title: 1979 in association football
text: The following are the association football events of the year 1979 throughout the world.
  
  Events
  Copa Libertadores 1979: Won by Olimpia Asunción after defeating Boca Juniors on an aggregate score of 2–0.
  European Cup 1979: Won by Nottingham Forest after defeating Malmö FF 1–0 in the Final.
  Intercontinental Cup 1979: Won by Olimpia Asunción after defeating Malmö FF by an aggregate score of 3–1. This was the last time the Intercontinental Cup was played in two legs (South America and Europe).
  May 22 – Ruud Krol becomes Holland's most capped player in history when he plays his 65th match for the Netherlands national football team against Argentina.
  
  Winners club national championship
  
  Asia
  : Al-Sadd SC
  
  Europe
  : K.S.K. Beveren
  : PFC Levski Sofia
  : Omonia Nicosia
  : Esbjerg fB
  : Liverpool F.C.
  : RC Strasbourg
  : AEK Athens
  : Újpest FC
  : AC Milan
  :
  Eredivisie – Ajax Amsterdam
  Eerste Divisie – Excelsior Rotterdam
  : Ruch Chorzów
  : FC Porto
  : Dundalk F.C.
  : Celtic F.C.
  : Real Madrid
  : Trabzonspor 
  : Hamburger SV
  : FC Spartak Moscow
  
  North and Central America
  : Cruz Azul
   / :
   Vancouver Whitecaps  (NASL)
  
  Oceania
  : Marconi Fairfield
  
  South America
  
  Metropolitano – River Plate
  Nacional – River Plate
  : Internacional
  : América de Cali
  : Olimpia Asunción
  
  International tournaments
  1979 British Home Championship (May 19 – May 26, 1979)
  
   Pan American Games in San Juan, Puerto Rico (July 2 – July 14, 1979)
   
   
   
   Copa América (July 10 – December 12, 1979)
   
   
    and 
   World Youth Championship (August 26 – September 7, 1979)
  
  Births
  
   January 2 – Jonathan Greening, English footballer and coach
   January 4 – Shergo Biran, German footballer
   January 12 – Grzegorz Rasiak, Polish footballer
   January 15 – Martin Petrov, Bulgarian footballer
   January 26 – Maksym Kalynychenko, Ukrainian footballer
   February 2 – Daniel Bierofka, German footballer
   February 13 – Rafael Márquez, Mexican footballer
   February 19 – Steve Cherundolo, American footballer
   February 20 – Denis Fladung, former Russian professional footballer
   March 2 – Damien Duff, Irish footballer
   March 4 – Vyacheslav Malafeev, Russian footballer
   March 14 – Neftalí Luna, Spanish retired footballer
   March 22 – Aldo Duscher, Argentine footballer
   April 3 – Christoph Spatzenegger, Austrian footballer
   April 5 – Timo Hildebrand, German footballer
   April 12 – Tobias Linderoth, Swedish footballer
   April 20 – Ludovic Magnin, Swiss footballer
   April 26 – Fereydoon Zandi, Iranian-German footballer
   May 11 – Tomás Jiménez, Spanish retired footballer
   May 19 
   Diego Forlán, Uruguayan footballer
   Andrea Pirlo, Italian footballer
   May 29 – Arne Friedrich, German footballer
   May 30 – Fabian Ernst, German footballer
   June 4 – Naohiro Takahara, Japanese footballer
   June 7 – Kevin Hofland, Dutch footballer
   June 19 – José Kleberson, Brazilian footballer
   July 14 – Sergei Ignashevich, Russian footballer
   July 26 – Paul Freier, German footballer
   August 7 – Pablo Salinas, Bolivian footballer
   August 12 – Júnior Izaguirre, Honduran footballer
   August 27 – Thierry Bayock, Cameroonian footballer
   August 28 – Bojan Gojak, Serbian former footballer
   September 11
  Eric Abidal, French footballer
  Leon Cort, English footballer
  David Pizarro, Chilean footballer
   September 13 – Julio de León, Honduran footballer
   September 15 – Dadash Kazikhanov, former Russian professional footballer
   October 8 – Doyle Vaca, Bolivian footballer
   October 9 – Gonzalo Sorondo, Uruguayan footballer
   October 15 – Paul Robinson, English footballer
   October 18 – Jaroslav Drobny, Czech footballer
   October 23 – Simon Davies, Welsh footballer
   October 30 – Simone Berardi, Italian former footballer
   November 2 – Marián Čišovský, Slovak footballer (d. 2020)
   November 5 
   Patrick Owomoyela, German footballer
   David Suazo, Honduran footballer
   November 15 – Rowan Hendricks, South African footballer
   November 20 – Dmitri Bulykin, Russian footballer
   November 21 – Vincenzo Iaquinta, Italian footballer
   December 7 – Diego Bengolea, Bolivian footballer
   December 14
   Jean-Alain Boumsong, French footballer
   Michael Owen, English footballer
   December 20 – Ashley Cole, English footballer
   December 30 – Hernán Boyero, Argentine footballer
  
  Deaths
  
  February
   February 16 - Henk Steeman, Dutch midfielder, bronze medalist at the 1920 Summer Olympics. (85)
  
  April
   April 18 – Pedro Arico Suárez, Argentine defender, runner up of the 1930 FIFA World Cup . (70)
   April 19 - August Sackenheim, German forward, capped 4 times for the Germany national football team. (73)
   April 22 – Amedeo Biavati, Italian midfielder, winner of the 1938 FIFA World Cup. (64)
   April 30 - Jaap Bulder, Dutch forward, bronze medalist at the 1920 Summer Olympics. (82)
  
  July
   July 14 – Santos Urdinarán, Uruguayan striker, winner of the 1930 FIFA World Cup. (79)
   July 31 – José Della Torre, Argentine defender, runner up of the 1930 FIFA World Cup . (73)
  
  August
   August 21 – Giuseppe Meazza, Italian striker, winner of the 1934 FIFA World Cup and 1938 FIFA World Cup, often seen as the best player of his era, and one of the greatest of all time. (68)
  
  December
   December 12 - Hans Rohde, German defender, 25 times capped for the Germany national football team. (65)
  
  Movies
  Yesterday's Hero
  
  References
  
   
  Association football by year