1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup
CONCACAF Championship
1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup official logo
Tournament details
Host countryUnited States
DatesJanuary 10–21
Teams9 (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 played13
Goals scored42 (3.23 per match)
Attendance487,439 (37,495 per match)
Top scorer(s)United States Eric Wynalda (4 goals)
← 1993
1998 →

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).

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

Anaheim Los Angeles San Diego
Anaheim Stadium Memorial Coliseum Jack Murphy Stadium
Capacity: 64,593 Capacity: 93,607 Capacity: 60,836

Teams

Qualification

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 Invitation 1st None Debut 1

Squads

Main article: 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup squads

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.

Group stage

Group A

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
Source: CONCACAF
Mexico 5–0 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
 Report
Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego
Attendance: 15,352
Referee: Esfandiar Baharmast (United States)
Mexico 1–0 Guatemala
 Report
Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego
Attendance: 32,571
Referee: Ronald Gutiérrez (Costa Rica)
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 0–3 Guatemala
Report
Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim
Attendance: 52,345
Referee: Peter Prendergast (Jamaica)

Group B

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
Source:[citation needed]
Canada 3–1 Honduras
Corazzin 9'
Holness 27', 63'		 Report Carson 40'
Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim
Attendance: 27,125
Referee: Peter Prendergast (Jamaica)
Brazil 4–1 Canada
André Luis 3'
Caio 7'
Sávio 14'
Leandro Machado 86'		 Report Radzinski 66'
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles
Attendance: 8,234
Referee: Ronald Gutiérrez (Costa Rica)
Brazil 5–0 Honduras
Caio 9', 81'
Jamelli 31', 61'
Sávio 80'		 Report
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles
Attendance: 20,708
Referee: Armando Archundia (Mexico)

Group C

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
Source:[citation needed]
Trinidad and Tobago 2–3 El Salvador
Latapy 59', 64' Report Díaz Arce 34', 72' (pen.)
Cerritos 50'
Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim
Attendance: 27,125
Referee: Armando Archundia (Mexico)
United States 3–2 Trinidad and Tobago
Wynalda 15', 34'
Moore 53'		 Report Dwarika 6', 43'
Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim
Attendance: 12,425
Referee: Argelio Sabillon (Honduras)
United States 2–0 El Salvador
Wynalda 63'
Balboa 75'		 Report
Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim
Attendance: 52,345
Referee: Ramesh Ramdhan (Trinidad and Tobago)

Knockout stage

Bracket

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
18 January – Los Angeles
 
 
 United States0
 
21 January – Los Angeles
 
 Brazil1
 
 Brazil0
 
19 January – San Diego
 
 Mexico2
 
 Mexico1
 
 
 Guatemala0
 
Third place play-off
 
 
21 January – Los Angeles
 
 
 United States3
 
 
 Guatemala0

Semi-finals

United States 0–1 Brazil
Report
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles
Attendance: 20,708
Referee: Armando Archundia (Mexico)
Mexico 1–0 Guatemala
 Report
Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego
Attendance: 42,221
Referee: Esfandiar Baharmast (United States)

Third place play-off

United States 3–0 Guatemala
 Report
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles
Attendance: 88,155
Referee: René Parra (Canada)

Final

Main article: 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup final
Brazil 0–2 Mexico
Report
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles
Attendance: 88,155
Referee: Ramesh Ramdhan (Trinidad and Tobago)

Statistics

Goalscorers

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

Awards

The following Gold Cup awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament: the Golden Boot (top scorer) and Golden Ball (best overall player).[2]

Golden Ball
Mexico Raúl Lara
Golden Boot
United States Eric Wynalda
4 goals

References

  1. ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. December 19, 1995. Archived from the original on October 21, 2019. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  2. ^ "1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup". CONCACAF. May 8, 2009. Archived from the original on July 26, 2009.

External links

CONCACAF Gold Cup
Categories