# 1972 in association football

The following are the football (soccer) events of the year 1972 throughout the world.

## Events

* 24 May – Copa Libertadores 1972: Won by Independiente after defeating Universitario de Deportes on an aggregate score of 2-1.
* 11 May – Ajax Amsterdam claims the Dutch Cup by defeating FC Den Haag: 3-2.
* 12 October – the 1972–73 Honduran League was canceled due to economic problems.
* 18 November 1972 –1972 Scotland v England women's football match

## Winners club national championship
### Asia

* Qatar: Al-Sadd SC

### Europe

* Denmark: Vejle BK
* East Germany: Magdeburg
* England: Derby County
* France: Olympique de Marseille
* Hungary: Újpest FC
* Italy: Juventus
* Netherlands: Ajax Amsterdam
* Soviet Union: Zorya Voroshilovgrad
* Spain: Real Madrid
* Turkey: Galatasaray S.K.
* West Germany: Bayern Munich

### North America

* Mexico: Cruz Azul
* United States / Canada:
** New York Cosmos (NASL)

### South America

* Argentina
** San Lorenzo - Metropolitano
** San Lorenzo - Nacional
* Brazil: Palmeiras

## International tournaments

* African Cup of Nations in Cameroon (February 23 – March 5, 1972)
** Congo
** Mali
** Cameroon
* 1972 British Home Championship (May 20 – May 27, 1972)
       Shared by England and Scotland
* UEFA European Football Championship in Belgium (June 14 – 18 1972)
** West Germany
** Soviet Union
** Belgium
* Olympic Games in Munich, West Germany (August 26 – September 10, 1972)
** Poland
** Hungary
** Soviet Union and East Germany

## Births

* January 1
** Christos Kiourkos, retired Greek footballer
** Lilian Thuram, French international footballer
* January 2 – Eduardo Pereira, Timorese footballer
* January 3 – Manuel Martínez, Mexican international footballer
* January 5 – Richard Sosa, Uruguayan former footballer
* January 8
** Paul Clement, English footballer, coach, and manager
** Giuseppe Favalli, Italian footballer
** Esteban Valencia, Chilean international footballer
* January 11 – Huub Loeffen, Dutch footballer
* January 16
** Ruben Bagger, Danish footballer
** Yuri Alekseevich Drozdov, Russian footballer
** Ezra Hendrickson, Vincentian footballer
** Alen Peternac, Croatian footballer
* January 29
** Artur Belotserkovets, Russian former professional footballer
** Joseph Oosting, Dutch footballer
* February 11 – Steve McManaman, English international footballer
* February 20 – Andrei Nemykin, Russian footballer
* March 2 – Mauricio Pochettino, Argentine football player and manager
* March 3
** Darren Anderton, English international footballer
** Karel Poborský, Czech international footballer
* March 17
** Mia Hamm, American women's soccer player
** Antonis Papadimitriou, retired Greek footballer
* March 23 – Daniel Prodan, Romanian international footballer (died 2016)
* March 28 – Péter Lipcsei, Hungarian footballer
* March 29 – Rui Costa, Portuguese footballer
* April 28 – Jean-Paul van Gastel, Dutch footballer
* April 28 – Wilmer Velásquez, Honduran international footballer
* May 8 – José Alberto Guadarrama, Mexican footballer
* May 10 – Radosław Majdan, Polish goalkeeper
* May 13 – Gytis Padimanskas, Lithuanian professional footballer
* June 15 – Marcus Hahnemann, American soccer player
* June 23 – Zinedine Zidane, French international footballer
* August 7 – Goran Vlaović, Croatian footballer
* August 30 – Pavel Nedvěd, Czech international footballer
* September 8 – Markus Babbel, German international footballer and manager
* September 9 – Alexandre Clot, retired Swiss footballer
* September 10 – João Carlos dos Santos, Brazilian international footballer
* September 10 – Mariano Bombarda, Spanish footballer
* September 29 – Björn Arens, retired German footballer
* October 1 – Jean Paulo Fernandes, Brazilian footballer
* October 2 – Jacob Eli Olsen, Faroese former footballer
* October 11 – Hajnalka Sipos, Hungarian footballer
* November 2 – Derlis Gómez, Paraguayan footballer
* November 2 – Darío Silva, Uruguayan footballer
* November 4 – Luís Figo, Portuguese international footballer
* November 11 – Nurmat Mirzabaev, Kazakhstani footballer
* December 11 – Andriy Husin, Ukrainian international footballer and coach (died 2014)
* December 16 – Aleksei Morochko, former Russian footballer
* December 22 – Claudio Guerra, former Uruguayan footballer
* December 29 – Losseni Konaté, Ivorian footballer
* December 31 – Roberto Baldassari, retired Swiss footballer

## Deaths

* June 9 – Caesar ten Cate, Dutch international footballer (born 1890)
* September 16 – Jan de Natris (76), Dutch international footballer (born 1895)