1996 CONCACAF Champions' Cup

32nd edition of premier club football tournament organized by CONCACAF
1996 CONCACAF Champions' Cup
Tournament details
Host countryGuatemala
CityGuatemala City
Dates15 July– 20 July
Teams4 (from 3 associations)
Final positions
ChampionsMexico Cruz Azul (4th title)
Runners-upMexico Necaxa
Tournament statistics
Matches played6
Goals scored29 (4.83 per match)
← 1995
1997 →
International football competition

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.

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
Cruz Azul on bye to the Third round.

Alajuelense Costa Rica v El Salvador FAS
9 March 1996 1st leg Alajuelense Costa Rica 4–2 El Salvador FAS Alajuela, Costa Rica
Rónald Gómez
Mauricio Montero
Luis Marín Murillo 		Rodríguez
Mayén		 Attendance: 2,000
FAS El Salvador v Costa Rica Alajuelense
31 March 1996 2nd leg FAS El Salvador 1–2 Costa Rica Alajuelense El Salvador
Bolsonello 6' 56' González
89' Miso
  • Alajuelense won 6–3 on aggregated.
Árabe Unido Panama v Nicaragua Real Estelí
15 March 1996 1st leg Árabe Unido Panama 1–1 Nicaragua Real Estelí Panama
Clarke 58' 35' (pen.) Oliva
Real Estelí Nicaragua v Panama Árabe Unido
17 March 1996 2nd leg Real Estelí Nicaragua 0–1 Panama Árabe Unido Panama
74' Chiari
  • Árabe Unido won 2–1 on aggregated.
La Victoria Belize v Honduras Victoria
17 March 1996 1st leg La Victoria Belize 1–3 Honduras Victoria Belize
Victoria Honduras v Belize La Victoria
14 April 1996 2nd leg Victoria Honduras 4–2 Belize La Victoria Honduras
  • Victoria won 7–3 on aggregated.

Second Round
Alajuelense on bye to the Fourth round.

Victoria Honduras v Panama Árabe Unido
16 June 1996 1st leg Victoria Honduras 1–0 Panama Árabe Unido Honduras
Árabe Unido Panama v Honduras Victoria
18 June 1996 2nd leg Árabe Unido Panama 2–2 Honduras Victoria Colon, Panama
Abdul Chiari
Carlos Brown		 Renán Aguilera x2 Stadium: Roberto Mariano Bula Stadium
  • Victoria won 3–2 on aggregated.

Third Round

Victoria Honduras v Mexico Cruz Azul
23 October 1996 1st leg Victoria Honduras 1–0 Mexico Cruz Azul Honduras
Aguilera 32'
Cruz Azul Mexico v Honduras Victoria
5 November 1996 2nd leg Cruz Azul Mexico 2–0 Honduras Victoria Mexico
de Oliveira 45'
Zamora 87'
  • Cruz Azul won 2–1 on aggregated.

Fourth Round

Alajuelense Costa Rica v Mexico Cruz Azul
4 January 1997 1st leg Alajuelense Costa Rica 0–2 Mexico Cruz Azul Costa Rica
5' Hermosillo
75' Reynoso
Cruz Azul Mexico v Costa Rica Alajuelense
8 January 1997 2nd leg Cruz Azul Mexico 3–2 Costa Rica Alajuelense Mexico
Hermosillo 42' 58'
Verdirame 54'		 66' 73' Ledesma
  • Cruz Azul won 5–2 on aggregated.

Group 2

First Round

  • Necaxa on bye to second round.

Second Round

Saprissa Costa Rica v Mexico Necaxa
15 September 1996 Saprissa Costa Rica 2–2 Mexico Necaxa San José, Costa Rica
González 6' 79' 10' (pen.) Aguinaga
16' Zárate		 Stadium: Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá
Necaxa Mexico v Costa Rica Saprissa
7 January 1997 Necaxa Mexico 2–1
(4–3 agg.)		 Costa Rica 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.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
CSD Comunicaciones Guatemala 6–0 Panama Cosmos 4–0 2–0
C.S.D. Sacachispas Guatemala 5–3 Nicaragua Juventus Managua 3–1 2–2
  • Belize Juventus F.C. on bye, to the second round.
CSD Comunicaciones Guatemala v Panama Cosmos
CSD Comunicaciones Guatemala 4–0 Panama Cosmos
Cosmos Panama v Guatemala CSD Comunicaciones
Cosmos Panama 0–2
(0-6 agg.)		 Guatemala CSD Comunicaciones
C.S.D. Sacachispas Guatemala v Nicaragua Juventus Managua
March 21, 1996 C.S.D. Sacachispas Guatemala 3–1 Nicaragua Juventus Managua
Gustavo Benzano
Lucio Catarino Da Silva
Araeli López		 Ivan Bravo

Second Round

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
CSD Comunicaciones Guatemala 5–1 Guatemala C.S.D. Sacachispas 2–1 3–0
  • Belize Juventus F.C. on bye, to the third round.

Third Round

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Juventus Belize 1–8 Guatemala CSD Comunicaciones 1–1 0–7
  • CSD Comunicaciones advance to the Final Group stage.
Juventus Belize v Guatemala CSD Comunicaciones
Juventus Belize 1–1 Guatemala CSD Comunicaciones
CSD Comunicaciones Guatemala v Belize Juventus
CSD Comunicaciones Guatemala 7–0
(8–1 agg.)		 Belize Juventus

Caribbean Zone

First round

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
US Sinnamary French Guiana w/o* Suriname SV Prakash 0–0
SV Transvaal Suriname w/o** Guadeloupe Red Star (Pointe-à-Pitre)
  • US Sinnamary withdrew after 1st leg*
  • Red Star withdrew before 1st leg**

Second round

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
SV Transvaal Suriname 1–0 Suriname SV Prakash 0–0 1–0
  • SV Transvaal advance to the USA/Caribbean playoff.

U.S./Caribbean Playoff

Team 1  Score  Team 2
Seattle Sounders United States 10–0 Suriname SV Transvaal
  • Seattle Sounders advance to the Final Group stage.[2]
Seattle Sounders United States v Suriname SV Transvaal
17 June 1997 Seattle Sounders United States 10–0 Suriname SV Transvaal Federal Way, Washington
7:30 p.m. PDT
  • Adair 2', 15', 79'
  • Gailey 32', 38'
  • Megson 42'
  • Gelvezon 49'
  • Crothers 70'
  • Barton 73', 82'
 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 Mexico Cruz Azul 3 2 1 0 14 2 +12 7
2 Mexico Necaxa 3 1 2 0 8 5 +3 5
3 Guatemala Comunicaciones 3 1 1 1 6 5 +1 4
4 United States Seattle Sounders 3 0 0 3 1 17 −16 0
Source: [citation needed]

Matches

All the games played in Guatemala City:

1996 CONCACAF Champions' Cup Final Stage
Round 1
Comunicaciones Guatemala2–0United States Seattle Sounders
Nicolás Suazo 44'
José Fernández 83'
Round 1
Necaxa Mexico1–1Mexico Cruz Azul
Pavón 14' Hermosillo 48'
Round 2
Seattle Sounders United States1–4Mexico Necaxa
Hattrup 91' (p) Almaguer 32'
Blanco 47', 89'
Vásquez 75'
Round 2
Comunicaciones Guatemala1–2Mexico Cruz Azul
Núñez 90' Adomaitis 33' (37)
Round 3
Comunicaciones Guatemala3–3Mexico Necaxa
Rodas 24', 48'
Núñez 32'		 Pineda 47' (p)
Pavón 60'
Montes de Oca 70'
Round 3
Seattle Sounders United States0–11Mexico Cruz Azul
Palencia 3'
Hermosillo 13', 32', 49'
Yegros 15', 53', 62'
Adomaitis 34'
Galindo 35'
Barton 72' (o.g.)
Ramírez 74' (p)

Champion

CONCACAF Champions' Cup
1996 Winners
Mexico
Cruz Azul
4th title

References

  1. ^ Copa de Campeones 1996 on the RSSSF
  2. ^ 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.