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.

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
 * – Partizan

North America

 * 1995–96 – Necaxa
 * Inverno 1996 – Santos
 * Seattle Sounders (APSL)
 * D.C. United (MLS)
 * 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
 * 🇵🇪 – Sporting Cristal

International tournaments

 * African Cup of Nations in South Africa (January 13 – February 3, 1996)
 * 🇹🇳 tunisia
 * UEFA European Football Championship in England (June 8 – 30 1996)
 * 🇩🇪 germany
 * 🇨🇿 czech republic
 * &mdash;
 * Baltic Cup in Narva, Estonia (July 7 – 9 1996)
 * 🇱🇹 lithuania
 * 🇪🇪 estonia
 * 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
 * 🇺🇸 United States
 * 🇨🇳 PR China
 * 🇳🇴 Norway

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
 * 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
 * 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

 * 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
 * 14 June: Omar Saint Andre, Mexican 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
 * 23 July: Leonel Navarrete, Mexican professional 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
 * 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

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