title: 1996 in association football
text: 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