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
  – 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 (APSL)
D.C. United (MLS)

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 (January 13 – February 3, 1996)
 
 
 
 UEFA European Football Championship in England (June 8 – 30 1996)
 
 
 —
 Baltic Cup in Narva, Estonia (July 7 – 9 1996)
 
 
 
Olympic Games in Atlanta, United States (July 20 – August 3, 1996)
Men's Tournament
 
 
 
Women's Tournament
  United States
  PR China
  Norway

National team results

Europe



Births

January
 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
 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

February
 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

March
 3 March: Simone Solinas, Italian 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

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
 29 April: Gustav Engvall, Swedish footballer

May
 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
 17 May: Youcef Atal, Algerian footballer
 26 May: Lukáš Haraslín, Slovak footballer
 30 May: Aleksandr Golovin, Russian footballer

June
 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
 Demarai Gray, Jamaican footballer
 Milot Rashica, Kosovar footballer 
 29 June
 Bart Ramselaar, Dutch international footballer
 Regild Zeneli, Albanian professional footballer

July
 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
 23 July: Leonel Navarrete, Mexican professional footballer

August
 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

September
 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

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
 27 October: Nadiem Amiri, German footballer

November
 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

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

References

 
Association football by year