1996 in association football
The following are the football events of the year 1996 throughout the world.
Events
- Copa Libertadores 1996: Won by River Plate after defeating América de Cali 2–1 on aggregate.
- UEFA Euro 1996: Germany defeats the Czech Republic 2–1 with a golden goal from Oliver Bierhoff at Wembley Stadium.
- The UEFA Regions' Cup is founded for amateur teams in Europe to have an international tournament.
- February 7 - Logi Ólafsson makes his debut as the manager of Iceland with a 1–7 loss against Slovenia.
- March 3 - Dutch club NEC fires Wim Koevermans and appoints former coach Leen Looyen as his successor.
- April 6 - Major League Soccer kicks-off: an overflow crowd of 31,683 packed Spartan Stadium to witness the historic first match. San Jose Clash forward Eric Wynalda scored the league's first goal in a 1–0 victory over D.C. United.
- May 11 - Manchester United wins 1–0 over Liverpool to claim the FA Cup. United becomes the first team to win the English League and Cup Double twice.
- May 16 - PSV claims the KNVB Cup after defeating Sparta Rotterdam at De Kuip, 5–2.
- August 18 - PSV wins the Johan Cruyff Shield, the annual opening of the new season in the Eredivisie, following a 3–0 win over Ajax.
- August 27 - Manager Alan Ball is fired by Manchester City and succeeded by Steve Coppell.
- November 8 - Phil Neal replaces Manchester City manager Steve Coppell as caretaker, to be succeeded by Frank Clark on December 29.
- October 9 - Manager Huub Stevens leaves Roda JC. He is replaced by interim-coach Eddy Achterberg, and later by Martin Jol.
- November 26 - Juventus wins the Intercontinental Cup in Tokyo after defeating Argentina's River Plate 1–0. The match's only goal is scored by Alessandro del Piero in the 81st minute.
Winner club national championships
Asia
- Japan - Kashima Antlers
- Lebanon - Al-Ansar
- Qatar - Al-Arabi
- South Korea - Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i
Europe
- – Dinamo Zagreb
- – Slavia Prague
- – Manchester United
- – Auxerre
- – Borussia Dortmund
- –A.C. Milan
- * Eredivisie – Ajax
- * Eerste Divisie – AZ
- – Widzew Łódź
- – Porto
- – Atlético Madrid
- – Fenerbahçe
- – Partizan
North America
- *1995–96 – Necaxa
- *Inverno 1996 – Santos
- *Seattle Sounders
- *D.C. United
South America
- *Clausura – Vélez Sársfield
- *Apertura – River Plate
- – Bolívar
- – Grêmio
- – Colo-Colo
- – El Nacional
- Paraguay – Cerro Porteño
- – Sporting Cristal
International tournaments
- African Cup of Nations in South Africa
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- UEFA European Football Championship in England
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- Baltic Cup in Narva, Estonia
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- Olympic Games in Atlanta, United States
- *Men's Tournament
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- *Women's Tournament
- # United States
- # PR China
- # Norway
National team results
Asia
Europe
South America
Births
- 1 January:
- * Mahmoud Dahoud, German footballer
- * Andreas Pereira, Brazilian footballer
- * Mathias Jensen, Danish footballer
- 7 January: Isaac Success, Nigerian footballer
- 11 January: Leroy Sané, German footballer
- 21 January: Marco Asensio, Spanish footballer
- 23 January: Ruben Loftus-Cheek, English footballer
- 24 January: Patrik Schick, Czech footballer
- 26 January: Zakaria Bakkali, Belgian footballer
- 2 February: Harry Winks, English footballer
- 11 February:
- * Jonathan Tah, German footballer
- * Lucas Torreira, Uruguayan footballer
- 14 February:
- * Lucas Hernandez, French footballer
- * Viktor Kovalenko, Ukrainian footballer
- 28 February: Danilo Barbosa, Brazilian footballer
- 4 March:
- * Timo Baumgartl, German footballer
- * Antonio Sanabria, Paraguayan footballer
- 6 March: Timo Werner, German footballer
- 15 March: Levin Öztunalı, German footballer
- 24 March: Valentino Lazaro, Austrian footballer
- 28 March: Benjamin Pavard, French footballer
- 9 April: Giovani Lo Celso, Argentinian footballer
- 10 April: Andreas Christensen, Danish footballer
- 11 April: Dele Alli, English footballer
- 29 April: Gustav Engvall, Swedish footballer
- 2 May: Julian Brandt, German footballer
- 3 May: Alex Iwobi, Nigerian footballer
- 5 May: Matheus Pereira, Brazilian footballer
- 11 May: Andrés Cubas, Argentine-born Paraguayan footballer
- 26 May: Lukáš Haraslín, Slovak footballer
- 30 May: Aleksandr Golovin, Russian footballer
- 11 June: Hakeeb Adelakun, English footballer
- 12 June: Davinson Sánchez, Colombian footballer
- 13 June: Kingsley Coman, French footballer
- 17 June: Godfred Donsah, Ghanese footballer
- 18 June: Alen Halilović, Croatian footballer
- 22 June:
- * Yusupha Bobb, Gambian footballer
- * Mikel Merino, Spanish footballer
- 28 June: Milot Rashica, Kosovar footballer
- 29 June: Bart Ramselaar, Dutch international footballer
- 3 July: Kumaahran Sathasivam, Malaysian footballer
- 5 July: Ajdin Hrustic, Australian footballer
- 7 July: Ivan Ljubic, Austrian footballer
- 11 July: Andrija Živković, Serbian footballer
- 12 July: Moussa Dembélé, French footballer
- 18 July:
- * Dzhamaldin Khodzhaniyazov, Russian footballer
- * Siebe Schrijvers, Belgian footballer
- 22 July: Indy Groothuizen, Dutch footballer
- 7 August: Dani Ceballos, Spanish footballer
- 12 August: Arthur, Brazilian footballer
- 14 August: Neal Maupay, French footballer
- 19 August: Almoez Ali, Sudanese-Qatari footballer
- 21 August: Sofyan Amrabat, Dutch-born Moroccan footballer
- 27 August: Ebru Topçu, Turkish footballer
- 30 August: Gabriel Barbosa, Brazilian footballer
- 5 September: Richairo Zivkovic, Dutch footballer
- 16 September: Alexis Blin, French footballer
- 17 September: Duje Ćaleta-Car, Croatian footballer
- 20 September: Jerome Sinclair, English footballer
- 25 September: Max Christiansen, German footballer
- 27 September: Maxwel Cornet, French-Ivorian footballer
- 3 October: Kelechi Iheanacho, Nigerian footballer
- 12 October: Riechedly Bazoer, Dutch footballer
- 15 October: Charly Musonda, Belgian footballer
- 27 October: Nadiem Amiri, German footballer
- 23 November: James Maddison, English footballer
- 29 November: Gonçalo Guedes, Portuguese footballer
- 8 December: Scott McTominay, Scottish footballer
- 15 December: Oleksandr Zinchenko, Ukrainian footballer
- 16 December:
- * Wilfred Ndidi, Nigerian footballer
- * Sergio Reguilón, Spanish footballer
Deaths
January
- January 2 - Karl Rappan, Austrian footballer and manager
February
- February 23 - Helmut Schön, German footballer and manager
May
- May 11 – Ademir Marques de Menezes, Brazilian striker, top scorer at the 1950 FIFA World Cup.
- May 16 – Danilo Alvim, Brazilian midfielder, runner up at the 1950 FIFA World Cup.
August
- August 2 – Obdulio Varela, Uruguayan midfielder, winner as captain of the 1950 FIFA World Cup, commonly regarded as one of the greatest classic holding midfielders.
September
- September 17 - Teodoro "Lolo" Fernandez, Peruvian footballer
October
- October 4 – Silvio Piola, Italian striker, winner of the 1938 FIFA World Cup, scoring two goals in the final. Highest goalscorer in Italian first league history.
- October 30 – Roberto Belangero, Brazilian midfielder, runner-up at the 1957 South American Championship.
November
- November 7 - Hans Klodt, German international footballer
- November 26 - Guido Gratton, Italian footballer