1996 CONCACAF Champions' Cup
32nd edition of premier club football tournament organized by CONCACAF
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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 March 9, 1996, through July 20, 1997.
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
Group 1
First Round
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Alajuelense  |
6–3 |  FAS |
4–2 | 2–1 |
Árabe Unido  |
2–1 |  Real Estelí |
1–1 | 0-1 |
La Victoria  |
3–7 |  Victoria |
1–3 | 4-2 |
Cruz Azul on bye to the Third round.
| March 9, 1996 1st leg | Alajuelense | 4–2 | FAS | Alajuela, Costa Rica |
Rónald Gómez  Mauricio Montero Luis Marín Murillo |
Rodríguez Mayén |
Attendance: 2,000 |
| March 31, 1996 2nd leg | FAS | 2–1 | Alajuelense | El Salvador |
| Bolsonello 6' |
56' González 89' Miso |
- Alajuelense won 6–3 on aggregated.
| March 15, 1996 1st leg | Árabe Unido | 1–1 | Real Estelí | Panama |
| Clarke 58' |
35' (pen.) Oliva |
| March 17, 1996 2nd leg | Real Estelí | 0–1 | Árabe Unido | Panama |
| 74' Chiari |
- Árabe Unido won 2–1 on aggregated.
| March 17, 1996 1st leg | La Victoria | 1–3 | Victoria | Belize |
| April 14, 1996 2nd leg | Victoria | 4–2 | La Victoria | Honduras |
- Victoria won 7–3 on aggregated.
Second Round
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victoria |
3–2 | Árabe Unido |
1–0 | 2–2 |
Alajuelense on bye to the Fourth round.
| June 16, 1996 1st leg | Victoria | 1–0 | Árabe Unido | Honduras |
| June 18, 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
- Cruz Azul won 2–1 on aggregated.
Fourth Round
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alajuelense |
2-5 |  Cruz Azul |
0-2 | 3-2 |
| January 4, 1997 1st leg | Alajuelense | 0–2 | Cruz Azul | Costa Rica |
| 5' Hermosillo 75' Reynoso |
| January 8, 1997 2nd leg | Cruz Azul | 3–2 | Alajuelense | Mexico |
| Hermosillo 42' 58' Verdirame 54' |
66' 73' Ledesma |
- Cruz Azul won 5–2 on aggregated.
- Cruz Azul advanced to the CONCACAF Final Group stage.
Group 2
First Round
- Necaxa on bye to second round.
| March 17, 1996 | Saprissa | 4–0 | Olimpia | San José, Costa Rica |
| Stadium: Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá |
| May 7, 1996 | Olimpia | 3–0 (3–4 agg.) | Saprissa | Tegucigalpa, Honduras |
| Stadium: Estadio Tiburcio Carías Andino |
Second Round
| September 15, 1996 | Saprissa | 2–2 | Necaxa | San José, Costa Rica |
| González 6' 79' |
10' (pen.) Aguinaga 16' Zárate |
Stadium: Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá |
| January 7, 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
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.
| CSD Comunicaciones | 4–0 | Cosmos |
| 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
First round
| 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
| 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 | 0–1 (0–1 agg.) | SV Transvaal |
U.S./Caribbean Playoff
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
|---|---|---|
Seattle Sounders  |
10–0 | SV Transvaal |
- Seattle Sounders advance to the Final Group stage.[2]
| June 17, 1997 | Seattle Sounders | 10–0 | SV Transvaal | Federal Way, Washington |
| 19:30 PDT (UTC−7) | Report | Stadium: Federal Way Memorial Stadium Attendance: 2,153 |
Final group stage
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
All the games played in Guatemala City:
| Comunicaciones | 2–0 | Seattle Sounders |
|---|---|---|
|
| Necaxa | 1–1 | Cruz Azul |
|---|---|---|
| Pavón 14' |
Hermosillo 48' |
| Comunicaciones | 1–2 | Cruz Azul |
|---|---|---|
| Núñez 90' |
Adomaitis 33' (37) |
| Comunicaciones | 3–3 | Necaxa |
|---|---|---|
|
Champion
| CONCACAF Champions' Cup 1996 Winners |
|---|
 Cruz Azul 4th title |