* 17 April – Jean-Pierre Dogliani (60), French footballer
* 24 April – Gino Orlando (73), Brazilian forward, 9 times capped for the Brazil national football team.

### May

* 10 May – Pepillo (69), Spanish footballer

### June

* 26 June – Marc-Vivien Foé (28), Cameroonian footballer

### July

* 31 July – John Aston, Sr., English defender, England squad member at the 1950 FIFA World Cup. (81)
* 31 July – Bigode, Brazilian defender, runner-up at the 1950 FIFA World Cup. (81)

### August

* 1 August – Guy Thys (80), Belgian footballer and manager
* 8 August – Jimmy Davis (21), English footballer
* 13 August – Lothar Emmerich (61), German footballer
* 14 August – Helmut Rahn (73), German footballer
* 31 August – Pierre Cahuzac (76), French footballer

### October

* 1 October – Cheung Yiu Lun (25), Hong Kong footballer

### November

* 21 November – Emil Pažický (76), Slovak footballer