1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup
| CONCACAF Championship | |
|---|---|
| 
 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup official logo | |
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | United States | 
| Dates | January 10 – January 21 | 
| Teams | 9 (from 2 confederations) | 
| Venue(s) | 3 (in 3 host cities) | 
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Mexico (5th 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) | 
The 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the third edition of the Gold Cup, the football (soccer) championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF).
The tournament went back 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.
Participating nations
| Team | Qualification | Appearance in Gold Cup | 
|---|---|---|
| North American zone | ||
|  United States | Host | 3rd | 
|  Mexico | Automatic | 3rd | 
|  Canada | Automatic | 3rd | 
| Caribbean zone qualified through the 1995 Caribbean Cup | ||
|  Trinidad and Tobago | Winners | 2nd | 
|  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Runners-Up | 1st | 
| Central American zone qualified through the 1995 UNCAF Nations Cup | ||
|  Honduras | Winners | 3rd | 
|  Guatemala | Runners-Up | 2nd | 
|  El Salvador | 3rd Place | 1st | 
| CONMEBOL | ||
|  Brazil | Invited | 1st | 
Venues
| Anaheim | Los Angeles | San Diego | 
|---|---|---|
| Edison International Field | Memorial Coliseum | Jack Murphy Stadium | 
| Capacity: 64,593 | Capacity: 93,607 | Capacity: 60,836 | 
|  |  |  | 
CONCACAF squads
First round
Group A
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|  Mexico | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | +6 | 6 | 
|  Guatemala | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 3 | 
|  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | –8 | 0 | 
Group B
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|  Brazil | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | +8 | 6 | 
|  Canada | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | –1 | 3 | 
|  Honduras | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 8 | –7 | 0 | 
| January 12, 1996 | 
| Brazil  | 4–1 |  Canada | 
|---|---|---|
| André Luis  3' Caio  7' Sávio  14' Leandro Machado  86' | Report | Radzinski  66' | 
Group C
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|  United States | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 6 | 
|  El Salvador | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | –1 | 3 | 
|  Trinidad and Tobago | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | –2 | 0 | 
| January 10, 1996 | 
| Trinidad and Tobago  | 2–3 |  El Salvador | 
|---|---|---|
| Latapy  59', 64' | Report | Díaz Arce  34', 72' (pen.) Cerritos  50' | 
| January 13, 1996 | 
| United States  | 3–2 |  Trinidad and Tobago | 
|---|---|---|
| Wynalda  15', 34' Moore  53' | Report | Dwarika  6', 43' | 
Knockout stage
Bracket
| Semi-finals | Final | ||||||
| January 18 – Los Angeles | |||||||
|  United States | 0 | ||||||
|  Brazil | 1 | ||||||
| January 21 – Los Angeles | |||||||
|  Brazil | 0 | ||||||
|  Mexico | 2 | ||||||
| Third place | |||||||
| January 19 – San Diego | January 21 – Los Angeles | ||||||
|  Mexico | 1 |  United States | 3 | ||||
|  Guatemala | 0 |  Guatemala | 0 | ||||
Semifinals
Third place match
Final
| January 21, 1996 | 
| Brazil  | 0–2 |  Mexico | 
|---|---|---|
| Report | L. García  54' Blanco  75' | 
| Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles Attendance: 88,155 Referee: Ramesh Ramdhan (Trinidad and Tobago) | 
Awards
| 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup Winners | 
|---|
|  Mexico Fifth title | 
Top scorers
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
| 
 | 
 | 
Own goals
 Marcelo Balboa for Brazil Marcelo Balboa for Brazil
Team statistics
| Team | GP | W | T | L | GF | GA | Dif | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F |  Mexico | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | +9 | 
| F |  Brazil | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 
| S |  United States | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 3 | +5 | 
| S |  Guatemala | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 5 | -2 | 
| 1 |  Canada | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | -1 | 
| 1 |  El Salvador | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -1 | 
| 1 |  Trinidad and Tobago | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | -2 | 
| 1 |  Honduras | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 8 | -7 | 
| 1 |  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | -8 | 

