1996 U.S. Cup

The 1996 U.S. Cup was a United States Soccer Federation (USSF) organized international football tournament in June 1996. The USSF had hosted the annual U.S. Cup since 1992, except for the World Cup years of 1994 and 1998. The four teams in 1996 were the United States, Mexico, Bolivia, and Republic of Ireland. Staged as a six-game, round robin tournament, the team with the best win–loss record took the title. Bolivia was playing its first U.S. Cup while both Ireland and Mexico were playing their second U.S. Cup. Mexico won the competition, a result it repeated in 1997 and 1999.

June 9: USA vs Ireland
United States: Brad Friedel, Mike Burns, Marcelo Balboa, Thomas Dooley, Alexi Lalas, Jeff Agoos, John Harkes, Claudio Reyna (Jovan Kirovski 77’), Tab Ramos (Roy Lassiter 77’), Cobi Jones, Eric Wynalda (Paul Caligiuri 88’)

Ireland: Shay Given, Jeff Kenna (Curtis Fleming 40’), Terry Phelan, Kenny Cunningham, Alan Kernaghan, Gary Breen, Alan McLoughlin, Gareth Farrelly (Mark Kennedy 61’), Liam O'Brien (Keith O'Neill 87’), Niall Quinn (Dave Savage 87’), David Connolly

June 12: Mexico vs Ireland
Mexico and Ireland played to a 2-2 tie at the Giants Stadium in East Rutherford. Luis Garcia scored first for Mexico in the 40th minute. Four minutes later, David Connolly, just beginning his national team career, evened the score. Five minutes later, Ireland gained from a Mexico own goal off Davino. However, Ireland had two men sent off, Liam Daish and Niall Quinn, as well as their manager Mick McCarthy, and Luis Garcia converted a 70th-minute penalty to end the game at 2-2. The automatic one game suspension of McCarthy was overturned on appeal.

Mexico: Oswaldo Sánchez, Claudio Suárez, Duilio Davino, Joaquín del Olmo, Germán Villa, Raúl Lara, Manuel Sol, Rafael Garcia (Cuauhtémoc Blanco 54’), Enrique Alfaro, Luis García Postigo, Francisco Palencia (José Manuel Abundis 45’)

Ireland: Packie Bonner, Curtis Fleming, Gary Breen, Liam Daish, Ian Harte, Mark Kennedy (Terry Phelan 73’), Dave Savage, Alan McLoughlin, Alan Moore, Keith O'Neill, David Connolly

June 12: USA vs Bolivia
United States: Brad Friedel, Mike Burns, Jeff Agoos (Roy Lassiter 78’), Marcelo Balboa, Alexi Lalas, John Harkes, Cobi Jones, Claudio Reyna, Tab Ramos, Eric Wynalda, Jovan Kirovski (Thomas Dooley 59’)

Bolivia: Marco Antonio Barrero, Juan Manuel Peña, Óscar Sánchez, Miguel Rimba, Marco Sandy, Julio César Baldivieso, Mauricio Ramos, Cossio, Marco Etcheverry (Paniagua 46’), Jaime Moreno (Ramiro Castilloo 46’), Milton Coimbra

June 15: Ireland vs Bolivia
Ireland: Shay Given (Packie Bonner 85’), Curtis Fleming, Kenny Cunningham, Alan Kernaghan (Gary Breen 35’), Ian Harte, Terry Phelan, Dave Savage, Liam O'Brien (Alan McLoughlin 45’), Gareth Farrelly (Mark Kennedy 65’), Keith O'Neill, Alan Moore

Bolivia: Mauricio Soria, Juan Manuel Peña, Óscar Sánchez, Miguel Rimba, Ramiro Castillo, Julio César Baldivieso, Marco Etcheverry, Mauricio Ramos (Luis Cristaldo 41’), Cossio, Marco Sandy, Jaime Moreno (Milton Coimbra 46’)

June 16: USA vs Mexico
The USA and Mexico, under former U.S. coach Bora Milutinovic tied 2-2 in the final game of the competition. The high tempo game went back and forth as the teams scored goals in both halves. The U.S. scored first with an Eric Wynalda shot in the 34th minute, but Mexico scored with a Garcia goal in the 45th minute. Cuauhtémoc Blanco scored what appeared to be the winning goal in the 89th minute, but Thomas Dooley scored a minute later. With the tie, Mexico won first in the standings and the first of its three consecutive U.S. Cup titles.

United States: Brad Friedel, Mike Burns (Mike Sorber 72’), Marcelo Balboa, Alexi Lalas, Paul Caligiuri, John Harkes, Thomas Dooley, Tab Ramos, Cobi Jones, Claudio Reyna, Eric Wynalda (Brian McBride 65’)

Mexico: Jorge Campos, Claudio Suárez, Duilio Davino, Raúl Lara, Rafael Garcia, Manuel Sol, Enrique Alfaro (Cuauhtémoc Blanco 75’), Francisco Palencia (José Manuel Abundis 80), Joaquín del Olmo, Germán Villa, Luis García Postigo

Scorers
Three Goals
 * 🇲🇽 Luis García Postigo

Two Goals
 * 🇮🇪 David Connolly
 * 🇮🇪 Keith O'Neill

One Goal
 * 🇧🇴 Jaime Moreno
 * 🇧🇴 Milton Coimbra
 * 🇺🇸 Tab Ramos
 * 🇺🇸 Claudio Reyna
 * 🇺🇸 Eric Wynalda
 * 🇺🇸 Thomas Dooley
 * 🇮🇪 Ian Harte
 * 🇲🇽 Cuauhtémoc Blanco
 * 🇲🇽 Rafael Garcia