The following are the scheduled events of association football (soccer) for the year 2020 throughout the world.
Numerous association football competitions were either postponed or cancelled during the year due to the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
. On 13 March 2020, FIFA announced that clubs did not have to release players to their national teams during the international windows of March and April 2020, while players also had the option to decline a call-up without any consequences. FIFA also recommended that all international matches during the March and April 2020 windows be postponed.
By April 2020 only four nations were still playing association football league matches:
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
,
Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...
,
[En el planeta fútbol, solo Nicaragua y Bielorrusia continúan con sus torneos](_blank)
la-razon.com Tajikistan
Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...
, and
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...
In April 2020, FIFA announced that the
2020 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup
The 2020 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, was originally going to be the 10th edition of the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, the biennial international women's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associati ...
and the
2020 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup
The 2020 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, later postponed and renamed as the 2021 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup before its cancellation, was originally going to be the 7th edition of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, the biennial international women's y ...
would be postponed and rescheduled.
Events
Men's Youth
* 8–26 January:
2020 AFC U-23 Championship
The 2020 AFC U-23 Championship was the fourth edition of the AFC U-23 Championship, the biennial international age-restricted football championship organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-23 national teams of Asia. ...
in
** :
** :
** :
** 4th:
* 17 February – 5 March:
2020 Arab Cup U-20
The 2020 Arab Cup U-20 was the fourth edition of the Arab Cup U-20 organised by the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA) for the men's under-20 national teams of the Arab world. It is the first tournament played in nearly eight years. The co ...
in
** :
** :
* 19–29 November:
2020 COSAFA Under-17 Championship in
** :
** :
** :
** 4th:
* 20–29 November:
2020 WAFU U-20 Tournament in
** :
** :
* 22 November – 2 December:
2020 CECAFA U-20 Championship
The 2020 CECAFA U-20 Championship took place from 22 November to 2 December 2020 in Arusha, Tanzania.
This competition served as the CECAFA qualifiers for the 2021 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations. The two finalists of the tournament represented CECAF ...
in
** :
** :
** :
** 4th:
* 3–13 December:
2020 COSAFA U-20 Cup
The 2020 COSAFA U-20 Cup was the 27th edition of the COSAFA U-20 Challenge Cup, an international youth football tournament open to national associations of the COSAFA region. It took place between 3 December and 13 December in Nelson Mandela B ...
in
** :
** :
** :
** 4th:
* 13–28 December:
2020 UNAF U-20 Tournament
The 2020 UNAF U-20 Tournament was the 13th edition of the UNAF U-20 Tournament. The tournament took place in Tunisia, from 13 to 28 December 2020.
This tournament serves as a qualification event for the Africa U-20 Cup of Nations. The champions an ...
in
** :
** :
** :
* 15–23 December:
2020 UNIFFAC U-20 Championship in
Women's national teams
* 4–10 March:
2020 Turkish Women's Cup
The 2020 Turkish Women's Cup was the third edition of the Turkish Women's Cup, an invitational women's football tournament held annually in Turkey. It took place from 4 to 10 March 2020.
Teams
Venezuela withdrew before the tournament and was r ...
in
** :
** :
** :
** 4th:
*4–11 March:
2020 Algarve Cup
The 2020 Algarve Cup was the 27th edition of the Algarve Cup, an invitational Women's association football, women's football tournament held annually in Portugal. It took place from 4-11 March 2020.
The final was scratched and Germany was awarded ...
in
** :
** :
** :
** 4th:
CAF
* 3–14 November:
2020 COSAFA Women's Championship
The 2020 COSAFA Women's Championship is the eighth edition of the COSAFA Women's Championship, a women's international football tournament for national teams organised by COSAFA, teams from Southern Africa. It takes place from 3 to 14 November i ...
in
**:
**:
Women's Youth
* 22 February – 8 March:
2020 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship
The 2020 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship was the 10th edition of the CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship, the biennial international youth football championship organized by CONCACAF for the women's under-20 national teams of the North, Centra ...
in
** :
** :
* 4–14 November:
2020 COSAFA U-17 Women's Championship in
**:
**:
Men's clubs
UEFA
* 17 September 2019 – 25 August 2020:
2019–20 UEFA Youth League
The 2019–20 UEFA Youth League was the seventh season of the UEFA Youth League, a European youth club football competition organised by UEFA.
Following the round of 16, the competition was postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic in ...
(final in
Nyon)
** :
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid.
Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
** :
Benfica
News
* 29 January – In each team's opening match of CONCACAF Olympic qualifying,
Christine Sinclair
Christine Margaret Sinclair (born June 12, 1983) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a forward and captains both National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) club Portland Thorns FC and the Canadian national team. An Olympic go ...
scored two goals in
Canada's
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by total ...
11–0 win over
Saint Kitts and Nevis. Her second goal was the
185th of her international career, giving her sole possession of the
record for international goals (for either men or women) previously held by the
USA's Abby Wambach
Mary Abigail Wambach (born June 2, 1980) is an American retired soccer player, coach, and member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. A six-time winner of the U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year award, Wambach was a regular on the U.S. women's natio ...
.
* 13 March – FIFA announced that clubs did not have to release players to their national teams during the international windows of March and April 2020 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, players also had the option to decline a call-up without any consequences.
* 3 April – FIFA announces that the
2020 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup
The 2020 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, was originally going to be the 10th edition of the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, the biennial international women's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associati ...
, scheduled to be held in Panama and Costa Rica in August, and the
2020 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup
The 2020 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, later postponed and renamed as the 2021 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup before its cancellation, was originally going to be the 7th edition of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, the biennial international women's y ...
, scheduled to be held in India in November, would be postponed and rescheduled.
* 20 April – Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, only four top-tier football leagues were actively playing as of this date:
2020 Ýokary Liga
The 2020 Turkmenistan Higher League (Ýokary Liga) season is the 28th season Turkmenistan's professional football league, the highest football league competition in Turkmenistan. Altyn Asyr are the defending champions from the 2019 campaign.
Sea ...
,
2020 Tajikistan Higher League
The 2020 Ligai Olii Tojikiston (''Tajik: 2020 Лигаи Олии Тоҷикистон''), ( fa, لیگ عالی تاجیکستان ۲۰۲۰), or 2020 Tajikistan Higher League is the 29th season of Ligai Olii Tojikiston, Tajikistan's top division ...
,
Belarusian Premier League
The Belarusian Premier League or the Vyšejšaja Liha or the Vysheyshaya Liga ( be, Вышэйшая ліга, russian: Высшая лига, "Top League") is the top division of professional football in Belarus, and is organized by the Belarusi ...
and
Liga Primera de Nicaragua.
Club continental champions
Men
Women
National leagues
UEFA
AFC
CAF
CONCACAF
CONMEBOL
OFC
Non-FIFA
Domestic cups
UEFA
AFC
CAF
CONCACAF
CONMEBOL
OFC
Non-FIFA
Women's leagues
UEFA
AFC
CAF
CONCACAF
CONMEBOL
OFC
Women's domestic cups
UEFA
AFC
CAF
CONCACAF
CONMEBOL
OFC
Deaths
*5 January
**
Hans Tilkowski
Hans Tilkowski (12 July 1935 – 5 January 2020) was a German footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played for West Germany, and was a member of the team that lost the 1966 World Cup final to England.
Career
Born 1935 in Husen, Dortmund, ...
, German football goalkeeper and manager (b. 1935)
* 6 January –
Luís Morais
Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archaic ...
, Brazilian football player (b. 1930)
* 7 January
**
Khamis Al-Dosari, Saudi Arabian footballer (b. 1973)
* 17 January –
Pietro Anastasi
Pietro Anastasi (; 7 April 1948 – 17 January 2020), nicknamed ''Petruzzu 'u turcu'' () by fans, was an Italian footballer who played mainly in the role of a forward.
He started his professional club career in Italy with Varese in 1966, helpin ...
, Italian footballer (b. 1948)
* 21 January –
Theodor Wagner
Theodor "Turl" Wagner (6 August 1927 – 21 January 2020) was an Austrian footballer who played as a striker.
International career
He made his debut for Austria in a November 1946 friendly match against Switzerland and was a participant at th ...
, Austrian footballer and manager (b. 1927)
* 24 January –
Juan José Pizzuti
Juan José Pizzuti (9 May 1927 – 24 January 2020) was an Argentine football player and manager. A striker, he enjoyed his most notable successes as player and manager with Racing Club de Avellaneda.
Pizzuti was born in the Barracas neighbour ...
, Argentine footballer and manager (b. 1927)
* 29 January –
Keith Nelson, New Zealand footballer (b. 1947)
* 16 February –
Harry Gregg
Henry Gregg, (27 October 1932 – 16 February 2020), was a Northern Irish professional footballer and manager. A goalkeeper, he played for Manchester United during the reign of Sir Matt Busby, with a total of 247 appearances for the club. He w ...
, Northern Irish footballer (b. 1932)
* 18 March –
Joaquín Peiró, Spanish football player (b. 1936)
* 19 March –
Peter Whittingham
Peter Michael Whittingham (; 8 September 1984 – 18 March 2020) was an English professional footballer. His primary position was as a central midfielder, although he operated as a winger on both the left and right, as well as a second-striker ...
, English footballer (b. 1984)
*26 March –
Michel Hidalgo, French footballer and manager (b. 1933)
* 12 April –
Peter Bonetti, English footballer (b. 1941)
* 28 April –
Michael Robinson, English-Irish footballer and TV commentator (b. 1958)
* 28 June –
Marián Čišovský
Marián Čišovský (2 November 1979 – 28 June 2020) was a Slovak football defender, player of Czech side Viktoria Plzeň.[Pedro Nájera
Pedro Nájera Pacheco (3 February 1929 – 22 August 2020) was a Mexican football midfielder.
Life and career
He played for Mexico national team in two FIFA World Cup tournaments ( 1954 and 1962
Events January
* January 1 – Wes ...]
, Mexican footballer (b. 1929)
*21 August –
Hammadi Agrebi, Tunisian footballer (b. 1951)
*8 September –
Alfred Riedl
Alfred Riedl (2 November 1949 – 8 September 2020) was an Austrian football player and manager. As a player he was a striker. His last coaching role was with the Indonesia national football team.
Playing career
Club career
He first played fo ...
, Austrian football player and manager (b. 1949)
*17 September –
Ricardo Ciciliano, Colombian footballer (b. 1976)
*22 September –
Agne Simonsson, Swedish footballer and manager (b. 1935)
*12 October –
Carlton Chapman, Indian footballer (b. 1971)
*20 October –
Bruno Martini, French footballer (b. 1962)
*30 October –
Nobby Stiles, English footballer and manager (b. 1942)
*15 November –
Ray Clemence, English football goalkeeper (b. 1948)
*21 November –
Ricky Yacobi, Indonesian footballer (b. 1963)
*25 November –
Diego Maradona
Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the FI ...
, Argentine footballer player and manager (b. 1960 )
*29 November –
Papa Bouba Diop
Papa Bouba Diop (28 January 197829 November 2020) was a Senegalese professional footballer. His preferred position was defensive midfield but he could also play as a centre back, where he previously played at Lens. Diop was considered a strong ...
, Senegalese footballer (b. 1978)
*9 December –
Paolo Rossi, Italian footballer (b. 1956)
*14 December –
Gérard Houllier, French football manager (b. 1947)
*31 December –
Tommy Docherty
Thomas Henderson Docherty (24 April 1928 – 31 December 2020), commonly known as The Doc, was a Scottish football player and manager. Docherty played for several clubs, most notably Preston North End, and represented Scotland 25 times betwe ...
, Scottish footballer and manager (b. 1928)
References
External links
{{commons category
Association football by year