# 1988 in association football

The following are the association football events of the year 1988 throughout the world.

## Events

* March 27 – Cameroon wins the 1988 African Cup of Nations by defeating Nigeria: 1–0. The only goal in Casablanca's Stade Mohammed V is scored by Emmanuel Kundé from a penalty kick.
* June 25 – Thanks to goals from captain Ruud Gullit and top goalscorer Marco van Basten, the Netherlands defeat the Soviet Union (2–0) in the final of UEFA Euro 1988 in Munich.
* July 12 – Italian club Juventus receive The UEFA Plaque in Geneva (Switzerland) as first club in European football history to win the three main UEFA club competitions.
* 1988 Copa Libertadores – won by Nacional after defeating Newell's Old Boys on an aggregate score of 3–1.
* England – FA Cup – Wimbledon won 1–0 over Liverpool.
* The Football League celebrates its Centenary.
* With great surprise worldwide FIFA gives the 1994 FIFA World Cup to United States.
* August 24 – The Faroe Islands record their first international victory, defeating Canada 1–0.
* September 14 – Thijs Libregts makes his debut as the manager of Dutch national team with a 1–0 win over Wales, replacing successful coach Rinus Michels.
* October 1 – Soviet Union wins the Olympic gold medal in football by defeating Brazil: 2–1 after extra time in Seoul's Olympic Stadium.
* December 11 – Uruguay's Nacional wins the Intercontinental Cup in Tokyo, Japan by defeating Dutch PSV Eindhoven on penalties (7–6), after the match ended in 2–2.

## National club championships winners
### Africa

| Country | League | Team |
| Egypt | Egyptian Premier League | Zamalek |

### Asia

| Country | League | Team |
| Qatar | Qatar Stars League | Al-Sadd SC |

### Europe

| Country | League | Team |
| Albania | Albanian National Championship | 17 Nëntori |
| Austria | Austrian Football Bundesliga | SK Rapid Wien |
| Belgium | Belgian League | Club Brugge K.V. |
| Bulgaria | Bulgarian A Group | PFC Levski Sofia |
| Cyprus | Cypriot First Division | Pezoporikos Larnaca FC |
| Czechoslovakia | Czechoslovak First League | AC Sparta Prague |
| Denmark | Danish 1st Division | Brøndby IF |
| England | The Football League | Liverpool |
| Faroe Islands | Faroe Islands Premier League | Havnar Bóltfelag |
| Finland | Mestaruussarja | HJK Helsinki |
| France | Division 1 | AS Monaco |
| East Germany | DDR-Oberliga | Berliner FC Dynamo |
| West Germany | Bundesliga | SV Werder Bremen |
| Greece | Alpha Ethniki | AE Larisa |
| Hungary | Nemzeti Bajnokság I | Budapest Honvéd |
| Israel | Liga Leumit | Hapoel Tel Aviv FC |
| Italy | Serie A | A.C. Milan |
| Luxembourg | Luxembourg National Division | Jeunesse Esch |
| Malta | Maltese Premier League | Hamrun Spartans F.C. |
| Netherlands | Eredivisie | PSV Eindhoven |
| Northern Ireland | Irish League | Glentoran |
| Norway | Norwegian First Division | Rosenborg |
| Poland | Ekstraklasa | Górnik Zabrze |
| Portugal | Primeira Liga | F.C. Porto |
| Republic of Ireland | League of Ireland | Dundalk |
| Romania | Liga 1 | FC Steaua București |
| San Marino | Campionato Sammarinese di Calcio | S.P. Tre Fiori |
| Scotland | Scottish Premier League | Celtic |
| Soviet Union | Soviet Top League | FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk |
| Spain | La Liga | Real Madrid |
| Sweden | Allsvenskan | Malmö FF |
| Switzerland | Nationalliga A | Neuchâtel Xamax |
| Turkey | 1.Lig | Galatasaray S.K. |
| Yugoslavia | Yugoslav First League | Red Star Belgrade |

### North and South America

| Country | League | Team |
| Argentina | Argentine Primera División | Newell's Old Boys |
| Bolivia | Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano | Bolívar |
| Brazil | Campeonato Brasileiro Série A | Esporte Clube Bahia |
| Canada | Canadian Soccer League | Vancouver 86ers |
| Chile | Liga Chilena de Fútbol: Primera División | Cobreloa |
| Colombia | Mustang Cup | Millonarios |
| Ecuador | Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol | Emelec |
| Mexico | Mexican Primera División | America |
| Paraguay | Liga Paraguaya: Primera División | Olimpia |
| Peru | Peruvian Primera División | Sporting Cristal |
| United States | American Soccer League | Washington Diplomats |
| United States | Western Soccer Alliance | F.C. Seattle Storm |
| Uruguay | Primera División Uruguaya | Danubio |
| Venezuela | Primera División Venezolana | CS Marítimo |

## International tournaments

* African Cup of Nations in Morocco (March 13 – 27 1988)
** Cameroon
** Nigeria
** Algeria
* Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea (September 17 – October 1, 1988)
** Soviet Union
** Brazil
** West Germany
* UEFA European Football Championship in West Germany (June 10 – 25 1988)
** Netherlands
** Soviet Union
** West Germany and Italy

## Games of national teams
### Netherlands

| Date | Opponent | Final Score | Result | Competition | Venue |
| March 23 | England | 2 – 2 | D | Friendly | Wembley Stadium, London |
| May 24 | Bulgaria | 1 – 2 | L | Friendly | De Kuip, Rotterdam |
| June 1 | Romania | 2 – 0 | W | Friendly | Olympisch Stadion, Amsterdam |
| June 12 | Soviet Union | 1 – 0 | L | UEFA Euro 1988 | Müngersdorfer Stadion, Cologne |
| June 15 | England | 1 – 3 | W | UEFA Euro 1988 | Rheinstadion, Düsseldorf |
| June 18 | Republic of Ireland | 1 – 0 | W | UEFA Euro 1988 | Parkstadion, Gelsenkirchen |
| June 21 | West Germany | 1 – 2 | W | Semi Final Euro 1988 | Volksparkstadion, Hamburg |
| June 25 | Soviet Union | 2 – 0 | W | Final Euro 1988 | Olympic Stadium, Munich |
| September 14 | Wales | 1 – 0 | W | World Cup Qualifier | Olympisch Stadion, Amsterdam |
| October 19 | West Germany | 0 – 0 | D | World Cup Qualifier | Olympiastadion, Munich |
| November 16 | Italy | 1 – 0 | L | Friendly | Stadio Olimpico, Rome |

## Births
### January

* 1 January:
** Diego Basto, Colombian footballer
** Sékou Fadiga, Ivorian footballer
** Isaac Mattia, South Sudanese footballer
* 3 January: Crispin Olando, Kenyan international footballer
* 4 January:
** Anestis Argyriou, Greek footballer
** Maximilian Riedmüller, German footballer
* 8 January:
** Vitaliy Hoshkoderya, Ukrainian footballer
** Adrián López, Spanish footballer
** Michael Mancienne, English footballer
* 9 January: Marc Crosas, Spanish footballer
* 13 January: Daniel Scheinig, German footballer
* 20 January:
** Uwa Elderson Echiéjilé, Nigerian international
** Jougle (Jougle Manoel Rodrigues), Brazilian footballer
** Jeffrén Suárez, Spanish footballer
* 23 January: Marko Šimić, Croatian junior international
* 28 January: Alaa Ali, Egyptian footballer (d. 2019)
* 29 January: Bohdan Karkovskyi, Ukrainian former professional footballer

### February

* 3 February: Pouria Gheidar, Iranian footballer
* 4 February: Sergei Yuvenko, Russian professional football player
* 12 February:
** Linda Bengtsson, Swedish footballer
** Nicolás Otamendi, Argentine international football player
* 23 February: Nicolás Gaitán, Argentine international football player
* 24 February: Levi Hanssen, New Zealand/Faroe Islands footballer
* 26 February: İsmail Baydil, Turkish footballer
* 28 February: Jorge Gastélum, Mexican footballer
* 29 February:
** Mikel Balenziaga, Spanish footballer
** Fabiano Ribeiro de Freitas, Brazilian footballer
** Scott Golbourne, English footballer
** Benedikt Höwedes, German footballer
** Viktor Prodell, Swedish footballer
** Evgeni Cheremisin, Russian footballer
** Hamza Ziad, Algerian footballer

### March

* 3 March: Eike Mund, German footballer
* 18 March: Matthieu Onoseke, Democratic Republic of the Congo footballer
* 11 March: Joaelton (Joaelton Jonathan Sampaio), Brazilian footballer
* 12 March: Aarón Torlà, Spanish footballer
* 21 March: Lee Cattermole, English footballer

### April

* 2 April: Edinaldo (Edinaldo Malcher de França Filho), Brazilian footballer
* 3 April: Tim Krul, Dutch international
* 11 April: Oleg Sibalov, Russian professional football player
* 12 April: Fred Santana, Brazilian footballer
* 23 April: Vitali Seletskiy, Russian professional football coach and former player

### May

* 2 May; Ahn Il-joo, South Korean professional footballer
* 4 May:
** Artur Gieraga, Polish footballer
** Michael Ludäscher, Swiss footballer
* 6 May: Maximilian Pfaffinger, German former footballer
* 12 May: Araújo (Rodrigo Araújo Gomes Costa), Brazilian footballer
* 14 May: Kumron Chinsri, Thai professional footballer
* 15 May: Ruslan Tarala, former Russian professional footballer
* 17 May: Jennison Myrie-Williams, English youth international
* 21 May: Jonny Howson, English footballer
* 23 May: Angelo Ogbonna, Italian footballer
* 25 May: Adrián González Morales, Spanish junior international
* 29 May:
** Łukasz Bocian, Polish footballer
** Alex Porfirio, Brazilian footballer

### June

* 1 June: Javier Hernández, Mexican international football player
* 9 June: Martín Castillo, Mexican professional footballer
* 15 June: Cristopher Toselli, Chilean footballer
* 22 June: Silvio Arango, Colombian former footballer
* 23 June: Adrian Chomiuk, Polish footballer
* 24 June: Micah Richards, England international footballer

### July

* 2 July: Abderahmane Hachoud, Algerian international footballer
* 6 July: Gustavo Mencia, Paraguayan footballer
* 8 July:
** Enoch Oteng, Belgian footballer
** Cédric De Troetsel, Belgian retired footballer
* 11 July: Bongane Twala, South African footballer
* 18 July: Elvin Mammadov, Azerbaijani international
* 19 July: Azrul Azmi, Malaysian footballer
* 24 July: Irina Birvagen, Kazakhstani former footballer

### August

* 1 August: Yousef Al-Reshedi, Saudi Arabian footballer
* 5 August: Eddie Nolan, Irish international footballer
* 6 August: José Márquez, Guatemalan footballer
* 27 August: Sergio Villarreal, Colombian former professional footballer
* 28 August: Ray Jones, English footballer (d. 2007)
* 31 August: Faber Cañaveral, Colombian professional footballer

### September

* 2 September: Javi Martínez, Spanish international footballer
* 5 September:
** Nuri Şahin, Turkish footballer
** Felipe Caicedo, Ecuadorian association footballer
* 12 September: Aleksei Buryanov, former Russian professional footballer
* 13 September: Luis Rentería, Panamanian international footballer (died 2014)
* 18 September:
** Mateusz Jeleń, Polish footballer
** Tobias Scheifler, German former professional footballer
** Ferdinand Sinaga, Indonesian international
* 19 September: José Pedro Sousa, Portuguese football
* 23 September: Anthony Straker, English footballer
* 25 September: Chinta Chandrashekar Rao, Indian footballer
* 28 September: Alex Marello, Canadian professional soccer player
* 30 September: Manfred Ekwe-Ebele, French footballer

### October

* 4 October: Marcos Román, Nicaraguan professional footballer
* 7 October: Diego Costa, Spanish international
* 12 October: Abdou Boinaheri, French international footballer
* 13 October: Marco Gasparri, Italian professional footballer
* 14 October
** Will Atkinson, English footballer
** Mario Titone, Italian footballer
* 15 October: Mesut Özil, German international football player

### November

* 7 November: Andri Abubakar, Indonesian footballer
* 12 November: B Zoramthara, Indian professional footballer
* 15 November: Sascha Imholz, Swiss footballer
* 17 November: Salome Khubuluri, Georgian footballer
* 18 November: Andreas Niederquell, German former footballer
* 20 November: Soheil Rahmani, Iranian footballer
* 23 November: Juha-Pekka Inkeröinen, Finnish club footballer
* 24 November: Michel Mondeguer, Democratic Republic of the Congo former professional footballer

### December

* 5 December
** Cristian Machín, Uruguayan footballer
** Kamil Cholerzyński, Polish professional footballer
* 9 December: Ibrahim Morad, Emirati footballer
* 10 December:
** Wilfried Bony, Ivorian international footballer
** Mitchell Donald, Dutch footballer
** Neven Subotić, Serbian international footballer
* 17 December: Thaísa Moreno, Brazilian footballer
* 21 December: Anastasios Christofileas, Greek professional footballer
* 27 December: Achmad Syaful Amry, Indonesian former footballer

## Deaths

* January 27 – Kemal Faruki, Turkish football player (77)
* February 8 – Pietro Arcari, Italian forward, winner of the 1934 FIFA World Cup and one of four Italian players who won the FIFA World Cup while never being capped. (78)
* February 26 – Euclydes Barbosa, Brazilian defender, semi-finalist at the 1938 FIFA World Cup. (82)
* March 13 – Rodolpho Barteczko, Brazilian striker, semi-finalist at the 1938 FIFA World Cup. (77)
* March 16 – Erich Probst, Austrian football player (60)
* October 19 – Marcos Carneiro de Mendonça, Brazilian goalkeeper, the inaugural goalkeeper for Brazil National Football Team and winner of the 1919 South American Championship and 1922 South American Championship. (93)