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) |
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 edit
Group 1 edit
First Round
Cruz Azul on bye to the Third round.
| 9 March 1996 1st leg | Alajuelense  | 4–2 |  FAS | Alajuela, Costa Rica |
Rónald Gómez  Mauricio Montero Luis Marín Murillo |
Rodríguez Mayén |
Attendance: 2,000 |
| 31 March 1996 2nd leg | FAS | 1–2 | Alajuelense | El Salvador |
| Bolsonello 6' |
56' González 89' Miso |
- Alajuelense won 6–3 on aggregated.
| 15 March 1996 1st leg | Árabe Unido  | 1–1 |  Real Estelí | Panama |
| Clarke 58' |
35' (pen.) Oliva |
| 17 March 1996 2nd leg | Real Estelí | 0–1 | Árabe Unido | Panama |
| 74' Chiari |
- Árabe Unido won 2–1 on aggregated.
| 17 March 1996 1st leg | La Victoria  | 1–3 |  Victoria | Belize |
| 14 April 1996 2nd leg | Victoria | 4–2 | La Victoria | Honduras |
- Victoria won 7–3 on aggregated.
Second Round
Alajuelense on bye to the Fourth round.
| 16 June 1996 1st leg | Victoria | 1–0 | Árabe Unido | Honduras |
| 18 June 1996 2nd leg | Árabe Unido | 2–2 | Victoria | Colon, Panama |
| Abdul Chiari Carlos Brown |
Renán Aguilera x2 | Stadium: Roberto Mariano Bula Stadium |
- Victoria won 3–2 on aggregated.
Third Round
| 5 November 1996 2nd leg | Cruz Azul | 2–0 | Victoria | Mexico |
| de Oliveira 45' Zamora 87' |
- Cruz Azul won 2–1 on aggregated.
Fourth Round
| 4 January 1997 1st leg | Alajuelense | 0–2 | Cruz Azul | Costa Rica |
| 5' Hermosillo 75' Reynoso |
| 8 January 1997 2nd leg | Cruz Azul | 3–2 | Alajuelense | Mexico |
| Hermosillo 42' 58' Verdirame 54' |
66' 73' Ledesma |
- Cruz Azul won 5–2 on aggregated.
Group 2 edit
First Round
- Necaxa on bye to second round.
| 17 March 1996 | Saprissa | 4–0 | Olimpia | San José, Costa Rica |
| Stadium: Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá |
| 7 May 1996 | Olimpia | 3–0 (3–4 agg.) | Saprissa | Tegucigalpa, Honduras |
| Stadium: Estadio Tiburcio Carías Andino |
Second Round
| 15 September 1996 | Saprissa | 2–2 | Necaxa | San José, Costa Rica |
| González 6' 79' |
10' (pen.) Aguinaga 16' Zárate |
Stadium: Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá |
| 7 January 1997 | Necaxa | 2–1 (4–3 agg.) | Saprissa | Querétaro City, Mexico |
| Zárate 48' Peláez 84' |
17' Drummond |
Stadium: Estadio Corregidora |
- Necaxa advanced to the CONCACAF Final Group stage.
Group 3 edit
First Round
| Team 1 | Agg. | 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.
| Cosmos | 0–2 (0-6 agg.) | CSD Comunicaciones |
| March 21, 1996 | C.S.D. Sacachispas | 3–1 | Juventus Managua | |
| Gustavo Benzano Lucio Catarino Da Silva Araeli López |
Ivan Bravo |
| Juventus Managua | 2–2 (3–5 agg.) | C.S.D. Sacachispas |
Second Round
| Team 1 | Agg. | 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.
| C.S.D. Sacachispas | 0–3 (1–5 agg.) | CSD Comunicaciones |
Third Round
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Juventus
|
1–8 | CSD Comunicaciones
|
1–1 | 0–7 |
- CSD Comunicaciones advance to the Final Group stage.
| CSD Comunicaciones | 7–0 (8–1 agg.) | Juventus |
Caribbean Zone edit
First round edit
| Team 1 | Agg. | 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**
Second round edit
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SV Transvaal
|
1–0 | SV Prakash
|
0–0 | 1–0 |
- SV Transvaal advance to the USA/Caribbean playoff.
| SV Prakash | 1–0 (1–0 agg.) | SV Transvaal |
U.S./Caribbean Playoff edit
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
|---|---|---|
Seattle Sounders 
|
10–0 | SV Transvaal
|
- Seattle Sounders advance to the Final Group stage.[2]
| 17 June 1997 | Seattle Sounders | 10–0 | SV Transvaal | Federal Way, Washington |
| 7:30 p.m. PDT | Report | Stadium: Federal Way Memorial Stadium Attendance: 2,153 |
Final group stage edit
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 |
Matches edit
All the games played in Guatemala City:
| Comunicaciones | 2–0 | Seattle Sounders |
|---|---|---|
| Nicolás Suazo 44' José Fernández 83' |
| Necaxa | 1–1 | Cruz Azul |
|---|---|---|
| Pavón 14' |
Hermosillo 48' |
| Seattle Sounders | 1–4 | Necaxa |
|---|---|---|
| Hattrup 91' (p) |
Almaguer 32' Blanco 47', 89'Vásquez 75' |
| Comunicaciones | 1–2 | Cruz Azul |
|---|---|---|
| Núñez 90' |
Adomaitis 33' (37) |
| Comunicaciones | 3–3 | Necaxa |
|---|---|---|
| Rodas 24', 48' Núñez 32' |
Pineda 47' (p) Pavón 60'Montes de Oca 70' |
| Seattle Sounders | 0–11 | Cruz Azul |
|---|---|---|
| Palencia 3' Hermosillo 13', 32', 49'Yegros 15', 53', 62'Adomaitis 34'Galindo 35'Barton 72' (o.g.)Ramírez 74' (p) |
Champion edit
| CONCACAF Champions' Cup 1996 Winners |
|---|
 Cruz Azul 4th title |
References edit
- ^ 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.