1996 CONCACAF Champions' Cup
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The 1996 CONCACAF Champions' Cup was the 32nd edition of the annual international club football competition held in the CONCACAF region (North America, Central America and the Caribbean), the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. It determined that year's club champion of association football in the CONCACAF region and was played from 9 March 1996 through 20 July 1997.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | Guatemala |
| City | Guatemala City |
| Dates | 15 July– 20 July |
| Teams | 4 (from 3 associations) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Cruz Azul (4th title) |
| Runners-up | Necaxa |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 6 |
| Goals scored | 29 (4.83 per match) |
← 1995 1997 → | |
The teams were split into 2 zones (North/ Central and Caribbean). The North/Central zone was split into 3 groups, qualifying each winner to the final tournament. The winner of the Caribbean zone, earned a place in a playoff against the U.S. representative for a spot in the final tournament. All qualifying matches in the tournament were played under the home/away match system, while the final tournament was played in Guatemala City.
That final stage composed of four teams which played each other in a single round-robin tournament. Mexican team Cruz Azul won their fourth CONCACAF trophy, after finishing 1st. in the final table with 7 points over 3 matches played.[1]
North/Central American Zone
First Round
Cruz Azul on bye to the Third round.
- Alajuelense won 6–3 on aggregated.
- Árabe Unido won 2–1 on aggregated.
- Victoria won 7–3 on aggregated.
Second Round
Alajuelense on bye to the Fourth round.
- Victoria won 3–2 on aggregated.
Third Round
- Cruz Azul won 2–1 on aggregated.
Fourth Round
- Cruz Azul won 5–2 on aggregated.
First Round
- Necaxa on bye to second round.
Second Round
- Necaxa advanced to the CONCACAF Final Group stage.
First Round
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CSD Comunicaciones | 6–0 | Cosmos | 4–0 | 2–0 |
| C.S.D. Sacachispas | 5–3 | Juventus Managua | 3–1 | 2–2 |
- Juventus F.C. on bye, to the second round.
Second Round
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CSD Comunicaciones | 5–1 | C.S.D. Sacachispas | 2–1 | 3–0 |
- Juventus F.C. on bye, to the third round.
Third Round
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Juventus | 1–8 | CSD Comunicaciones | 1–1 | 0–7 |
- CSD Comunicaciones advance to the Final Group stage.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Sinnamary | w/o* | SV Prakash | 0–0 | |
| SV Transvaal | w/o** | Red Star (Pointe-à-Pitre) |
- US Sinnamary withdrew after 1st leg*
- Red Star withdrew before 1st leg**
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SV Transvaal | 1–0 | SV Prakash | 0–0 | 1–0 |
- SV Transvaal advance to the USA/Caribbean playoff.
U.S./Caribbean Playoff
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Seattle Sounders | 10–0 | SV Transvaal |
- Seattle Sounders advance to the Final Group stage.[2]
Final stage was played in Guatemala City, Guatemala. July 15–20, 1997.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cruz Azul | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 2 | +12 | 7 |
| 2 | Necaxa | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 5 | +3 | 5 |
| 3 | Comunicaciones | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 4 |
| 4 | Seattle Sounders | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 17 | −16 | 0 |
All the games played in Guatemala City:
| CONCACAF Champions' Cup 1996 Winners |
|---|
| Cruz Azul 4th title |
- ^ Copa de Campeones 1996 on the RSSSF
- ^ Rice, Micah (June 18, 1997). "Sounders earn Guatemala trip with rout of Suriname club". The News Tribune. p. D6. Retrieved December 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.