The following are the football (soccer) events of the year 2002 throughout the world.
Events
8 January – MLS contracts league down to ten clubs by eliminating its two Florida franchises: Tampa Bay Mutiny and Miami Fusion.
13 February – Dick Advocaat is reinstated as the manager of the Netherlands, as the successor of the failing Louis van Gaal, with a 1–1 draw in a friendly against England in Amsterdam.
The 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan is held from 31 May to 30 June in South Korea and Japan. Brazil wins its fifth title, defeating Germany 2–0 in the final. Surprisingly, Turkey and host nation South Korea take 3rd and 4th. This is the first time a World Cup is held in Asia and by two countries simultaneously.
UEFA Champions League: Real Madrid beats Bayer Leverkusen 2–1 in the final. This was Real Madrid's 9th European Cup.
UEFA Cup: Feyenoord wins 3–2 in the final against Borussia Dortmund, winning the cup for the second time.
European Super Cup: Real Madrid wins 3–1 over Feyenoord, winning the cup for the first time.
Scotland – Scottish Premier League: Celtic win the league with an overall points tally of 103, a new record.
Copa Libertadores 2002: Olimpia of Paraguay wins the final on a penalty shootout (4–2) against São Caetano of Brazil.
England – FA Cup: Arsenal wins 2–0 over Chelsea.
Asian Champions Cup – Suwon Samsung Bluewings retain the Asian Champions Cup, defeating fellow South Korean club Anyang LG Cheetahs 4–2 on penalties. They also retained the Asian Super Cup.
May – Arsenal wins The Double
31 August – Real Madrid signs Inter Milan's World Cup winner Ronaldo with a transfer fee of €45 million.
1 October – Gerard van der Lem is named manager of the Saudi Arabia national football team.
3 December – Real Madrid wins the Intercontinental Cup in Tokyo, Japan for the third time, by defeating Paraguay's Olimpia Asunción: 2–0.
Winners of national club championship
Asia
:
Pro League – Persepolis
Azadegan League – Sanat Naft
Hazfi Cup – Esteghlal
– Júbilo Iwata
– Al-Ittihad
– Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma
– Osotspa M-150
Europe
Croatia – NK Zagreb
Denmark – Brøndby
England – Arsenal
France – Lyon
Germany – Borussia Dortmund
Iceland – KR
Ireland – Shelbourne
Italy – Juventus
Netherlands
Eredivisie – Ajax
Eerste Divisie – Zwolle
Portugal – Sporting CP
Russia – Lokomotiv Moscow
Scotland – Celtic
Spain
La Liga – Valencia
Copa del Rey – Deportivo La Coruña
Sweden: for fuller coverage, see: 2002 in Swedish football
Allsvenskan and Svenska Cupen – Djurgården
Turkey – Galatasaray
Ukraine – Shakhtar Donetsk
FR Yugoslavia – Partizan
North and Central America
– Ottawa Wizards (CPSL)
Verano 2002 – Club América
Apertura 2002 – Club Toluca
– Los Angeles Galaxy (MLS)
South America
Argentina:
2001–02 Clausura – River Plate
2002–03 Apertura – Independiente
Bolivia – Bolívar
Brazil – Santos
Ecuador – Emelec
Paraguay – Libertad
Uruguay – Nacional
International tournaments
African Cup of Nations in Mali (19 January – 13 February 2002)
FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan (31 May – 30 June 2002)
National team results
Europe
South America
Births
7 January – Mohamed Daramy, Danish international
16 January – Bagas Kaffa, Indonesian youth international
18 January – Karim Adeyemi, German international
23 January – Leonardo Bia, Italian footballer
January 30 – Marco Di Cesare, Argentine club footballer
31 January – Giovanni, Brazilian footballer
3 February – Radu Drăgușin, Romanian international
15 February – Zuriko Davitashvili, Georgian international
10 March
Ian Maatsen, Dutch footballer
Noni Madueke, English youth international
27 April – Anthony Elanga, Swedish international
13 May – Eugenio Pizzuto, Mexican youth international
16 May – Kenneth Taylor, Dutch international
7 June – Tomáš Suslov, Slovak international
19 June – Efraín Álvarez, Mexican international
11 July – Amad Diallo, Ivorian international
25 July – Adam Hložek, Czech international
30 August – Fábio Carvalho, Portuguese youth international
20 October – Yeremy Pino, Spanish international
23 October – Elkan Baggott, Indonesian footballer
31 October – Ansu Fati, Spanish international
10 November – Eduardo Camavinga, French international
13 November – Giovanni Reyna, U.S. international
Deaths
February
8 February – Zizinho, Brazilian midfielder, winner of the Best Player Award at the 1950 FIFA World Cup. (80)
12 February – John Eriksen (44), Danish international
16 February – Walter Winterbottom (89), English manager
20 February – Cristian Neamtu, Romanian player
March
4 March – Velibor Vasović (62), Yugoslavian footballer
April
16 April – Billy Ayre (49), English footballer and manager
May
13 May – Valeri Lobanovsky (63), Ukrainian footballer and manager
June
17 June – Fritz Walter (81), German World cup winning (1954) footballer
July
25 July – Hans Dorjee (60), Dutch footballer and manager
August
8 August – Reiner Geye (52), German footballer
September
17 September – Edvaldo Alves de Santa Rosa, Brazilian forward, winner of the 1958 FIFA World Cup. (68)
22 September – Julio Pérez, Uruguayan striker, winner of the 1950 FIFA World Cup. (76)
October
24 October – Hermán Gaviria (32), Colombian footballer
November
1 November – Lester Morgan (26), Costa Rican footballer
9 November – Eusebio Tejera, Uruguayan defender, winner of the 1950 FIFA World Cup. (80)
12 November – Raoul Diagne (92), French footballer
13 November – Juan Alberto Schiaffino, Uruguayan forward, winner of the 1950 FIFA World Cup, ranked as the best Uruguayan footballer of all time by an IFFHS poll. (77)
Movies
Bend It Like Beckham (UK)
References
Association football by year