The following are the association football events of the year 1996 throughout the world.

• Copa Libertadores 1996: Won by River Plate after defeating América de Cali 2–1 on aggregate.
• UEFA Euro 1996: Germany defeats the Czech Republic 2–1 with a golden goal from Oliver Bierhoff at Wembley Stadium.
• The UEFA Regions' Cup is founded for amateur teams in Europe to have an international tournament.
• February 7 – Logi Ólafsson makes his debut as the manager of Iceland with a 1–7 loss against Slovenia.
• March 3 – Dutch club NEC fires Wim Koevermans and appoints former coach Leen Looyen as his successor.
• April 6 – Major League Soccer kicks-off: an overflow crowd of 31,683 packed Spartan Stadium to witness the historic first match. San Jose Clash forward Eric Wynalda scored the league's first goal in a 1–0 victory over D.C. United.
• May 11 – Manchester United wins 1–0 over Liverpool to claim the FA Cup. United becomes the first team to win the English League and Cup Double twice.
• May 16 – PSV claims the KNVB Cup after defeating Sparta Rotterdam at De Kuip, 5–2.
• August 18 – PSV wins the Johan Cruyff Shield, the annual opening of the new season in the Eredivisie, following a 3–0 win over Ajax.
• August 27 – Manager Alan Ball is fired by Manchester City and succeeded by Steve Coppell.
• October 9 – Manager Huub Stevens leaves Roda JC. He is replaced by interim-coach Eddy Achterberg, and later by Martin Jol.
• November 8 – Phil Neal replaces Manchester City manager Steve Coppell as caretaker, to be succeeded by Frank Clark on December 29.
• November 26 – Juventus wins the Intercontinental Cup in Tokyo after defeating Argentina's River Plate 1–0. The match's only goal is scored by Alessandro 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 in South Africa (January 13 – February 3, 1996)
  1.  South Africa
  2.  Tunisia
  3.  Zambia
• UEFA European Football Championship in England (June 8 – 30 1996)
  1.  Germany
  2.  Czech Republic
  3. —
• Baltic Cup in Narva, Estonia (July 7 – 9 1996)
  1.  Lithuania
  2.  Estonia
  3.  Latvia
• Olympic Games in Atlanta, 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

• 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:
  • Christian Heinrich, German footballer^[3]
  • Emil Łupiński, Polish professional footballer^[4]
• 14 January: Jordi Malela, Belgian professional footballer^[5]
• 15 January: Ebou Adams, Gambian footballer
• 18 January: Davide Mansi, Italian footballer^[6]
• 19 January: Niels De Pauw, Belgian footballer^[7]
• 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^[8]

• 2 February:
  • Gulfran Támara, Colombian footballer^[9]
  • Harry Winks, English footballer
• 4 February: Nicolas Eiter, German footballer^[10]
• 8 February: Federico Tabeira, professional Uruguayan footballer^[11]
• 11 February:
  • Vicente Gatica, Chilean footballer^[12]
  • Jonathan Tah, German footballer
  • Lucas Torreira, Uruguayan footballer
  • Andrei Trifan, former Moldovan footballer^[13]
• 12 February: Yesin Ben Mohamadi, Dutch footballer^[14]
• 14 February:
  • Lucas Hernandez, French footballer
  • Viktor Kovalenko, Ukrainian footballer
• 20 February: Nick Zeijlmans, Dutch footballer^[15]
• 28 February: Danilo Barbosa, Brazilian footballer

• 3 March: Simone Solinas, Italian footballer^[16]
• 4 March:
  • Timo Baumgartl, German footballer
  • Antonio Sanabria, Paraguayan footballer
• 6 March: Timo Werner, German footballer
• 7 March: Quentin Martin, French professional footballer^[17]
• 15 March: Levin Öztunalı, German footballer
• 19 March: Birkan Öksüz, Turkish professional footballer^[18]
• 21 March: Klara Grahn, Swedish footballer^[19]
• 24 March: Valentino Lazaro, Austrian footballer
• 26 March:
  • Brian Koopman, Dutch footballer^[20]
  • Ivan Smetanin, Russian footballer^[21]
• 28 March: Benjamin Pavard, French footballer
• 31 March: Muhammed Conteh, Gambian international footballer^[22]

• 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^[23]
• 20 April: Ahmed-Tobias Andrä, Austrial footballer^[24]
• 29 April: Gustav Engvall, Swedish footballer

• 1 May: Nicolas Mohr, Austrian footballer^[25]
• 2 May: Julian Brandt, German footballer
• 3 May: Alex Iwobi, Nigerian footballer
• 5 May: Matheus Pereira, Brazilian footballer
• 9 May: Demen Roumen, Dutch footballer^[26]
• 11 May: Andrés Cubas, Argentine-born Paraguayan footballer
• 16 May: Mustapha Njie, Gambian footballer^[27]
• 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^[28]
• 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^[29]
• 28 June
  • Demarai Gray, Jamaican footballer
  • Philipp Knechtel, German footballer^[30]
  • Milot Rashica, Kosovar footballer
• 29 June
  • Bart Ramselaar, Dutch international footballer
  • Regild Zeneli, Albanian professional footballer^[31]

• 1 July: Diego Di Cecco, Italian footballer^[32]
• 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^[33]
  • Dzhamaldin Khodzhaniyazov, Russian footballer
  • Siebe Schrijvers, Belgian footballer
• 22 July: Indy Groothuizen, Dutch footballer
• 26 July: Thomas Hooyberghs, Belgian professional footballer^[34]

• 7 August: Dani Ceballos, Spanish footballer
• 12 August: Arthur, Brazilian footballer
• 14 August: Neal Maupay, French footballer
• 18 August: Kyrylo Demidov, Ukrainian footballer^[35]
• 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^[36]
• 30 August: Gabriel Barbosa, Brazilian footballer

• 1 September: Robby Ndefe, Dutch-Angolan professional footballer^[37]
• 5 September: Richairo Zivkovic, Dutch footballer
• 9 September: Nadejda Vasilică, Moldovan footballer^[38]
• 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^[39]
  • Santiago Vega, Uruguayan footballer^[40]
• 27 September:
  • Maxwel Cornet, French-Ivorian footballer
  • Justin Mulder, Dutch footballer^[41]

• 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^[42]
  • Michael Krabler, German footballer
• 26 October: Timotej Královič, Slovak footballer^[43]
• 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^[44]

• 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 the 1950 FIFA World Cup. (73)
• May 16 – Danilo Alvim, Brazilian midfielder, runner up at the 1950 FIFA World Cup. (75)

• August 2 – Obdulio Varela, Uruguayan midfielder, winner as captain of the 1950 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 the 1938 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 the 1957 South American Championship. (68)

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