2002 in association football

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 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
• *Verano 2002 – Club América
• *Apertura 2002 – Club Toluca
• – Los Angeles Galaxy

  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
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• FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan
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  National team results

Europe

South America

Deaths

February

• 8 February – Zizinho, Brazilian midfielder, winner of the Best Player Award at the 1950 FIFA World Cup.
• 16 February – Walter Winterbottom, English manager
• 20 February- Cristian Neamtu, Romanion player

  March

• 4 March – Velibor Vasović, Yugoslavian footballer

  April

• 16 April – Billy Ayre, English footballer and manager

  May

• 13 May – Valeri Lobanovsky, Ukrainian footballer and manager

  June

• 17 June – Fritz Walter, German World cup winning footballer

  July

• 25 July – Hans Dorjee, Dutch footballer and manager

  August

• 8 August – Reiner Geye, German footballer

  September

• 17 September – Edvaldo Alves de Santa Rosa, Brazilian forward, winner of the 1958 FIFA World Cup.
• 22 September – Julio Pérez, Uruguayan striker, winner of the 1950 FIFA World Cup.

  October

• 24 October – Hermán Gaviria, Colombian footballer

  November

• 1 November – Lester Morgan, Costa Rican footballer
• 9 November – Eusebio Tejera, Uruguayan defender, winner of the 1950 FIFA World Cup.
• 12 November – Raoul Diagne, 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.

  Movies

• Bend It Like Beckham