# 1996 Pan American Men's Handball Championship

The 1996 Pan American Men's Handball Championship was the seventh edition of the tournament, held in Colorado Springs, United States from 8 to 13 October 1996. It acted as the American qualifying tournament for the 1997 World Championship, where the top three placed team qualied.

## Preliminary round

All times are local (UTC−7).

### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | United States (H) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 74 | 51 | +23 | 6 | Semifinals |
| 2 | Brazil | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 92 | 51 | +41 | 4 | Semifinals |
| 3 | Mexico | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 70 | 72 | −2 | 2 | |
| 4 | Costa Rica | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 46 | 108 | −62 | 0 | |
| 8 October 1996 16:30 | Brazil | 44–16 | Costa Rica |
| 8 October 1996 16:30 | | (20–7) | |
| 8 October 1996 18:15 | United States | 25–20 | Mexico |
| 8 October 1996 18:15 | | (13–9) | |
| 9 October 1996 16:30 | Brazil | 34–14 | Mexico |
| 9 October 1996 16:30 | | (17–6) | |
| 9 October 1996 18:15 | United States | 28–17 | Costa Rica |
| 9 October 1996 18:15 | | (14–6) | |
| 10 October 1996 16:30 | Mexico | 36–13 | Costa Rica |
| 10 October 1996 16:30 | | (17–7) | |
| 10 October 1996 18:15 | United States | 21–14 | Brazil |
| 10 October 1996 18:15 | | (9–8) | |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Cuba | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 95 | 49 | +46 | 6 | Semifinals |
| 2 | Argentina | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 75 | 57 | +18 | 4 | Semifinals |
| 3 | Canada | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 69 | 66 | +3 | 2 | |
| 4 | Puerto Rico | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 43 | 110 | −67 | 0 | |
| 8 October 1996 13:00 | Cuba | 44–16 | Puerto Rico |
| 8 October 1996 13:00 | | (20–7) | |
| 8 October 1996 14:45 | Argentina | 25–20 | Canada |
| 8 October 1996 14:45 | | (13–9) | |
| 9 October 1996 13:00 | Argentina | 34–14 | Puerto Rico |
| 9 October 1996 13:00 | | (17–6) | |
| 9 October 1996 14:45 | Cuba | 28–17 | Canada |
| 9 October 1996 14:45 | | (14–6) | |
| 10 October 1996 13:00 | Canada | 32–13 | Puerto Rico |
| 10 October 1996 13:00 | | (14–7) | |
| 10 October 1996 14:45 | Cuba | 23–16 | Argentina |
| 10 October 1996 14:45 | | (9–7) | |

## Knockout stage
### Bracket

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| United States | 15 |
| Argentina | 20 | | |
| Argentina | 20 | Argentina | 24 |
| | | Cuba (ET) | 28 |
| Cuba | 21 | Cuba (ET) | 28 |
| Brazil | 18 | | |
| Brazil | 18 | Third place | Third place |
| | | United States | 23 |
| | | Brazil | 22 |
Fifth place bracket
| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| Mexico | 28 |
| Puerto Rico | 26 | | |
| Puerto Rico | 26 | Mexico | 19 |
| | | Canada | 26 |
| Canada | 30 | Canada | 26 |
| Costa Rica | 13 | | |
| Costa Rica | 13 | Third place | Third place |
| | | Puerto Rico | 21 |
| | | Costa Rica | 20 |

### 5–8th place semifinals

| 12 October 1996 13:00 | Mexico | 28–26 | Puerto Rico |
| 12 October 1996 13:00 | | (14–9) | |
| 12 October 1996 14:45 | Canada | 30–13 | Costa Rica |
| 12 October 1996 14:45 | | (14–5) | |

### Semifinals

| 12 October 1996 16:30 | Argentina | 20–15 | United States |
| 12 October 1996 16:30 | | (10–6) | |
| 12 October 1996 18:15 | Cuba | 21–18 | Brazil |
| 12 October 1996 18:15 | | (14–10) | |

### Seventh place game

| 13 October 1996 11:50 | Puerto Rico | 21–20 | Costa Rica |
| 13 October 1996 11:50 | | (11–5) | |

### Fifth place game

| 13 October 1996 14:45 | Canada | 26–19 | Mexico |
| 13 October 1996 14:45 | | (12–4) | |

### Third place game

| 13 October 1996 16:30 | United States | 23–22 | Brazil |
| 13 October 1996 16:30 | | (11–12) | |

### Final

| 13 October 1996 18:15 | Cuba | 28–24 (ET) | Argentina |
| 13 October 1996 18:15 | | (9–9) | |

## Final ranking

* Qualified for the 1997 World Championship
| Rank | Team |
| | Cuba |
| | Argentina |
| | United States |
| 4 | Brazil |
| 5 | Canada |
| 6 | Mexico |
| 7 | Puerto Rico |
| 8 | Costa Rica |
The United States withdrew and Brazil replaced them.