The following are the association football events of the year 1978 throughout the world.
Events
Copa Libertadores 1978: Won by Boca Juniors after defeating Deportivo Cali on an aggregate score of 4–0. England: Ipswich Town win the cup beating Arsenal F.C. 1–0 with the winning goal scored by Roger Osborne
Winners club national championship
Asia
: Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. : Al-Rayyan SC
Europe
: Nottingham Forest
: AS Monaco
: Újpest FC
: Juventus
: Eredivisie – PSV Eindhoven Eerste Divisie – PEC Zwolle : Steaua București : Real Madrid : Rangers : Fenerbahçe
North America
: Tigres UANL
/ : New York Cosmos (NASL)
Oceania
: West Adelaide
South America
Metropolitano – Quilmes
Nacional – Independiente
: Guarani
: Olimpia Asunción
International tournaments
African Cup of Nations in Ghana (March 5 – 16 1978)
1978 British Home Championship (May 13 – May 20, 1978)
FIFA World Cup in Argentina (June 1 – 25 1978)
Births
January
January 9
Gennaro Gattuso, Italian football player
Hamlet Barrientos, Bolivian footballer
January 10 – Jeffrey Yishai, former Israeli footballer
January 20 – Salvatore Aronica, Italian footballer and manager
January 28
Gianluigi Buffon, Italian international goalkeeper
Jamie Carragher, English football player defender
Papa Bouba Diop, Senegalese footballer (d. 2020)
February
February 2 – Barry Ferguson, Scottish footballer and coach
February 5 – Jairon Zamora, Ecuadorian footballer
February 15 – Alejandro Lembo, Uruguayan footballer
February 24 – Leon Constantine, English club footballer
March
March 9 – Lucas Neill, Australian footballer
March 11 – Didier Drogba, Ivorian international
March 14 – Antti-Jussi Karnio Finnish footballer
March 15 – Ramalho (Edson Ramalho dos Santos), Brazilian footballer
March 24 – Tomáš Ujfaluši, Czech footballer
March 30 – Mauricio Rojas, Chilean footballer
March 31
Stephen Clemence, English footballer and coach
Jérôme Rothen, French international
April
April 1 – Antonio de Nigris, Mexican international striker (d. 2009) April 30 – Simone Barone, Italian footballer
May
May 16 – Edu, Brazilian football player and manager
May 30 – Nicolás Olivera, Uruguayan footballer
June
June 20 – Frank Lampard, English football player midfielder
June 9 – Miroslav Klose, German football player forward
June 21 – Hatem Aqel, Jordanian footballer
July
July 4 – Manfred Razenböck, Austrian former footballer
July 22 – Dennis Rommedahl, Danish footballer
September
September 6 – Éric Kossingou, French former professional footballer
September 17 – Arne Slot, Dutch football player and manager
September 18
Ryan Lowe, English club footballer
Augustine Simo, Cameroonian footballer
September 22 – Harry Kewell, Australian football player
November
November 7 – Rio Ferdinand, English football player defender
November 7 – Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, Dutch footballer
November 8 – Ali Karimi, Iranian footballer
November 11 – Erik Edman, Swedish footballer
December
December 5 – Marcelo Zalayeta, Uruguayan footballer
December 17 – Patricia Pérez, Mexican female footballer
December 23 – Nicolás Suárez, Bolivian footballer
December 29 – Victor Agali, Nigerian footballer
December 29 – Kieron Dyer, English footballer
Deaths
January
January 3 – Rubén Morán, Uruguayan striker, winner of the 1950 FIFA World Cup. (47)
May
May 8 – Juan Evaristo, Argentine midfielder, runner up of the 1930 FIFA World Cup, part of the first sibling to ever play a World Cup Final. (75)
June
June 2 – Santiago Bernabéu (82), Spanish footballer, coach and president.
July
July 13 – George Reader (81), English football referee
August
August 5 – Ernst Melchior, Austrian footballer
August 11 – Mario Varglien, Italian midfielder, winner of the 1934 FIFA World Cup. (72) August 15 – Leo Lemešić, Croatian football player and manager August 31 – Ángel Bossio, Argentine Goalkeeper, runner-up of the 1930 FIFA World Cup. (73)
September
September 15 – Ricardo Zamora, Spanish footballer
September 25 – Luigi Allemandi, Italian defender, winner of the 1934 FIFA World Cup. (74)