# 1996–97 in Australian soccer

The 1996–97 season was the 28th season of national competitive association football in Australia and 114th overall.

## National teams
### Men's senior
#### Results and fixtures
##### 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
###### Second round

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Australia (H) | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 2 | +24 | 12 | Advance to final round |
| 2 | Solomon Islands | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 21 | −14 | 6 | |
| 3 | Tahiti | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 12 | −10 | 3 | |

###### Final round
##### 1996 Simba Cup

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | South Africa (C) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 7 |
| 2 | Australia | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 6 |
| 3 | Ghana | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 4 |
| 4 | Kenya | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | −6 | 0 |

### Women's senior
#### Results and fixtures
##### 1997 Women's U.S. Cup

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | United States (C, H) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 1 | +14 | 9 |
| 2 | Italy | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 6 |
| 3 | Australia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 14 | −10 | 3 |
| 4 | Canada | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 9 | −6 | 0 |

### Men's under-23
#### Results and fixtures
##### 1996 Summer Olympics
###### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | France | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 7 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Spain | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 7 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | Australia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 3 | |
| 4 | Saudi Arabia | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 | −3 | 0 | |

### Men's under-20
#### Results and fixtures
##### 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship
###### Group E

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Australia | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 7 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Argentina | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 5 | +3 | 6 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | Canada | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 4 | Hungary | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6 | −5 | 0 | |

###### Knockout stage
##### 1997 OFC U-20 Championship
###### First round

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Australia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 0 | +23 | 9 | Advance to Final |
| 2 | New Zealand | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 6 | Advance to Final |
| 3 | Fiji | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 15 | −10 | 3 | Advance to Third place play-off |
| 4 | Tahiti (H) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 19 | −17 | 0 | Advance to Third place play-off |

###### Final
### Men's under-17
#### 1997 OFC U-17 Championship
##### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Australia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 0 | +26 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Tahiti | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 6 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | Fiji | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 9 | +1 | 3 | |
| 4 | Cook Islands | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 26 | −26 | 0 | |

##### Knockout stage
## Domestic soccer
### National Soccer League

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Sydney United | 26 | 17 | 5 | 4 | 67 | 33 | +34 | 56 | Qualification for the Finals series |
| 2 | Brisbane Strikers (C) | 26 | 15 | 2 | 9 | 55 | 40 | +15 | 47 | Qualification for the Finals series |
| 3 | South Melbourne | 26 | 14 | 4 | 8 | 39 | 25 | +14 | 46 | Qualification for the Finals series |
| 4 | Adelaide City | 26 | 11 | 10 | 5 | 32 | 22 | +10 | 43 | Qualification for the Finals series |
| 5 | Marconi Fairfield | 26 | 12 | 4 | 10 | 41 | 37 | +4 | 40 | Qualification for the Finals series |
| 6 | Melbourne Knights | 26 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 36 | 32 | +4 | 39 | Qualification for the Finals series |
| 7 | Perth Glory | 26 | 11 | 5 | 10 | 48 | 41 | +7 | 38 | |
| 8 | West Adelaide | 26 | 10 | 3 | 13 | 39 | 51 | −12 | 33 | |
| 9 | UTS Olympic | 26 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 41 | 46 | −5 | 32 | |
| 10 | Wollongong Wolves | 26 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 42 | 48 | −6 | 32 | |
| 11 | Newcastle Breakers | 26 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 40 | 46 | −6 | 30 | |
| 12 | Gippsland Falcons | 26 | 8 | 6 | 12 | 33 | 41 | −8 | 30 | |
| 13 | Collingwood Warriors | 26 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 32 | 44 | −12 | 27 | |
| 14 | Canberra Cosmos | 26 | 2 | 5 | 19 | 30 | 69 | −39 | 11 | |