2021 in association football facts for kids

This article is about the exciting world of football (soccer) events in 2021 from all around the globe. You'll find out about important matches, player news, and big tournaments that happened or were planned for this year.

Key Events in Football

January Highlights

• January 15: Famous English player Wayne Rooney stopped playing professional football. After retiring, he became the manager of the EFL Championship club Derby County.
• January 29: Saïd Benrahma joined West Ham United from Brentford for €23 million. This was one of the most expensive player transfers during the winter of 2021.

Exciting Upcoming Matches

February

• February 11: The final match of the 2020 FIFA Club World Cup Final was played. It took place at the Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar.

May

• May 26: The final of the 2020-21 UEFA Europa League Final was played. This big game happened at the Stadion Miejski in Gdańsk, Poland.
• May 29: The final of the 2020-21 UEFA Champions League Final was played. It was held at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey.

June

• June 11: The first match of the 2021 Copa América was played. Argentina played against Chile at the Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• June 11: The opening match of UEFA Euro 2020 also took place. Turkey played against Italy at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy.

July

• July 8: The very first match of the new UEFA Europa Conference League was played.
• July 10: The final of the 2021 Copa América Final was played. It happened at the Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez in Barranquilla, Colombia.
• July 11: The UEFA Euro 2020 Final was played. The big final match was held at Wembley Stadium in London, United Kingdom.

Tournament Champions

This section lists the winners of major football tournaments around the world in 2021.

International Tournaments

These are competitions where national teams from different countries play against each other.

Tournament	Confederation	Host Country(s)	Winner	Runner-Up	Finals Stadium
2020 African Nations Championship	CAF (Africa)	Cameroon	Mali or  Morocco		Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé
2020 CONCACAF Nations League Finals	CONCACAF (North America)	United States	-	-	AT&T Stadium, Arlington
2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup		TBC	-	-	TBC
2021 Copa América	CONMEBOL (South America)	Argentina  Colombia	-	-	Estadio Metropolitano, Barranquilla
UEFA Euro 2020	UEFA (Europe)	Multiple Hosts	-	-	Wembley Stadium, London
2021 UEFA Nations League Finals		Italy	-	-	San Siro, Milan
2021 FIFA Futsal World Cup	FIFA	Lithuania	-	-	Švyturys Arena, Klaipėda

Youth International Tournaments

These tournaments are for younger players representing their countries.

Tournament	Confederation	Host Country(s)	Winner	Runner-Up	Finals Stadium
2020 AFC U-19 Championship	AFC (Asia)	Uzbekistan	Cancelled		Bunyodkor Stadium, Tashkent
2020 AFC U-16 Championship		Bahrain	Cancelled		Khalifa Sports City Stadium, Isa Town
2021 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations	CAF (Africa)	Mauritania	-	-	TBC
2021 UNAF U-17 Tournament		Algeria	Algeria	Tunisia	Stade du 5 Juillet, Algiers
2021 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations		Morocco	-	-	TBC

Continental Club Tournaments

These are competitions for football clubs within the same continent.

Confederation	Tournament	Previous Winner	Winner	Runner-Up	Finals Stadium
AFC (Asia)	2021 AFC Champions League	Ulsan Hyundai (2020)	-	-	2-Legged
	2021 AFC Cup	Al Ahed (2020)	-	-	TBC
CAF (Africa)	2020–21 CAF Champions League	Al Ahly (2019-20)	-	-
	2020–21 CAF Confederation Cup	RS Berkane (2019-20)	-	-
CONCACAF (North America)	2021 CONCACAF Champions League	Tigres UANL (2020)	-	-
	2021 CONCACAF League	Alajuelense (2020)	-	-
CONMEBOL (South America)	2021 Copa Libertadores	Palmeiras (2020)	-	-
	2021 Copa Sudamericana	Defensa y Justicia (2020)	-	-
	2021 Recopa Sudamericana	Flamengo (2020)	Defensa y Justicia or Palmeiras		2-Legged Final
OFC (Oceania)	2021 OFC Champions League	Hienghène Sport (2019)	-	-	TBC
UEFA (Europe)	2020–21 UEFA Champions League	Bayern Munich (2019-20)	-	-	Atatürk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul
	2020–21 UEFA Europa League	Sevilla (2019-20)	-	-	Stadion Miejski, Gdańsk
	2021 UEFA Super Cup	Bayern Munich (2020)	-	-	Windsor Park, Belfast
FIFA (Global)	2021 FIFA Club World Cup	TBC (2020)	-	-	TBC

Players Retiring in 2021

Some well-known football players decided to end their professional careers in 2021.

• Stéphane Ruffier (34), a French goalkeeper who played for A.S. Monaco and A.S. Saint-Étienne.
• Wayne Rooney (35), a famous English forward who played for Everton and Manchester United.

Player Transfers in 2021

Football transfers happen when a player moves from one club to another. Clubs pay a "transfer fee" for the player's contract.

Winter 2021 Transfers

This table shows some of the biggest player transfers that happened during the winter transfer window in 2021.

Player	Age	Team Leaving	Team Joining	Transfer Fee
Saïd Benrahma	25	Brentford	West Ham United	€23 million
Sébastien Haller	26	West Ham United	Ajax	€22.5 million
Amad Diallo	18	Atalanta	Manchester United	€21 million
Dominik Szoboszlai	20	Red Bull Salzburg	RB Leipzig	€20 million
Krépin Diatta	21	Club Brugge	A.S. Monaco	€20 million
Paulinho	28	SC Braga	Sporting CP	€16 million
Morgan Sanson	26	Olympique Marseille	Aston Villa	€15.8 million
Papu Gómez	32	Atalanta	Sevilla	€15 million
Dennis Man	22	FCSB	Parma	€13 million
Joakim Maehle	23	KRC Genk	Atalanta	€11 million
Juan Fernando Quintero	27	River Plate	Shenzhen	€9 million
Michael Olunga	26	Kashiwa Reysol	Al-Duhail	€5.9 million
Mark McKenzie	21	Philadelphia Union	KRC Genk	€5 million
Aleksandr Kokorin	29	Spartak Moscow	Fiorentina	€4.5 million
Bas Dost	31	Eintracht Frankfurt	Club Brugge	€4 million
Jean-Philippe Mateta	23	1. FSV Mainz 05	Crystal Palace	Loan (Loan Fee: €3.5 million)
Étienne Capoue	32	Watford	Villarreal	€2 million
Martin Ødegaard	22	Real Madrid	Arsenal	Loan (Loan Fee: €2 million)
Timothy Fosu-Mensah	23	Manchester United	Bayer Leverkusen	€1.7 million
Moussa Dembélé	24	Olympique Lyon	Atlético Madrid	Loan (Loan Fee: €1.5 million)
Takefusa Kubo	19	Real Madrid	Getafe CF	Loan (Loan Fee: €1.25 million)
Ozan Kabak	20	Schalke 04	Liverpool	Loan (Loan Fee: €1.1 million)
Henry Onyekuru	23	A.S. Monaco	Galatasaray	Loan (Loan Fee: €650,000)
Ben Davies	25	Preston North End	Liverpool	€570,000
Gedson Fernandes	22	S.L. Benfica	Galatasaray	Loan (Loan Fee: €500,000)
Robert Snodgrass	33	West Ham United	West Bromwich Albion	Undisclosed
Kenny Lala	29	RC Stratsbourg	Olympiacos	Undisclosed
Islam Slimani	32	Leicester City	Olympique Lyon	Free Transfer
Mario Mandžukić	34	Free Agent	AC Milan	Free Transfer
Sokratis Papastathopoulos	32	Arsenal	Olympiacos	Free Transfer
Mesut Özil	32	Arsenal	Fenerbahçe	Free Transfer
Stephan El Shaarawy	28	Shanghai Greenland Shenhua	AS Roma	Free Transfer
Sami Khedira	33	Juventus	Hertha BSC	Free Transfer
Luka Jovic	23	Real Madrid	Eintracht Frankfurt	Loan
Sead Kolasinac	27	Arsenal	Schalke 04	Loan
Radja Nainggolan	32	Inter Milan	Cagliari	Loan
Lucas Pratto	32	River Plate	Feyenoord	Loan
Arkadiusz Milik	26	Napoli	Olympique de Marseille	Loan
Mathew Ryan	28	Brighton & Hove Albion	Arsenal	Loan
Fikayo Tomori	23	Chelsea	AC Milan	Loan
Jesse Lingard	28	Manchester United	West Ham United	Loan
Joe Willock	21	Arsenal	Newcastle United	Loan
Ainsley Maitland-Niles	23	Arsenal	West Bromwich Albion	Loan
Jean-Clair Todibo	21	Barcelona	OGC Nice	Loan
Oussama Idrissi	24	Sevillal	Ajax	Loan
Daniele Rugani	26	Juventus	Cagliari	Loan
Joshua Zirkzee	19	Bayern Munich	Parma	Loan
Chris Richards	20	Bayern Munich	Hoffenheim	Loan