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The following are theassociation football events of the year1996 throughout the world.

• Copa Libertadores1996: Won byRiver Plate after defeatingAmérica de Cali 2–1 on aggregate.
• UEFA Euro 1996:Germany defeats theCzech Republic 2–1 with agolden goal fromOliver Bierhoff atWembley Stadium.
• TheUEFA Regions' Cup is founded for amateur teams inEurope to have an international tournament.
• February 7 –Logi Ólafsson makes his debut as the manager ofIceland with a 1–7 loss againstSlovenia.
• March 3 – Dutch clubNEC firesWim Koevermans and appoints former coachLeen Looyen as his successor.
• April 6 –Major League Soccer kicks-off: an overflow crowd of 31,683 packedSpartan Stadium to witness the historic first match.San Jose Clash forwardEric Wynalda scored the league's first goal in a 1–0 victory overD.C. United.
• May 11 –Manchester United wins 1–0 overLiverpool to claim theFA Cup. United becomes the first team to win the English League and Cup Double twice.
• May 16 –PSV claims theKNVB Cup after defeatingSparta Rotterdam atDe Kuip, 5–2.
• August 18 – PSV wins theJohan Cruyff Shield, the annual opening of the new season in theEredivisie, following a 3–0 win overAjax.
• August 27 – ManagerAlan Ball is fired byManchester City and succeeded bySteve Coppell.
• October 9 – ManagerHuub Stevens leavesRoda JC. He is replaced by interim-coachEddy Achterberg, and later byMartin Jol.
• November 8 –Phil Neal replaces Manchester City managerSteve Coppell as caretaker, to be succeeded byFrank Clark on December 29.
• November 26 –Juventus wins theIntercontinental Cup inTokyo after defeating Argentina'sRiver Plate 1–0. The match's only goal is scored byAlessandro del Piero in the 81st minute.

Undated:

• Heidelberg Ball School is founded in Germany.

• Japan –Kashima Antlers
• Lebanon –Al-Ansar
• Qatar –Al-Arabi
• South Korea –Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i
• Iran –Persepolis

•  Croatia –Dinamo Zagreb
•  Czech Republic –Slavia Prague
•  England –Manchester United
•  France –Auxerre
•  Germany –Borussia Dortmund
•  Italy –A.C. Milan
•  Netherlands
  • Eredivisie –Ajax
  • Eerste Divisie –AZ
•  Poland –Widzew Łódź
•  Portugal –Porto
•  Spain –Atlético Madrid
•  Turkey –Fenerbahçe
•  Yugoslavia –Partizan

•  Mexico
  • 1995–96 –Necaxa
  • Inverno 1996 –Santos
•  United States
  • Seattle Sounders (APSL)
  • D.C. United (MLS)

•  Argentina
  • Clausura –Vélez Sársfield
  • Apertura –River Plate
•  Bolivia –Bolívar
•  Brazil –Grêmio
•  Chile –Colo-Colo
•  Ecuador –El Nacional
• Paraguay –Cerro Porteño
•  Peru –Sporting Cristal

• African Cup of Nations inSouth Africa (January 13 – February 3, 1996)
  1.  South Africa
  2.  Tunisia
  3.  Zambia
• UEFA European Football Championship inEngland (June 8 – 30 1996)
  1.  Germany
  2.  Czech Republic
  3. —
• Baltic Cup inNarva,Estonia (July 7 – 9 1996)
  1.  Lithuania
  2.  Estonia
  3.  Latvia
• Olympic Games inAtlanta,United States (July 20 – August 3, 1996)
  • Men's Tournament
  1.  Nigeria
  2.  Argentina
  3.  Brazil
  • Women's Tournament
  1. United States
  2. PR China
  3. Norway

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• 1 January:
  • Mahmoud Dahoud, German footballer
  • Andreas Pereira, Brazilian footballer
  • Mathias Jensen, Danish footballer
• 7 January:Isaac Success,Nigerian footballer
• 10 January:
  • Iván Cifuentes, Spanish footballer^[1]
  • Lenon (Lenon Farias de Souza Leite), Brazilian footballer^[2]
• 11 January:Leroy Sané, German footballer
• 13 January:
  • Emil Łupiński, Polish professional footballer^[3]
• 14 January:Jordi Malela, Belgian professional footballer^[4]
• 15 January:Ebou Adams, Gambian footballer
• 18 January:Davide Mansi, Italian footballer^[5]
• 19 January:Niels De Pauw, Belgian footballer^[6]
• 21 January
  • Marco Asensio, Spanish footballer
  • Aldo Kalulu, French youth international
  • Cristian Pavón, Argentine international
• 23 January:Ruben Loftus-Cheek, English footballer
• 24 January:Patrik Schick, Czech footballer
• 26 January:Zakaria Bakkali, Belgian footballer
• 28 January:Mohamed Mushimiyimana, Rwandan footballer^[7]

• 2 February:
  • Gulfran Támara, Colombian footballer^[8]
  • Harry Winks, English footballer
• 4 February:Nicolas Eiter, German footballer^[9]
• 8 February:Federico Tabeira, professional Uruguayan footballer^[10]
• 11 February:
  • Vicente Gatica, Chilean footballer^[11]
  • Jonathan Tah, German footballer
  • Lucas Torreira, Uruguayan footballer
  • Andrei Trifan, former Moldovan footballer^[12]
• 12 February:Yesin Ben Mohamadi, Dutch footballer^[13]
• 14 February:
  • Lucas Hernandez, French footballer
  • Viktor Kovalenko, Ukrainian footballer
• 20 February:Nick Zeijlmans, Dutch footballer^[14]
• 28 February:Danilo Barbosa, Brazilian footballer

• 3 March:Simone Solinas, Italian footballer^[15]
• 4 March:
  • Timo Baumgartl, German footballer
  • Antonio Sanabria, Paraguayan footballer
• 6 March:Timo Werner, German footballer
• 7 March:Quentin Martin, French professional footballer^[16]
• 15 March:Levin Öztunalı, German footballer
• 19 March:Birkan Öksüz, Turkish professional footballer^[17]
• 21 March:Klara Grahn, Swedish footballer^[18]
• 24 March:Valentino Lazaro, Austrian footballer
• 26 March:
  • Brian Koopman, Dutch footballer^[19]
  • Ivan Smetanin, Russian footballer^[20]
• 28 March:Benjamin Pavard, French footballer
• 31 March:Muhammed Conteh, Gambian international footballer^[21]

• 2 April:André Onana, Cameroonian footballer
• 9 April:Giovani Lo Celso, Argentinian footballer
• 10 April:Andreas Christensen, Danish footballer
• 11 April:Dele Alli, English footballer
• 15 April:Muhammed Emin Balcılar, Turkish professional footballer^[22]
• 20 April:Ahmed-Tobias Andrä, Austrial footballer^[23]
• 29 April:Gustav Engvall, Swedish footballer

• 1 May:Nicolas Mohr, Austrian footballer^[24]
• 2 May:Julian Brandt, German footballer
• 3 May:Alex Iwobi, Nigerian footballer
• 5 May:Matheus Pereira, Brazilian footballer
• 9 May:Demen Roumen, Dutch footballer^[25]
• 11 May:Andrés Cubas, Argentine-born Paraguayan footballer
• 16 May:Mustapha Njie, Gambian footballer^[26]
• 17 May:Youcef Atal, Algerian footballer
• 26 May:Lukáš Haraslín, Slovak footballer
• 27 May:Tenta Maeda, Japanese footballer
• 30 May:Aleksandr Golovin, Russian footballer

• 11 June:Hakeeb Adelakun, English footballer
• 12 June:
  • Davinson Sánchez, Colombian footballer
  • Daniil Solomakha, Ukrainian amateur footballer^[27]
• 13 June:Kingsley Coman, French footballer
• 17 June:Godfred Donsah, Ghanese footballer
• 18 June:Alen Halilović, Croatian footballer
• 22 June:
  • Yusupha Bobb, Gambian footballer
  • Mikel Merino, Spanish footballer
• 25 June: Timo Wehrle, German footballer^[28]
• 28 June
  • Demarai Gray, Jamaican footballer
  • Philipp Knechtel, German footballer^[29]
  • Milot Rashica, Kosovar footballer
• 29 June
  • Bart Ramselaar, Dutch international footballer
  • Regild Zeneli, Albanian professional footballer^[30]

• 1 July:Diego Di Cecco, Italian footballer^[31]
• 3 July:Kumaahran Sathasivam, Malaysian footballer
• 5 July:Ajdin Hrustic, Australian footballer
• 7 July:Ivan Ljubic, Austrian footballer
• 11 July:Andrija Živković, Serbian footballer
• 12 July:Moussa Dembélé, French footballer
• 18 July:
  • Philippe Fofana Dougou, Ivorian professional footballer^[32]
  • Dzhamaldin Khodzhaniyazov, Russian footballer
  • Siebe Schrijvers, Belgian footballer
• 22 July:Indy Groothuizen, Dutch footballer
• 26 July:Thomas Hooyberghs, Belgian professional footballer^[33]

• 7 August:Dani Ceballos, Spanish footballer
• 12 August:Arthur, Brazilian footballer
• 14 August:Neal Maupay, French footballer
• 18 August:Kyrylo Demidov, Ukrainian footballer^[34]
• 19 August:Almoez Ali, Sudanese-Qatari footballer
• 21 August:Sofyan Amrabat, Dutch-born Moroccan footballer
• 27 August:Ebru Topçu, Turkish footballer
• 29 August:Davide Xamin, Italian professional footballer^[35]
• 30 August:Gabriel Barbosa, Brazilian footballer

• 1 September:Robby Ndefe, Dutch-Angolan professional footballer^[36]
• 5 September:Richairo Zivkovic, Dutch footballer
• 9 September:Nadejda Vasilică, Moldovan footballer^[37]
• 16 September:Alexis Blin, French footballer
• 17 September:Duje Ćaleta-Car, Croatian footballer
• 20 September:Jerome Sinclair, English footballer
• 25 September:
  • Max Christiansen, German footballer
  • Rannick Schoop, Curaçoan professional footballer^[38]
  • Santiago Vega, Uruguayan footballer^[39]
• 27 September:
  • Maxwel Cornet, French-Ivorian footballer
  • Justin Mulder, Dutch footballer^[40]

• 3 October:Kelechi Iheanacho, Nigerian footballer
• 12 October:Riechedly Bazoer, Dutch footballer
• 13 October:Terens Puhiri, Indonesian footballer
• 15 October:Charly Musonda, Belgian footballer
• 22 October:
  • Jérémy Houzé, Belgian footballer^[41]
  • Michael Krabler, German footballer
• 26 October:Timotej Královič, Slovak footballer^[42]
• 27 October:Nadiem Amiri, German footballer

• 9 November:Kasey Palmer, English-born Jamaican footballer
• 23 November:James Maddison, English footballer
• 29 November:Gonçalo Guedes, Portuguese footballer

• 4 December:Diogo Jota, Portuguese footballer
• 8 December:Scott McTominay, Scottish footballer
• 15 December:Oleksandr Zinchenko, Ukrainian footballer
• 16 December:
  • Wilfred Ndidi, Nigerian footballer
  • Sergio Reguilón, Spanish footballer
• 19 December
  • Mouctar Diakhaby, French-born Guinean footballer
  • Franck Kessié, Ivorian footballer
• 28 December: Jan Niklas Schommer, German footballer^[43]

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• January 2 –Karl Rappan (90), Austrian footballer and manager

• February 23 –Helmut Schön (80), German footballer and manager

• May 11 –Ademir Marques de Menezes, Brazilian striker, top scorer at the1950 FIFA World Cup. (73)
• May 16 –Danilo Alvim, Brazilian midfielder, runner up at the1950 FIFA World Cup. (75)

• August 2 –Obdulio Varela, Uruguayan midfielder, winner as captain of the1950 FIFA World Cup, commonly regarded as one of the greatest classic holding midfielders. (78)

• September 17 –Teodoro "Lolo" Fernandez (84), Peruvian footballer

• October 4 –Silvio Piola, Italian striker, winner of the1938 FIFA World Cup, scoring two goals in the final. Highest goalscorer in Italian first league history. (83)
• October 30 –Roberto Belangero, Brazilian midfielder, runner-up at the1957 South American Championship. (68)

• November 7 –Hans Klodt (82), German international footballer
• November 26 –Guido Gratton (64), Italian footballer

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