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2015–16 National League
2015–16 National League: first season of England's fifth tier under that name, formerly the Football Conference. Cheltenham Town won with 101 points; Grimsby Town won the Wembley play-off final 3–1 over Forest Green Rovers and both were promoted to League Two.
2015–16 Premier League
2015–16 Premier League (Barclays Premier League), 24th season of England's top flight. Leicester City won its first title at 5,000-1 odds with 81 points under Claudio Ranieri; Villa, Newcastle, and Norwich were relegated.
2015–16 Real Madrid CF season
2015–16 Real Madrid CF season: Zidane replaced Benítez in January 2016; Madrid won its 11th European Cup, beating Atlético 5-3 on penalties in the Milan final, and finished second in La Liga with 90 points.
2015–16 Russian Premier League
2015–16 Russian Premier League (Российская Премьер-лига 2015/16), 24th Russian top-flight season, 16 teams, 17 July 2015 to 21 May 2016. CSKA Moscow won with 65 points over Rostov; Dynamo Moscow and Mordovia relegated; Smolov top scorer with 20 goals.
2015–16 Serie A
2015–16 Serie A, the 114th Italian top-flight season (22 August 2015 to 15 May 2016). Juventus won a fifth straight Scudetto, its 32nd title, with 91 points; Higuaín scored a record 36 goals for runners-up Napoli.
2015–16 Tottenham Hotspur F.C. season
2015–16 Tottenham Hotspur F.C. season: Mauricio Pochettino's young Spurs side chased Leicester City for the Premier League title, drew 2-2 at Chelsea on 2 May 2016, finished third with Harry Kane scoring 25 league goals, and qualified for the Champions League.
2015–16 UEFA Champions League
2015–16 UEFA Champions League season won by Real Madrid, who beat Atlético Madrid 1-1 (5-3 penalties) in the Milan final on 28 May 2016 for an 11th European Cup; Cristiano Ronaldo top scored with 16 goals.
2015–16 UEFA Champions League group stage
2015–16 UEFA Champions League group stage: 32 clubs in eight groups, 15 September to 9 December 2015. Spain had five clubs for the first time; Ronaldo scored a record 11 group goals; Manchester United and Porto were eliminated.
2015–16 UEFA Champions League knockout phase
2015–16 UEFA Champions League knockout phase: the round of 16 to the 2016 final, won by Real Madrid 1-1 (5-3 pens) over Atlético Madrid on 28 May 2016 for an 11th title; Atlético-PSV was the first goalless knockout tie.
2015–16 UEFA Europa League
2015–16 UEFA Europa League, seventh edition under that name; Sevilla beat Liverpool 3–1 in Basel on 18 May 2016 for a third straight title and fifth overall; 191 teams, 475 matches, Aduriz top scorer with 10 goals.
2015–16 UEFA Youth League
2015–16 UEFA Youth League: third edition and first permanent, 64-team season, adding a Domestic Champions path. Chelsea beat Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 in Nyon to become the first club to retain the title.
2016 AFC U-23 Championship
2016 AFC U-23 Championship: second edition of Asia's under-23 football tournament, held in Doha, Qatar, January 12-30, 2016. Japan won the title, beating Korea Republic 3-2; Japan, Korea Republic and Iraq qualified for Rio 2016.
2016 AFF Championship
2016 AFF Championship (AFF Suzuki Cup 2016), the 11th ASEAN Football Federation tournament, co-hosted by Myanmar and the Philippines. Thailand beat Indonesia 3-2 on aggregate in the final for a record fifth title; Cambodia won the Phnom Penh qualifier.
2016 African Nations Championship
The 2016 African Nations Championship (CHAN 2016), fourth edition of CAF's tournament for domestic-league players, was hosted by Rwanda; DR Congo won the title, beating Mali 3-0 in the Kigali final.
2016 Ballon d'Or
2016 Ballon d'Or: Cristiano Ronaldo's fourth award, won 745 to 316 over Messi after Champions League and Euro 2016 titles; first edition after the FIFA partnership ended.
2016 FIFA Club World Cup
2016 FIFA Club World Cup (FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2016 presented by Alibaba YunOS Auto), 13th edition in Yokohama and Osaka, December 2016. Real Madrid beat Kashima Antlers 4-2 after extra time on Ronaldo's hat-trick; first Asian finalist and first FIFA VAR trial.
2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup
2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup, eighth edition, held in Colombia (Bucaramanga, Medellin, Cali) 10 September to 1 October 2016; 24 teams; Argentina won its first title, beating Russia 5-4 in the final, with Iran third.
2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup qualification (UEFA)
2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup qualification (UEFA): European qualifiers for the Colombia finals, 10 Sep-1 Oct 2016. Three stages; seven berths won by Azerbaijan, Italy, Kazakhstan, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Ukraine.
2016 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup
2016 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, Jordan 2016: fifth edition, held 30 September to 21 October 2016 in Amman, Irbid, and Zarqa. First FIFA women's tournament in the Middle East; Korea DPR beat Japan 5-4 on penalties in the final.
2016 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup
2016 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup: eighth edition in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea; Korea DPR beat France 3-1 in the final for a second title, completing a 2016 double with the U-17 crown; Japan took third; 113 goals in 32 matches.
2016 UEFA European Under-19 Championship
2016 UEFA European Under-19 Championship, held in Germany 11–24 July 2016; France won a third title, beating Italy 4-0 in the Sinsheim final, a record margin, with Jean-Kévin Augustin top scorer on six goals and record crowds of 140,429.
2016 UEFA Super Cup
2016 UEFA Super Cup: Real Madrid beat Sevilla 3-2 after extra time on 9 August 2016 at Lerkendal Stadion, Trondheim, the first European club final in Norway; Asensio, Ramos and Carvajal scored for Madrid.
2016 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship
2016 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship, ninth edition held in Belarus 4-16 May 2016; Germany beat holders Spain 3-2 on penalties after a 0-0 final in Borisov for a fifth title, before a record 10,200 crowd.
2016–17 Arsenal F.C. season
2016–17 Arsenal F.C. season: Arsenal's 25th Premier League campaign under Arsène Wenger, finishing fifth with 75 points, losing 10–2 on aggregate to Bayern Munich in the Champions League, and winning a record 13th FA Cup.
2016–17 Chelsea F.C. season
2016-17 Chelsea F.C. season: Antonio Conte's first campaign as head coach, in which Chelsea won their fifth Premier League title with 93 points and a record 30 wins using a 3-4-3, but lost the FA Cup final 2-1 to Arsenal.
2016–17 CONCACAF Champions League
2016–17 CONCACAF Champions League (Scotiabank CCL), 9th edition, 24 teams in eight groups of three. CF Pachuca beat Tigres UANL 2–1 on aggregate in the final and qualified for the 2017 FIFA Club World Cup; last edition with a group stage.
2016–17 Copa del Rey
2016–17 Copa del Rey, 115th edition of Spain's football cup, won by FC Barcelona 3–1 over first-time finalists Deportivo Alavés at the Vicente Calderón; Messi scored and assisted twice, giving Luis Enrique a farewell title.
2016–17 EFL Cup
2016–17 EFL Cup, 57th Football League Cup season, first under the EFL Cup name. Manchester United beat Southampton 3-2 at Wembley on 26 February 2017; Ibrahimovic scored twice including an 87th-minute winner.
2016–17 Eredivisie
2016–17 Eredivisie, Dutch top-flight season won by Feyenoord (82 points), their first title since 1999, one point ahead of Ajax; PSV third; Vitesse won the KNVB Cup.
2016–17 FA Cup
The 2016–17 FA Cup was the 136th edition of English football's primary knockout cup, won by Arsenal, who beat Chelsea 2–1 in the final at Wembley.