The 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the third edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF).
| CONCACAF Championship | |
|---|---|
1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup official logo | |
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | United States |
| Dates | January 10–21 |
| Teams | 9 (from 2 confederations) |
| Venue(s) | 3 (in 3 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Mexico (2nd title) |
| Runners-up |  Brazil |
| Third place |  United States |
| Fourth place |  Guatemala |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 13 |
| Goals scored | 42 (3.23 per match) |
| Attendance | 487,439 (37,495 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Eric Wynalda (4 goals) |
← 1993 1998 → | |
The tournament returned to the United States and California; the games were hosted by Los Angeles, San Diego, and Anaheim. The format of the tournament changed from 1993: it was expanded to nine teams, separated into three groups of three and played in January as opposed to the 1993 edition which was played in July.
The top team in each group, plus the best second-place finisher would advance to the semifinals. For the first time, a non-CONCACAF team was invited: Brazil, who sent their under-23 side. Mexico won their second straight Gold Cup, beating the Brazilians 2–0 in the final.
Venues
edit| Anaheim | Los Angeles | San Diego |
|---|---|---|
| Anaheim Stadium | Memorial Coliseum | Jack Murphy Stadium |
| Capacity: 64,593 | Capacity: 93,607 | Capacity: 60,836 |
Teams
editQualification
edit| Team | Qualification | Appearances | Last Appearance | Previous best performance | FIFA Ranking[1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North American zone | |||||
| Automatic | 3rd | 1993 | Champions (1993) | 12 | |
| Automatic | 3rd | 1993 | Champions (1991) | 19 | |
| Automatic | 3rd | 1993 | Group Stage (1991, 1993) | 65 | |
| Caribbean zone qualified through the 1995 Caribbean Cup | |||||
| Winners | 2nd | 1991 | Group Stage (1991) | 57 | |
| Runners-up | 1st | None | Debut | 95 | |
| Central American zone qualified through the 1995 UNCAF Nations Cup | |||||
| Winners | 3rd | 1993 | Runners-up (1991) | 49 | |
| Runners-up | 2nd | 1991 | Group stage (1991) | 145 | |
| Third Place | 1st | None | Debut | 85 | |
| Other | |||||
| Invitation | 1st | None | Debut | 1 | |
Squads
editThe 9 national teams involved in the tournament were required to register a squad of 20 players; only players in these squads were eligible to take part in the tournament.
Group stage
editGroup A
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | +6 | 6 | Advanced to knockout stage | |
| 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 3 | ||
| 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | −8 | 0 |
Group B
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | +8 | 6 | Advance to Knockout stage | |
| 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 3 | ||
| 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 8 | −7 | 0 |
| Brazil | 4–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| André Luis Caio Sávio Leandro Machado |
Report | Radzinski |
Group C
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 6 | Advance to Knockout stage | |
| 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 3 | ||
| 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 0 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 2–3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Latapy |
Report | Díaz Arce Cerritos |
| United States | 3–2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Wynalda Moore |
Report | Dwarika |
| United States | 2–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Wynalda Balboa |
Report |
Knockout stage
editBracket
edit| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 18 January – Los Angeles | ||||||
| 0 | ||||||
| 21 January – Los Angeles | ||||||
| 1 | ||||||
| 0 | ||||||
| 19 January – San Diego | ||||||
| 2 | ||||||
| 1 | ||||||
| 0 | ||||||
| Third place play-off | ||||||
| 21 January – Los Angeles | ||||||
| 3 | ||||||
| 0 | ||||||
Semi-finals
editThird place play-off
editFinal
edit| Brazil | 0–2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Statistics
editGoalscorers
editThere were 42 goals scored in 13 matches, for an average of 3.23 goals per match.
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
1 own goal
Marcelo Balboa (against Brazil)
Awards
editThe following Gold Cup awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament: the Golden Boot (top scorer) and Golden Ball (best overall player).[3]
| Golden Ball |
|---|
| Golden Boot |
| 4 goals |
References
edit- ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. December 19, 1995. Archived from the original on October 21, 2019. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
- ^ U-23 represented
- ^ "1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup". CONCACAF. May 8, 2009. Archived from the original on July 26, 2009.