The following are the football (soccer) events of the year 2002 around the world.

Events
January
January 8: Tampa Bay Mutiny and Miami Fusion withdraw from the MLS. They are both dissolved on the same day.
January 19: The opening match of the 2002 African Cup of Nations is played.  draw 1-1 against  the Stade du 26 Mars in Bamako, .

February
February 10: The 2002 African Cup of Nations Final is played.  beat  3-2 on penalties.
February 13: Dick Advocaat replaces Louis van Gaal as the manager of the . His first game as Netherlands manager was 1-1 draw against  in Amsterdam, .
February 19: Roberto Di Matteo (31) retires. He most famously played for Lazio, , and .

April
April 5: The 2002 Asian Club Championship Final was played. Suwon Samsung Bluewings beat Anyang LG Cheetahs 4-2 on penalties.

May
May 8: Feyenoord beat Borussia Dortmund 3-2 in the 2002 UEFA Cup Final. The match was played at the Stadion Feijenoord, in Rotterdam, .
May 10: Lee Dixon (38) retires. He most famously played for  and .
May 15: Real Madrid C.F. beat Bayer Leverkusun in the 2002 UEFA Champions League Final. The match was played at Hampden Park, .
May 28: The 53rd FIFA Congress is held. This is when the 2002 FIFA Presidential Election happened. Joseph "Sepp" Blatter beats Issa Hayatou in the election
May 30: A.F.C. Wimbledon is founded in . It is founded by Wimbledon F.C. fans who were annoyed that the club was allowed to move to Milton Keynes.
May 31: The opening match of the 2002 FIFA World Cup is played. In that game,  beat 1998 World Cup winners  1-0 at the Seoul World Cup Stadium, .

June
June 17: 1954 FIFA World Cup winner Fritz Walter passes away.
June 21: Wacker Innsbruck is founded in .
June 30: The 2002 FIFA World Cup Final is played.  beats  2-0 at the International Stadium of Yokohama, .

July
July 31: The 2nd leg of the 2002 Copa Libertadores Final is played. Club Olimpia beat São Caetano 2-1 (2-2 on aggregate). Club Olympia would win 4-2 on penalties.

August
August 11: Tony Adams (35) retires. He played for  and .
August 17: Wayne Rooney makes his professional debut for . The match was a 2-2 draw against .
August 27: The 2nd leg of the 2002 UEFA Intertoto Cup finals were played. Stuttgart beat Lille 2-0 (Stuttgart won 2-1 on agg.),  beat Bologna 3-1 (Fulham won 5-3 on agg.), and Málaga drew 1-1 against Villarreal (Málaga won 2-1 on agg.).
August 30: The 2002 UEFA Super Cup is played. Real Madrid beats Feyenoord 3-1 at the Stade Louis II in .
August 31: Real Madrid sign Ronaldo from Inter Milan for €45 million.
Date Unknown: Gerard van der Lem replaces Martin Koopman as the manager of .

September
September 17: 1958 FIFA World Cup winner Edvaldo Alves de Santa Rosa passes away. He dies due to cancer.
September 18: The 2002 CONCACAF Champions' Cup Final was played. Pachuca beat Monarcas Morelia 1-0.
September 22: 1950 FIFA World Cup winner Julio Pérez passes away.

October
October 31: A match between AS Adema and SO l'Emyrne ended at 149-0. This is due to SO l'Emyrne scoring 149 own goals in protest. It was later discovered that the match was fixed.

November
November 9: 1950 FIFA World Cup winner Eusebio Tejera passes away.
November 13: 1950 FIFA World Cup winner Juan Alberto Schiaffino passes away.

December
December 3: Real Madrid beat Club Olimpia in the 2002 Intercontinental Cup

Date Unknown
Tirol Innsburck went bankrupt after winning their 3rd Austrian Bundesliga title.
The 2002 FIFA World Player of the Year is held. Ronaldo wins the Men's award, while Mia Hamm wins the Woman's award.
The English Football Hall of Fame is opened.
Athletic Club Femenino is founded. It is the woman's team of Athletic Bilbao

Tournament Winners

International

Youth International

Continental

National

UEFA

CONCACAF

AFC

Births & Deaths

Births

January
January 18: Karim Adeyemi, footballer (Red Bull Salzburg)
January 18: Ki-Jana Hoever, footballer ()
January 19: Reinier, footballer (Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund)
January 23: Josko Gvardiol, footballer (Dinamo Zagreb, RB Leipzig)
January 29: Andri Guðjohnsen, footballer, and son of Eiður Guðjohnsen
January 31: Giovanni, footballer (Jong Ajax)

Febuary
February 1: Brian Brobbey, footballer (Ajax, RB Leipzig)
Febuary 12: Mohamed Ihattaren, footballer (PSV Eindhoven)

March
March 16: Nathanaël Mbuku, footballer (Stade de Reims)

May
May 16: Ryan Gravenberch, footballer (Ajax, )
May 27: Jérémy Doku, footballer (Anderlecht, , 
May 28: Gianluca Busio, footballer (Sporting Kansas City)

June
June 7: Tanguy Nianzou, footballer (, Bayern Munich)
June 19: Efraín Álvarez, footballer (LA Galaxy, )
June 19: Nuno Mendes, footballer (Sporting CP)

July
July 2: Sebastiano Esposito, footballer (Inter Milan)
July 11: Amad Diallo, footballer (Atalanta, , )
July 19: Fábio Silva, footballer (Porto, )
July 25: Adam Hložek, footballer (Sparta Prague, )

September
September 25: Filip Stevanović, footballer (Partizan, )

October
October 31: Ansu Fati, footballer (Barcelona, )

November
November 10: Eduardo Camavinga, footballer (, )
November 13: Giovanni Reyna, footballer (Borussia Dortmund, )
November 25: Pedri, footballer (Las Palmas, Barcelona, )
November 29: Yunus Musah, footballer (Valencia, )

Deaths

January
January 4: Georg Ericson, footballer (IFK Norrköping) and manager (IFK Norrköping, )
January 15: Jean Dockx, footballer (R.S.C. Anderlecht, ) and manager (, R.S.C. Anderlecht)
January 19: Jeff Astle, footballer (, , )

February
February 4: Bert Head, footballer () and manager (, )
February 12: John Eriksen, footballer (Feyenoord, Luzern, }
February 13: George Bray, footballer ()
February 13: Ramón Grosso, footballer (Real Madrid, ) and manager (Real Madrid B)
February 14: Nándor Hidegkuti, footballer (MTK Hungária, ) and manager (MTK Hungária, Fiorentina, Al Ahly)
February 16: Sir Walter Winterbottom, footballer () and manager (, )
Febuary 20: Branko Stanković, footballer (Red Star Belgrade, ) and manager (, , FC Porto, PAOK, Red Star Belgrade, Fenerbahçe, Beşiktaş)

March
March 4: Velibor Vasović, footballer (Partizan, Red Star Belgrade, Ajax, ) and manager (F.K. Partizan, Angers, , Red Star Belgrade)
March 26: Eugen Meier, footballer (BSC Young Boys, )

April
April 2: Ike Clarke, footballer (, ) and player-manager ()
April 3: Ernst Stojaspal, footballer (Austria Wien, Strasbourg, , Metz, )
April 9: Roy Dwight, footballer (, )
April 29: Sune Andersson, footballer (AIK, Roma, Kalmar FF, ) and manager (Kalmar FF, IFK Eskilstuna)

May
May 13: Valeriy Lobanovskyi, footballer (Dynamo Kyiv, Shakhtar Donetsk) and manager (Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, Dynamo Kyiv, , , , )
May 21: Roy Paul, footballer (Swansea Town, . )
May 29: Stan Bentham, footballer ()
May 30: Sándor Mátrai, footballer (Ferencvaros, )

June
June 17: Fritz Walter, footballer (Kaiserslautern, )

July
July 3: Billy Liddell, footballer (
July 7: Ray Wood, footballer (, Huddersfield Town, ) and manager (, APOEL). Survivor of the Munich air disaster
July 20: Michalis Kritikopoulos, footballer (, )
July 22: Giuseppe Corradi, footballer (Modena, , Genoa, ) and manager (Pisa, Spezia Calcio)
July 23: Hermann Lindemann, footballer (FSV Frankfurt, VfB Leipzig, Eintracht Frankfurt) and manager (FSV Frankfurt, Fortuna Düsseldorf, VfL Bochum, Borussia Dortmund)
July 25: Hans Dorjee, footballer (DHC, XerxesDZB) and manager (NAC, Excelsior, Vitesse, PSV (assistant manager), AA Gent, )
July 27: Anatoli Bashashkin, footballer (CDSA Moscow, Spartak Moscow, )

August
August 8: Reiner Geye, footballer (Fortuna Düsseldorf, 1. FC Kaiserslautern, )
August 17: John Charles, footballer (West Ham United)

September
September 17: Edvaldo Alves de Santa Rosa, footballer (Flamengo, Portuguesa de Desportos, Atlético Junior, )
September 18: Mauro Ramos, footballer (, ) and manager (, )
September 22: Julio Pérez, footballer (Racing Montevideo, River Plate Montevideo, Nacional, Internacional, Sud América, )

October
October 10: Erling Sørensen, footballer (Frem, Udinese, ) and manager (Frem)
October 11: Ron Gray, footballer (, , ), manager (, , ), and scout ()
October 14: Arturo Silvestri, footballer (Modena, Milan) and manager (Cagliari, Milan, Brescia, Genoa)

November
November 1: Lester Morgan, footballer ()
November 6: Gianluca Signorini, footballer (Livorno, Parma, Genoa)
November 9: Eusebio Tejera, footballer (River Plate Montevideo, Nacional, )
November 12: Raoul Diagne, footballer (RC Paris, Toulouse, ), and manager ()
November 13: Juan Alberto Schiaffino, footballer (Peñarol, Milan, Roma, , ) and manager (Peñarol, )
November 18: Pasquale Vivolo, footballer (, Lazio, )
November 30: Alan Ashman, English footballer () and manager (, , )

December
December 19: Arthur Rowley, footballer (), player-manager (), and manager ()
December 21: Jeu van Bun, footballer (MVV, )
December 28: Albert Stubbins, English footballer (, )
December 31: Billy Morris, footballer (, ) and manager (Wrexham)

References

 
2002