# 1996 in association football

The following are the association 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.
* October 9 – Manager Huub Stevens leaves Roda JC. He is replaced by interim-coach Eddy Achterberg, and later by Martin Jol.
* November 8 – Phil Neal replaces Manchester City manager Steve Coppell as caretaker, to be succeeded by Frank Clark on December 29.
* 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.

### Undated

* Heidelberg Ball School is founded in Germany.

## Winner club national championships
### Asia

* Japan – Kashima Antlers
* Lebanon – Al-Ansar
* Qatar – Al-Arabi
* South Korea – Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i
* Iran – Persepolis

### Europe

* Croatia – Dinamo Zagreb
* Czech Republic – Slavia Prague
* England – Manchester United
* France – Auxerre
* Germany – Borussia Dortmund
* Italy –A.C. Milan
* Netherlands
** Eredivisie – Ajax
** Eerste Divisie – AZ
* Poland – Widzew Łódź
* Portugal – Porto
* Spain – Atlético Madrid
* Turkey – Fenerbahçe
* Yugoslavia – Partizan

### North America

* Mexico
** 1995–96 – Necaxa
** Inverno 1996 – Santos
* United States
** Seattle Sounders (APSL)
** D.C. United (MLS)

### South America

* Argentina
** Clausura – Vélez Sársfield
** Apertura – River Plate
* Bolivia – Bolívar
* Brazil – Grêmio
* Chile – Colo-Colo
* Ecuador – El Nacional
* Paraguay – Cerro Porteño
* Peru – Sporting Cristal

## International tournaments

* African Cup of Nations in South Africa (January 13 – February 3, 1996)
** South Africa
** Tunisia
** Zambia
* UEFA European Football Championship in England (June 8 – 30 1996)
** Germany
** Czech Republic
* Baltic Cup in Narva, Estonia (July 7 – 9 1996)
** Lithuania
** Estonia
** Latvia
* Olympic Games in Atlanta, United States (July 20 – August 3, 1996)
** Men's Tournament
** Nigeria
** Argentina
** Brazil
** Women's Tournament
** United States
** PR China
** Norway

## Births
### January

* 1 January:
** Mahmoud Dahoud, German footballer
** Andreas Pereira, Brazilian footballer
** Mathias Jensen, Danish footballer
* 7 January: Isaac Success, Nigerian footballer
* 10 January:
** Iván Cifuentes, Spanish footballer
** Lenon (Lenon Farias de Souza Leite), Brazilian footballer
* 11 January: Leroy Sané, German footballer
* 13 January:
** Christian Heinrich, German footballer
** Emil Łupiński, Polish professional footballer
* 14 January: Jordi Malela, Belgian professional footballer
* 15 January: Ebou Adams, Gambian footballer
* 18 January: Davide Mansi, Italian footballer
* 19 January: Niels De Pauw, Belgian footballer
* 21 January
** Marco Asensio, Spanish footballer
** Aldo Kalulu, French youth international
** Cristian Pavón, Argentine international
* 23 January: Ruben Loftus-Cheek, English footballer
* 24 January: Patrik Schick, Czech footballer
* 26 January: Zakaria Bakkali, Belgian footballer
* 28 January: Mohamed Mushimiyimana, Rwandan footballer

### February

* 2 February:
** Gulfran Támara, Colombian footballer
** Harry Winks, English footballer
* 4 February: Nicolas Eiter, German footballer
* 8 February: Federico Tabeira, professional Uruguayan footballer
* 11 February:
** Vicente Gatica, Chilean footballer
** Jonathan Tah, German footballer
** Lucas Torreira, Uruguayan footballer
** Andrei Trifan, former Moldovan footballer
* 12 February: Yesin Ben Mohamadi, Dutch footballer
* 14 February:
** Lucas Hernandez, French footballer
** Viktor Kovalenko, Ukrainian footballer
* 20 February: Nick Zeijlmans, Dutch footballer
* 28 February: Danilo Barbosa, Brazilian footballer

### March

* 3 March: Simone Solinas, Italian footballer
* 4 March:
** Timo Baumgartl, German footballer
** Antonio Sanabria, Paraguayan footballer
* 6 March: Timo Werner, German footballer
* 7 March: Quentin Martin, French professional footballer
* 15 March: Levin Öztunalı, German footballer
* 19 March: Birkan Öksüz, Turkish professional footballer
* 21 March: Klara Grahn, Swedish footballer
* 24 March: Valentino Lazaro, Austrian footballer
* 26 March:
** Brian Koopman, Dutch footballer
** Ivan Smetanin, Russian footballer
* 28 March: Benjamin Pavard, French footballer
* 31 March: Muhammed Conteh, Gambian international footballer

### April

* 2 April: André Onana, Cameroonian footballer
* 9 April: Giovani Lo Celso, Argentinian footballer
* 10 April: Andreas Christensen, Danish footballer
* 11 April: Dele Alli, English footballer
* 15 April: Muhammed Emin Balcılar, Turkish professional footballer
* 20 April: Ahmed-Tobias Andrä, Austrial footballer
* 29 April: Gustav Engvall, Swedish footballer

### May

* 1 May: Nicolas Mohr, Austrian footballer
* 2 May: Julian Brandt, German footballer
* 3 May: Alex Iwobi, Nigerian footballer
* 5 May: Matheus Pereira, Brazilian footballer
* 9 May: Demen Roumen, Dutch footballer
* 11 May: Andrés Cubas, Argentine-born Paraguayan footballer
* 16 May: Mustapha Njie, Gambian footballer
* 17 May: Youcef Atal, Algerian footballer
* 26 May: Lukáš Haraslín, Slovak footballer
* 27 May: Tenta Maeda, Japanese footballer
* 30 May: Aleksandr Golovin, Russian footballer

### June

* 11 June: Hakeeb Adelakun, English footballer
* 12 June:
** Davinson Sánchez, Colombian footballer
** Daniil Solomakha, Ukrainian amateur 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
* 25 June: Timo Wehrle, German footballer
* 28 June
** Demarai Gray, Jamaican footballer
** Philipp Knechtel, German footballer
** Milot Rashica, Kosovar footballer
* 29 June
** Bart Ramselaar, Dutch international footballer
** Regild Zeneli, Albanian professional footballer

### July

* 1 July: Diego Di Cecco, Italian 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:
** Philippe Fofana Dougou, Ivorian professional footballer
** Dzhamaldin Khodzhaniyazov, Russian footballer
** Siebe Schrijvers, Belgian footballer
* 22 July: Indy Groothuizen, Dutch footballer
* 26 July: Thomas Hooyberghs, Belgian professional footballer

### August

* 7 August: Dani Ceballos, Spanish footballer
* 12 August: Arthur, Brazilian footballer
* 14 August: Neal Maupay, French footballer
* 18 August: Kyrylo Demidov, Ukrainian footballer
* 19 August: Almoez Ali, Sudanese-Qatari footballer
* 21 August: Sofyan Amrabat, Dutch-born Moroccan footballer
* 27 August: Ebru Topçu, Turkish footballer
* 29 August: Davide Xamin, Italian professional footballer
* 30 August: Gabriel Barbosa, Brazilian footballer

### September

* 1 September: Robby Ndefe, Dutch-Angolan professional footballer
* 5 September: Richairo Zivkovic, Dutch footballer
* 9 September: Nadejda Vasilică, Moldovan 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
** Rannick Schoop, Curaçoan professional footballer
** Santiago Vega, Uruguayan footballer
* 27 September:
** Maxwel Cornet, French-Ivorian footballer
** Justin Mulder, Dutch footballer

### October

* 3 October: Kelechi Iheanacho, Nigerian footballer
* 12 October: Riechedly Bazoer, Dutch footballer
* 13 October: Terens Puhiri, Indonesian footballer
* 15 October: Charly Musonda, Belgian footballer
* 22 October:
** Jérémy Houzé, Belgian footballer
** Michael Krabler, German footballer
* 26 October: Timotej Královič, Slovak footballer
* 27 October: Nadiem Amiri, German footballer

### November

* 9 November: Kasey Palmer, English-born Jamaican footballer
* 23 November: James Maddison, English footballer
* 29 November: Gonçalo Guedes, Portuguese footballer

### December

* 4 December: Diogo Jota, Portuguese footballer
* 8 December: Scott McTominay, Scottish footballer
* 15 December: Oleksandr Zinchenko, Ukrainian footballer
* 16 December:
** Wilfred Ndidi, Nigerian footballer
** Sergio Reguilón, Spanish footballer
* 19 December
** Mouctar Diakhaby, French-born Guinean footballer
** Franck Kessié, Ivorian footballer
* 28 December: Jan Niklas Schommer, German footballer

## Deaths
### January

* January 2 – Karl Rappan (90), Austrian footballer and manager

### February

* February 23 – Helmut Schön (80), German footballer and manager

### May

* May 11 – Ademir Marques de Menezes, Brazilian striker, top scorer at the 1950 FIFA World Cup. (73)
* May 16 – Danilo Alvim, Brazilian midfielder, runner up at the 1950 FIFA World Cup. (75)

### 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. (78)

### September

* September 17 – Teodoro "Lolo" Fernandez (84), 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. (83)
* October 30 – Roberto Belangero, Brazilian midfielder, runner-up at the 1957 South American Championship. (68)

### November

* November 7 – Hans Klodt (82), German international footballer
* November 26 – Guido Gratton (64), Italian footballer