The following are the association football events of the year 1981 throughout the world.

Events

• 1981 Copa Libertadores: Won by Flamengo after defeating Cobreloa on the playoff match 2–0.
• 1980–81 European Cup: Won by Liverpool FC after defeating Real Madrid in final match 1–0.
• World Club Championship: Won by Flamengo after defeating Liverpool FC on a single match 3–0.
• March 25 – Kees Rijvers makes his debut as the manager of Dutch national team with a 1–0 win in the World Cup Qualifier against France. One player makes his debut for the Dutch: defender Edo Ophof from Ajax Amsterdam.
• September 1 – Dutch striker Wim Kieft makes his debut for the Netherlands national football team in the friendly against Switzerland. It's the 400th game in the history of the Dutch national team.

Winners club national championship

Asia

• Qatar – Al-Sadd SC

Europe

•  Albania – KF Partizani Tirana
•  Austria – Austria Wien
•  Belgium – R.S.C. Anderlecht
•  Bulgaria – CSKA Sofia
•  Cyprus – AC Omonoia
•  Czechoslovakia – Baník Ostrava
•  Denmark – Hvidovre IF
•  East Germany – Dynamo Berlin
•  England – Aston Villa
•  Faroe Islands – HB Torshavn
•  Finland – HJK Helsinki
•  France – AS Saint-Étienne
•  Greece – Olympiacos F.C.
•  Hungary – Ferencváros
•  Iceland – Vikingur
•  Ireland – Athlone Town A.F.C.
•  Italy – Juventus
•  Luxembourg – Progrès Niedercorn
•  Malta – Hibernians F.C.
•  Netherlands
  • Eredivisie – AZ Alkmaar
  • Eerste Divisie – HFC Haarlem
•  Northern Ireland – Glentoran F.C.
•  Norway – Vålerenga IF
•  Poland – Widzew Łódź
•  Portugal – Benfica
•  Romania – Universitatea Craiova
•  Scotland – Celtic F.C.
•  Spain – Real Sociedad
•  Sweden – Östers IF
•  Switzerland – FC Zürich
•  Turkey – Trabzonspor
•  Soviet Union – FC Dynamo Kiev
•  West Germany – Bayern Munich
•  Yugoslavia – Red Star Belgrade

North America

•  Mexico – UNAM
•  United States /  Canada –
  • Chicago Sting (NASL)

Oceania

•  Australia – Sydney Slickers

South America

•  Argentina
  • Metropolitano – Boca Juniors
  • Nacional – River Plate
•  Bolivia – Jorge Wilstermann
•  Brazil – Grêmio
•  Chile – Colo-Colo
•  Colombia – Atlético Nacional
•  Ecuador – Barcelona
• Paraguay – Olimpia Asunción
•  Peru – FBC Melgar
•  Uruguay – Peñarol
•  Venezuela – Deportivo Táchira

International tournaments

• Mundialito in Montevideo, Uruguay (December 30, 1980 – January 10, 1981)
  1.  Uruguay
  2.  Brazil
• 1981 British Home Championship (May 16–23, 1981)

Abandoned following severe civil unrest in Northern Ireland.

National teams

 Netherlands

Date	Opponent	Final Score	Result	Competition	Venue
January 6	Italy	1–1	D	Mundialito	Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
February 22	Cyprus	3–0	W	World Cup Qualifier	Oosterpark Stadion, Groningen
March 25	France	1–0	W	World Cup Qualifier	De Kuip, Rotterdam
April 29	Cyprus	0–1	W	World Cup Qualifier	Makario Stadium, Nicosia
March 26	Switzerland	2–1	L	Friendly	Hardturm, Zürich
September 9	Republic of Ireland	2–2	D	World Cup Qualifier	De Kuip, Rotterdam
October 14	Belgium	3–0	W	World Cup Qualifier	De Kuip, Rotterdam
November 18	France	2–0	L	World Cup Qualifier	Parc des Princes, Paris

Movies

• Escape to Victory

Births

• January 1 – Mladen Petrić, Croatian international^[1]
• January 2
  • Hanno Balitsch, German footballer
  • Maxi Rodríguez, Argentine footballer
• January 9 – Ebi Smolarek, Polish international
• January 10 – James Coppinger, English club footballer
• January 15 – El Hadji Diouf, Senegalese international
• January 19 – Lucho González, Argentine international
• January 20 – Owen Hargreaves, Canadian-born English footballer
• January 21
  • Ivan Ergić, Serbian footballer
  • Roberto Guana Italian footballer
  • Mohd Amri Yahyah, Malaysian international
• January 23 – Lee Dong-geun, South Korean former footballer^[2]
• January 25
  • Rodrigo Calaça, Brazilian footballer^[3]
  • Dmitry Izvekov, former Russian professional footballer^[4]
• January 28 – Thomas Schlieter, German footballer^[5]
• January 30
  • Dimitar Berbatov, Bulgarian footballer^[6]
  • Afonso Alves, Brazilian footballer
  • Peter Crouch, English footballer
• February 13
  • Durahim Jamaluddin, Malaysian international (d. 2018)
  • Liam Miller, Irish international (d. 2018)
• February 18 – Ivan Sproule, Northern Ireland international
• February 21 – Nery Fernández, Paraguayan former professional footballer^[7]
• February 23 – Gareth Barry, English footballer
• February 24
  • Felipe Baloy, Panamanian international
  • Mauro Rosales, Argentinian footballer
• February 25 – Park Ji Sung, South Korea footballer
• February 27 – Alessandro Rottoli, Italian professional footballer^[8]
• March 9 – Didi Longuet, former professional footballer^[9]
• March 10 – Samuel Eto'o, Cameroonian international^[10]
• March 15 – Aymen Mnafeg, Tunisian footballer^[11]
• March 16 – Johannes Aigner, Austrian footballer
• March 18 – Cristián Basaure, Chilean former footballer^[12]
• March 19
  • Maksim Arap, former Russian footballer^[13]
  • Matt Haddrell, English footballer^[14]
  • Kolo Touré, Ivorian footballer
• March 27 – Terry McFlynn, British footballer
• March 29 – Jlloyd Samuel, Trinidadian footballer (d. 2018)
• March 31 – Wolfgang Bubenik, Austrian footballer^[15]
• April 9 – Ireneusz Jeleń, Polish international
• April 12 – Nicolás Burdisso, Argentinian footballer
• April 29 – George McCartney, Northern Ireland international
• May 7 – Azrine Effendy Sa'duddin, Malaysian footballer^[16]
• May 8
  • Andrea Barzagli, Italian footballer
  • Sam Ketsekile, Mosotho footballer^[17]
  • Shimane Kgope Ntshweu, Botswana footballer
• May 15 – Patrice Evra, Senegalese-born French international
• May 27 – Johan Elmander, Swedish footballer
• May 31
  • Josefine Krengel, German footballer^[18]
  • Neddy Rose, Seychellois footballer^[19]
• June 4 – Giourkas Seitaridis, Greek international^[20]
• June 10 – Burton O'Brien, Scottish footballer
• June 18 – Denis Shevelev, former Russian professional footballer^[21]
• June 21 – İbrahim Öztürk, Turkish club footballer
• June 22
  • Mathias Abel, German footballer
  • Péter Bajzát, Hungarian footballer
  • Ronald Spuller, Austrian retired professional footballer^[22]
• June 23 – Björn Schlicke, German youth international
• June 27
  • Jennifer Molina, Mexican female footballer
  • Jean-Renaud Nemouthé, French retired footballer^[23]
  • Cléber Santana, Brazilian footballer (d. 2016)
• June 30 – Irakli Toçi, Albanian retired footballer^[24]
• July 10 – Aleksandar Tunchev, Bulgarian international
• July 14 – Khaled Aziz, Saudi Arabian midfielder
• July 16 – Paulo (Gideon Paulo da Silva), Brazilian footballer^[25]
• July 19 – Anderson Luiz de Carvalho, Brazilian club footballer
• July 20 – Damien Delaney, Irish footballer
• July 28 – Michael Carrick, English footballer
• August 4 – Hadson da Silva Nery, Brazilian midfielder
• August 8  – Witold Sabela, Polish former professional footballer^[26]
• August 10 – Malek Mouath, Saudi Arabian footballer
• August 12 – Oliver Đokić, Serbian footballer^[27]
• September 1
  • Mana Nopnech, Thai retired professional footballer^[28]
  • Maksim Rybalko, former Russian professional football player^[29]
• September 9 – Pacheta (Héctor Carrasco Rojo), Spanish professional footballer^[30]
• September 11 – Victor Kros, Dutch footballer
• September 22 – Alma Martinéz, Mexican female footballer
• October 1 – Ivan Semenets, former Russian professional footballer^[31]
• October 3 – Zlatan Ibrahimović, Swedish footballer
• October 3 – Andreas Isaksson, Swedish football goalkeeper
• October 6 – Mikael Dorsin, Swedish footballer
• October 8 – Chris Killen, New Zealand international^[32]
• October 9 – Ryoichi Maeda, Japanese international^[33]
• October 12  - Shola Ameobi, Nigerian international
• October 23
  • Marcin Folc, Polish footballer^[34]
  • Olivier Occéan, Canadian international
• October 24 – Soeris Baidjoe, Dutch footballer^[35]
• October 28 – Milan Baroš, Czech footballer^[36]
• November 8 – Joe Cole, English footballer
• November 20
  • Espen Hoff, Norwegian footballer
  • İbrahim Toraman, Turkish international footballer
• November 21 – Martin van Leeuwen, Dutch footballer
• November 22 – Seweryn Gancarczyk, Polish international
• November 25 – Xabi Alonso, Spanish international
• December 3 – David Villa, Spanish footballer^[37]
• December 3
  • Ioannis Amanatidis, Greek footballer
  • Aleksandr Galakhov, former Russian professional footballer^[38]
• December 6 – Gil Ferreira, Brazilian footballer^[39]
• December 12 – Federico Tafani, Italian footballer^[40]
• December 20 – Leo Bertos, New Zealand international^[41]
• December 21 – Cristian Zaccardo, Italian international defender
• December 28 – Khalid Boulahrouz, Dutch footballer
• December 30 – Umar Karsanov, former Russian professional footballer^[42]
• December 31 – Dadi Mayuma, Congolese former footballer^[43]

Deaths

January

• January 29 – Lajos Korányi, Hungarian international (b. 1907)

May

• May 9 – Ralph Allen, English club footballer (b. 1906)
• May 14 – Michele Andreolo, Italian midfielder, winner of the 1938 FIFA World Cup. (68)

June

• June 21 – Alberto Suppici, Uruguayan midfielder, winner of the 1930 FIFA World Cup as manager. (82)

September

• September 22 – Néstor Carballo, Uruguayan international footballer (born 1929)

October

• October 9 – František Fadrhonc (66), Czech football manager (born 1914)

November

• November 3 – Eraldo Monzeglio, Italian defender, winner of the 1934 FIFA World Cup and 1938 FIFA World Cup. (75)

December

• December 4 – Zoilo Saldombide, Uruguayan striker, winner of the 1930 FIFA World Cup. (76)