The first international match arranged by the Football Association between England and Scotland on 5 March 1870 finishes in a 0–0 draw at the Kennington Oval in London.
The FA authorizes referees to send players off for certain offences and makes a rule requiring teams to change ends at halftime.
[1] The first football match to be staged under electric floodlighting takes place at Bramall Lane, Sheffield, between two local representative teams.
26 people die and over 500 are injured when a section of the terracing collapses after a Scotland-England British Home Championship match at Ibrox Park.
Beşiktaş J.K., Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense, Racing Club de Avellaneda and Atlético Madrid are founded.
Played for the first time in Italy the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy, considered the first official international football tournament for clubs.
Leeds United, Liga Deportiva Alajuelense, Valencia CF, Dacia Unirea Braila, U.S. Salernitana, Espérance Sportive de Tunis are founded.
Football is excluded from the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles due to the low popularity of the sport in the United States at the time.
The largest football crowd was recorded, 149,415 people turned up at Hampden Park, Glasgow, to see Scotland play England[5] In the 1938 World Cup held in France, Italy beats Hungary 4–2 in the final and becomes the first team to successfully defend the title and the first to win on foreign soil.
The Superga air disaster kills 31 people, including 18 Grande Torino players, the backbone of the Italy national football team.
Juventus becomes the first team in history to adopt a golden star above their crest to represent their tenth Serie A title, a national record then.
Earlier in the tournament, The Game of the Century occurs, Italy beats Germany 4–3 in the semifinal after five goals scored in extra time.
Hosts Argentina win the 1978 World Cup, beating the Netherlands 3–1 in the final; Johann Cruyff refuses to play in the tournament.
The 1982 FIFA World Cup is played in Spain, the first with 24 teams, the tournament was won by Italy, after defeating West Germany 3–1 in the final in the Spanish capital of Madrid.
For the first time, an African squad wins a FIFA tournament, the World Championship Under 16, as Nigeria surprisingly defeat favourites West Germany 2–0 in China.
The Netherlands, led by captain Ruud Gullit and top goal scorer Marco van Basten, defeat the Soviet Union 2–0 to win the Euro 1988 championship.
The Hillsborough disaster occurs in Sheffield, England, before the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, resulting in the loss of 96 lives.
West Germany wins the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Rome, Italy, defeating defending champion Argentina 1–0 in the final.
"Waterloo Day" for Austrian football in Euro 92 qualifying at Landskrona, Sweden, where the Faroe Islands defeat Austria 1–0 in the former's first ever international match.
The back-pass rule is applied, whereby a goalkeeper is no longer permitted to pick up or catch a ball played directly by a fellow team member's foot.
Olympique de Marseille becomes the first French club to win the European Cup, newly renamed as the UEFA Champions League, defeating AC Milan 1–0 at the Olympiastadion in Munich.
The 1994 World Cup held in the United States was the first to be decided on penalties, with Brazil edging out Italy in the final at the Rose Bowl to claim their fourth title.
Russia's Oleg Salenko becomes the first player and only to this day to score five goals in a single World Cup game in his country's 6–1 win over Cameroon.
The Bosman ruling allows all footballers playing in the European Union and not under contract to freely change clubs, and also abolishes foreign player quotas with respect to EU nationals.
In the Euro 96 final, Germany defeat the Czech Republic 2–1 with a golden goal from Oliver Bierhoff; Nigeria become the first African team to win the Olympic Tournament.
Real Madrid sign playmaker Zinedine Zidane of Juventus in a world record transfer fee of 72 million euros.
The first FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship is held in Canada, with the USA defeating the hosts in the final 1–0 on a golden goal in extra time.
Paolo Maldini makes history by captaining AC Milan to a champions league victory, a feat his father Cesare did with the same club exactly 40 years before.
The Champions League final in Istanbul sees Liverpool come back from a 0–3 half-time score to defeat A.C. Milan 3–2 in a penalty shootout, following a 3–3 draw.
Iraq produce one of international football's greatest fairytale victories as the fractured, war-torn nation were crowned champions of the 2007 AFC Asian Cup.