# 1996 in American soccer

The 1996 season was the 84th year of competitive season in the United States. It was the first season of the present top division of American soccer, Major League Soccer.

## National teams
### Men's
#### Senior

| Wins | Losses | Draws |
| 10 | 4 | 2 |

##### 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup
###### Group C

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | United States | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 6 | Advance to Knockout stage |
| 2 | El Salvador | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 3 | |
| 3 | Trinidad and Tobago | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 0 | |

###### Knockout stage
##### 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
###### CONCACAF third round

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | United States | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 13 |
| 2 | Costa Rica | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 12 |
| 3 | Guatemala | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 9 | -3 | 8 |
| 4 | Trinidad and Tobago | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 9 | -6 | 1 |

##### Goalscorers

| Player | Goals |
| Eric Wynalda | 8 |
| Joe-Max Moore | 4 |
| Thomas Dooley | 2 |
| Cobi Jones | 2 |
| Brian McBride | 2 |
| Jeff Agoos | 1 |
| Marcelo Balboa | 1 |
| Dario Brose | 1 |
| Frankie Hejduk | 1 |
| Jovan Kirovski | 1 |
| Roy Lassiter | 1 |
| Preki | 1 |
| Tab Ramos | 1 |
| Claudio Reyna | 1 |

#### U–23
##### Summer Olympics
###### Group A

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Argentina | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 5 |
| Portugal | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 5 |
| United States | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Tunisia | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | −4 | 1 |

#### U–20
##### 1996 CONCACAF U-20 Tournament
###### Group 2

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | United States | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 7 | 1997 FIFA U-20 World Cup and Championship group |
| 2 | Jamaica | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 6 | Qualifying group |
| 3 | Honduras | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 4 | |
| 4 | Martinique | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | −8 | 0 | |

##### Championship group
#### U–17
##### 1996 CONCACAF U-17 Championship
###### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Costa Rica | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 4 | +9 | 9 | Qualified to the Final round |
| 2 | United States | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 6 | Qualified to the Final round |
| 3 | Dominican Republic | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | −4 | 0 | Eliminated |
| 4 | Bermuda | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 13 | −12 | 0 | Eliminated |

###### Final Round

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Mexico | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | +7 | 9 | Qualified to 1997 FIFA U-17 World Championship |
| 2 | United States | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | Qualified to 1997 FIFA U-17 World Championship |
| 3 | Costa Rica | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 4 | Qualified to 1997 FIFA U-17 World Championship |
| 4 | Canada | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6 | −5 | 0 | Eliminated |

## League Tables
### Major League Soccer

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | SOW | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Tampa Bay Mutiny (S) | 32 | 19 | 1 | 12 | 66 | 51 | +15 | 58 | |
| 2 | Los Angeles Galaxy | 32 | 15 | 4 | 13 | 59 | 49 | +10 | 49 | CONCACAF Champions' Cup |
| 3 | D.C. United (C) | 32 | 15 | 1 | 16 | 62 | 56 | +6 | 46 | CONCACAF Champions' Cup |
| 4 | Dallas Burn | 32 | 12 | 5 | 15 | 50 | 48 | +2 | 41 | |
| 5 | Kansas City Wiz | 32 | 12 | 5 | 15 | 61 | 63 | −2 | 41 | |
| 6 | NY/NJ MetroStars | 32 | 12 | 3 | 17 | 45 | 47 | −2 | 39 | |
| 7 | San Jose Clash | 32 | 12 | 3 | 17 | 50 | 50 | 0 | 39 | |
| 8 | Columbus Crew | 32 | 11 | 4 | 17 | 59 | 60 | −1 | 37 | |
| 9 | New England Revolution | 32 | 9 | 6 | 17 | 43 | 56 | −13 | 33 | |
| 10 | Colorado Rapids | 32 | 9 | 2 | 21 | 44 | 59 | −15 | 29 | |

### A-League

* Win = 3 points
* Shootout win (SW) = 1 point
* Loss = 0 points
| Place | Team | GP | W | SW | L | GF | GA | GD | Points |
| 1 | Montreal Impact | 27 | 17 | 4 | 6 | 40 | 18 | +22 | 55 |
| 2 | Colorado Foxes | 27 | 14 | 2 | 11 | 55 | 33 | +22 | 44 |
| 3 | Seattle Sounders | 27 | 12 | 4 | 11 | 35 | 25 | +10 | 40 |
| 4 | Rochester Rhinos | 27 | 11 | 3 | 13 | 44 | 42 | +2 | 36 |
| 5 | Vancouver 86ers | 27 | 10 | 3 | 14 | 38 | 38 | +0 | 33 |
| 6 | New York Fever | 27 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 30 | 40 | –10 | 21 |
| 7 | Atlanta Ruckus | 22 | 3 | 0 | 19 | 14 | 60 | –46 | 9 |

## U.S. Open Cup
### Bracket

| Second round | Second round | Second round | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinal | Semifinal | Semifinal | Final | Final | Final |
| | | | MLS | Dallas Burn | 3 | | | | | | |
| | | | A-L | Seattle Sounders | 2 | | | | | | |
| USASA | San Jose Oaks | 0 | A-L | Seattle Sounders | 2 | | | | | | |
| A-L | Seattle Sounders | 1 | | | | | | | | | |
| A-L | Seattle Sounders | 1 | | | | MLS | Dallas Burn | 0 | | | |
| | | | | | | MLS | D.C. United | 2 | | | |
| | | | MLS | D.C. United | 2 | | | | | | |
| | | | USISL | Carolina Dynamo | 0 | | | | | | |
| A-L | New York Fever | 0 | USISL | Carolina Dynamo | 0 | | | | | | |
| USISL | Carolina Dynamo | 1 | | | | | | | | | |
| USISL | Carolina Dynamo | 1 | | | | | | | MLS | D.C. United | 3 |
| | | | | | | | | | A-L | Rochester Rhinos | 0 |
| A-L | Rochester Rhinos | 2 | | | | | | | | | | A-L | Rochester Rhinos | 0 |
| USISL | Fort Myers Manatees | 0 | | | | | | | | | |
| USISL | Fort Myers Manatees | 0 | A-L | Rochester Rhinos (AET) | 4 | | | | | | |
| | | | MLS | Tampa Bay Mutiny | 3 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | A-L | Rochester Rhinos | 3 | | | |
| | | | | | | MLS | Colorado Rapids | 0 | | | |
| | | | MLS | Kansas City Wiz | 2 | | | | | | |
| | | | MLS | Colorado Rapids | 3 | | | | | | |
| A-L | Colorado Foxes | 5 | MLS | Colorado Rapids | 3 | | | | | | |
| USISL | El Paso Patriots | 1 | | | | | | | | | |