1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup
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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.
| Anaheim | Los Angeles | San Diego |
|---|---|---|
| Anaheim Stadium | Memorial Coliseum | Jack Murphy Stadium |
| Capacity: 64,593 | Capacity: 93,607 | Capacity: 60,836 |
| Team | Qualification | Appearances | Last Appearance | Previous best performance | FIFA Ranking[1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North American zone | |||||
| Mexico (TH) | Automatic | 3rd | 1993 | Champions (1993) | 12 |
| United States | Automatic | 3rd | 1993 | Champions (1991) | 19 |
| Canada | Automatic | 3rd | 1993 | Group Stage (1991, 1993) | 65 |
| Caribbean zone qualified through the 1995 Caribbean Cup | |||||
| Trinidad and Tobago | Winners | 2nd | 1991 | Group Stage (1991) | 57 |
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Runners-up | 1st | None | Debut | 95 |
| Central American zone qualified through the 1995 UNCAF Nations Cup | |||||
| Honduras | Winners | 3rd | 1993 | Runners-up (1991) | 49 |
| Guatemala | Runners-up | 2nd | 1991 | Group stage (1991) | 145 |
| El Salvador | Third Place | 1st | None | Debut | 85 |
| Other | |||||
| Brazil[2] | Invitation | 1st | None | Debut | 1 |
The 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.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mexico | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | +6 | 6 | Advanced to knockout stage |
| 2 | Guatemala | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 3 | |
| 3 | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | −8 | 0 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brazil | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | +8 | 6 | Advance to Knockout stage |
| 2 | Canada | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 3 | |
| 3 | Honduras | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 8 | −7 | 0 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 6 | Advance to Knockout stage |
| 2 | El Salvador | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 3 | |
| 3 | Trinidad and Tobago | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 0 |
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 18 January – Los Angeles | ||||||
| United States | 0 | |||||
| 21 January – Los Angeles | ||||||
| Brazil | 1 | |||||
| Brazil | 0 | |||||
| 19 January – San Diego | ||||||
| Mexico | 2 | |||||
| Mexico | 1 | |||||
| Guatemala | 0 | |||||
| Third place play-off | ||||||
| 21 January – Los Angeles | ||||||
| United States | 3 | |||||
| Guatemala | 0 | |||||
Third place play-off
There 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)
The 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 |
|---|
| Raúl Lara |
| Golden Boot |
| Eric Wynalda |
| 4 goals |
- ^ "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.