2008 in association football

The following are the association football events of the year 2008 throughout the world.

Events

*20 January to 10 February — Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana
*May 4 to May 16 - UEFA U-17 Championship in Turkey
* June 7 to June 29 — Euro 2008 held in Austria and Switzerland
* August 6 to August 24 - "'Men's and Women's Football Tournaments at the Beijing Olympics
* October 30 to November 16 — Inauguration of FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup held In New Zealand
* November 20 to December 7 — 2008 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Chile

News

January

*3 – Argentine midfielder Éver Banega leaves CA Boca Juniors and joins the Spanish club Valencia CF for an estimated fee of €18 million.
*5 – Everton are knocked out of the FA Cup in the third round by Oldham, a team from Football League One (third division) as Huddersfield Town from the same division beat Birmingham City.
*6 – Toulouse are eliminated from the Coupe de France by Paris FC, a team from the Championnat National (third division).
*9 – Sam Allardyce leaves the manager's position at Newcastle United by mutual agreement.
*11 – Jürgen Klinsmann is unveiled as the new coach of FC Bayern Munich, it was announced this would be effective from July.
*20 – The Africa Cup of Nations begins in Ghana with the hosts beating Guinea 2-1.
*23 – Tottenham Hotspur defeat Arsenal 5-1 in the semi-final second-leg of the League Cup. This was the first time they had beaten their local rivals since 1999.
*24 – George Burley is announced as the new coach of the Scotland national football team.
*28 – Mohamed Sissoko leaves Liverpool to sign for Juventus, costing the Italian team €13 million.

February

*2 – Frédéric Kanouté is named 2007 African Footballer of the Year
*4 – Víctor Muñoz is sacked from the managers job of Spanish team Recreativo de Huelva, Manolo Zambrano is immediately installed as the new coach of the La Liga team.
* 10 – Egypt win the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations after beating Cameroon in the final 1-0.
* 13 – Giovanni Trapattoni is announced as the new coach of the Republic of Ireland national football team. He will officially take up this role in May.
* 23 – South Korean men's team won East Asian Cup 2008.
* 23 – Japanese J. League Cup winner Gamba Osaka defeated MLS champion Houston Dynamo at the final game of Pan-Pacific Championship 2008 by 6-1, won the champion title of inaugural tournament. Los Angeles Galaxy won the third place match against Sydney FC from A-league by 2-1.
* 24 – Japan won the Women's East Asian Cup 2008 with three straight wins over South Korea, North Korea, and China.
* 24 – Tottenham Hotspur won the Football League Cup, also known as the Carling Cup, after beating Chelsea 2-1 after extra time at Wembley Stadium.
* 24 – Newcastle Jets win the Hyundai A-League Grand Final by defeating the Central Coast Mariners by 1-0 at the Sydney Football Stadium.

March

*11 – Newport County win the FAW Premier Cup beating Llanelli 1–0 in the final.
*12 – The United States women's national soccer team wins the 2008 Algarve Cup for the sixth time, beating Denmark 2–1 in the final.
*16 – Rangers win the Scottish League Cup by beating Dundee United 3-2 in a penalty shootout after a 2-2 draw at Hampden Park.

May

*5 – Real Madrid wins the 31^st La Liga title after beating Osasuna 2-1.
*8 – Announced that Frank Rijkaard would leave his managerial post at F.C Barcelona at the end of the season and be replaced by Barcelona B coach Josep Guardiola.
*11 – Manchester United wins it's 10^th Premier League title after beating Wigan Athletic 2-0 away.
*17 – Portsmouth wins the 127th FA Cup after beating Cardiff City 1-0 at Wembley Stadium
*21 – Manchester United won the UEFA Champions League after beating Chelsea FC 6-5 on penalties after a 1-1 draw after 90 minutes in Moscow
*22 – Celtic win the SPL title for the third successive season by 3 points from Rangers on the final day.
*24 – Avram Grant is sacked as Chelsea manager after just 8 months in charge of the Barclays Premier League club.

June

*2 – José Mourinho replaces Roberto Mancini as manager of Internazionale
*25 – LDU Quito won the first leg of the Copa Libertadores final beating Fluminense 4-2
*29 – Spain win Euro 2008 after beating Germany 1-0 in the final.

July

*1 – Luiz Felipe Scolari becomes the new manager of Chelsea
*2 – LDU Quito wins the Copa Libertadores beating Fluminense in penalties 3-1 after a 5-5 aggregate draw

August

*21 – United States women's team win gold at the 2008 Summer Olympics
*23 – Argentina's men's team win gold at the 2008 Summer Olympics

September

*1 – Manchester City sign Robinho from Real Madrid for a British record fee of £32.5m
*1 – Manchester United sign Dimitar Berbatov from Tottenham Hotspur for £30.75m
*4 – Kevin Keegan resigns as manager of Newcastle United

National champions

AFC nations

*flagicon|AUS A-League: Newcastle Jets
*flagicon|Bahrain Bahraini Premier League: Muharraq Club
*flagicon|Hong Kong Hong Kong First Division League: South China
*flagicon|MAS Malaysian Super League: Kedah FA
*flagicon|TWN Enterprise Football League: Taipower

UEFA nations

*flagicon|ALB Albanian Superliga: KS Dinamo Tirana
*flagicon|AND Campionat de Lliga: Santa Coloma
*flagicon|ARM Armenian Premier League: TBC
*flagicon|AUT Austrian Bundesliga: SK Rapid Wien
*flagicon|AZE Azerbaijan Premier League: Inter Baku
*flagicon|BLR Belarusian Premier League: TBC
*flagicon|BEL Jupiler League: Standard Liège
*flagicon|Bosnia and Herzegovina Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina: FK Modriča
*flagicon|BUL Bulgarian A PFG: CSKA Sofia
*flagicon|CRO Prva HNL: Dinamo Zagreb
*flagicon|CYP Cypriot First Division: Anorthosis Famagusta
*flagicon|CZE Gambrinus Liga: Slavia Prague
*flagicon|DEN Danish Superliga: AaB
*flagicon|ENG Premier League: Manchester United
*flagicon|EST Meistriliiga: TBC
*flagicon|Faroe Islands Formuladeildin: TBC
*flagicon|FIN Veikkausliiga: TBC
*flagicon|FRA Ligue 1: Olympique Lyonnais
*flagicon|GEO Umaglesi Liga: Dinamo Tbilisi
*flagicon|DEU German Bundesliga: Bayern Munich
*flagicon|GRC Super League Greece: Olympiacos FC
*flagicon|Hungary Hungarian National Championship I: MTK Budapest
*flagicon|Iceland Úrvalsdeild: TBC
*flagicon|IRL FAI Premier Division: TBC
*flagicon|Israel Ligat ha'Al: Beitar Jerusalem
*flagicon|ITA Serie A: Internazionale
*flagicon|Kazakhstan Kazakhstan Premier League: TBC
*flagicon|LAT Latvian Higher League: TBC
*flagicon|LTU A Lyga: TBC
*flagicon|LUX Luxembourg National Division: F91 Dudelange
*flagicon|Macedonia Macedonian Prva Liga: FK Rabotnički
*flagicon|MLT Maltese Premier League: Valletta FC
*flagicon|Moldova Moldovan National Division: FC Sheriff Tiraspol
*flagicon|Montenegro Montenegrin First League: FK Budućnost Podgorica
*flagicon|NLD Eredivisie: PSV Eindhoven
*flagicon|NIR Irish Premier League: Linfield
*flagicon|NOR Norwegian Premier League: TBC
*flagicon|POL Orange Ekstraklasa: Wisła Kraków
*flagicon|PRT Portuguese Liga: FC Porto
*flagicon|ROU Liga I: CFR Cluj
*flagicon|RUS Russian Premier League: TBC
*flagicon|SMR Campionato Sammarinese di Calcio: S.S. Murata
*flagicon|SCO Scottish Premier League: Celtic F.C.
*flagicon|SER Serbian Superliga: FK Partizan
*flagicon|SVK Slovak Superliga: TBC
*flagicon|Slovenia Slovenian PrvaLiga: TBC
*flagicon|ESP La Liga: Real Madrid
*flagicon|SWE Allsvenskan: TBC
*flagicon|Switzerland Swiss Super League: FC Basel
*flagicon|TUR Turkcell Super League: Galatasaray S.K.
*flagicon|UKR Ukrainian Premier League: Shakhtar Donetsk
*flagicon|WAL Welsh Premier League: Llanelli AFC

CAF nations

*flagicon|TUN Tunisian CLP-1: Club Africain

CONMEBOL nations

*flagicon|ARG Primera División Argentina: River Plate (C)
*flagicon|BOL Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano: Club Universitario (A)
*flagicon|BRA Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: TBD
*flagicon|CHI Primera División de Chile: Everton (A)
*flagicon|COL Colombian Professional Football: Boyacá Chicó (A)
*flagicon|ECU Serie A de Ecuador: TBD
*flagicon|PAR Primera División de Paraguay: Club Libertad (A)
*flagicon|PER Primera División Peruana: TBD
*flagicon|URU Primera División Uruguaya: Defensor Sporting
*flagicon|VEN Primera División Venezolana: Deportivo Táchira(A = Aperatura, C= Clausura)

International tournaments

*2008 Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana (January 20 – February 10, 2008)
*# fb|Egypt
*# fb|Cameroon
*# fb|Ghana
*# fb|Côte d'Ivoire

*Men's East Asian Cup 2008 final in Chongqing, China (February 17 – 23, 2008)
*# fb|South Korea
*# fb|Japan
*# fb|China
*# fb|North Korea

*Women's East Asian Cup 2008 final in Chongqing, China (February 18 – 24, 2008)
*# fbw|Japan
*# fbw|North Korea
*# fbw|China
*# fbw|South Korea

*2008 Algarve Cup in Algarve, Portugal (March 5 – 12, 2008)
*# fbw|USA
*# fbw|DEN
*# fbw|NOR
*# fbw|GER

*2008 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship in Turkey (May 4 – 16, 2008)
*# fb|Spain
*# fb|France
*# fb|Turkey and fb|Netherlands

*2008 UEFA European Football Championship in Austria and Switzerland (June 7 – 29, 2008)
*# fb|Spain
*# fb|Germany
*# fb|Turkey and fb|Russia

*2008 Summer Olympics - Women's tournament in China (August 6 – 21, 2008)
*# fb|USA
*# fb|Brazil
*# fb|Germany

*2008 Summer Olympics - Men's tournament in China (August 7 – 23, 2008)
*# fb|Argentina
*# fb|Nigeria
*# fb|Brazil

Deaths

January

* January 4 – Bjørn Odmar Andersen (64), Norwegian footballer
* January 4 – Vyacheslav Ambartsumyan (67), Russian footballer
* January 5 – Louis Hon (83), French footballer
* January 9 – Paul Aimson (64), English footballer
* January 11 – Frank Loughran (77), Australian international footballer
* January 12 – Leszek Jezierski (78), Polish footballer and manager
* January 14 – Johnny Steele (91), English footballer and manager
* January 18 – Wally Fielding (88), English footballer
* January 21 – Billy Elliott (82), English footballer

February

* February 1 – Władysław Kawula (70), Polish footballer
* February 2 – Yiu Cheuk Yin (80), Hong Kong footballer
* February 9 – Guy Tchingoma (22), Gabonese footballer
* February 10 – Ove Jørstad (37), Norwegian footballer
* February 12 – Jean Prouff (88), French footballer and manager
* February 12 – Thomas Grosser (42), German footballer
* February 14 – Len Boyd (84), English footballer
* February 15 – Inge Thun (62), Norwegian footballer
* February 17 – Brian Harris (72), English footballer and manager
* February 21 – Emmanuel Sanon (56), Haitian footballer

March

* March 2 – Carl Hoddle (40), English footballer
* March 5 – Derek Dooley (78), English footballer and manager

April

* April 3 – Hrvoje Ćustić (24), Croatian footballer
* April 5 – Wang Donglei (23), Chinese footballer
* April 18 – Erminio Favalli (64), Italian footballer
* April 19 – Constant Vanden Stock (93), Belgian footballer, manager, and executive

May

* May 8 – François Sterchele (26), Belgian footballer
* May 15 – Tommy Burns (51), Scottish former footballer and manager
* May 23 – Heinrich Kwiatkowski (81), German footballer

June

* June 11 – Adam Ledwoń (34), Polish footballer
* June 22 – Ron Stitfall (82), Welsh footballer

July

* July 13: – Rudolf Nafziger (62), German footballer
* July 15: – Gionata Mingozzi (23), Italian footballer
* July 18: – George Niven (79), Scottish footballer