1996 Algarve Cup

1996 Algarve Cup

Tournament details
Host country	Portugal
Teams	8 (from 2 confederations)
Venue(s)	8
Final positions
Champions	Norway (2nd title)
Runners-up	Sweden
Third place	China
Tournament statistics
Matches played	16
Goals scored	52 (3.25 per match)
Best player(s)	Hege Riise
← 1995 1997 →

The 1996 Algarve Cup was the third edition of the Algarve Cup, an invitational women's association football tournament. It took place between 11 and 17 March 1996 in Portugal with Norway winning the event for the second time in its history, defeating Sweden, 4-0 in the final-game.

Format

China, Iceland and Russia were all invited to appear in the Algarve Cup for the first time replacing Italy, the Netherlands and the United States. China became the first team to compete in the tournament representing the Asian Football Confederation.

The eight invited teams were split into two groups that played a round-robin tournament. On completion of this, the fourth placed teams in each group would play each other to determine seventh and eighth place, the third placed teams in each group would play each other to decide fifth and sixth place, the second placed teams in each group would play to determine third and fourth place and the winners of each group would compete for first and second place overall.

Points awarded in the group stage followed the standard formula of three points for a win, one point for a draw and zero points for a loss.

Group A

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Norway	9	3	3	0	0	10	1	+9
China	6	3	2	0	1	7	4	+3
Russia	3	3	1	0	2	2	5	−3
Portugal	0	3	0	0	3	1	10	−9

March 11, 1996

Norway	4–1	China

Silves

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March 11, 1996

Russia	2–1	Portugal

Silves

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March 13, 1996

Norway	3–0	Portugal

Vila Real de Santo António

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March 13, 1996

China	1–0	Russia

Vila Real de Santo António

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March 15, 1996

Norway	3–0	Russia

Quarteira

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March 15, 1996

China	5–0	Portugal

Quarteira

Group B

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Sweden	9	3	3	0	0	10	1	+9
Denmark	6	3	2	0	1	6	2	+4
Iceland	3	3	1	0	2	3	5	−2
Finland	0	3	0	0	3	1	12	−11

March 11, 1996

Sweden	2–1	Denmark
Swedberg Sundhage	SvFF Report (in Swedish)	Jensen

Lagos

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March 11, 1996

Iceland	3–1	Finland

Lagos

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March 13, 1996

Sweden	7–0	Finland
Andersson Pohjanen Bengtsson	SvFF Report (in Swedish)

Portimão

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March 13, 1996

Denmark	3–0	Iceland

Portimão

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March 15, 1996

Sweden	1–0	Iceland
Andersson	SvFF Report (in Swedish)

Olhão

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March 15, 1996

Denmark	2–0	Finland

Olhão

Seventh Place

March 17, 1996

Portugal	3–0	Finland
Couto Xavier Sequeira

Montechoro, Albufeira

Portugal finished bottom of their group for the third year in a row but defeated Finland 3–0 to finish seventh in the final overall standings.

Fifth Place

March 17, 1996

Russia	1–1 asdet (3–2) (PSO)	Iceland
Bosikova		Ólafsdóttir

Vila Real de Santo António

Russia and Iceland faced each other in the fifth place deciding match and with the score level after normal time and an added period of sudden death extra-time, contested the outcome with a penalty shootout. Russia won this 3–2.

Third Place

March 17, 1996

China	2–1	Denmark
Qingmei Own goal		Petersen

Algarve

China reached the third place play-off in their first appearance at the Algarve Cup and defeated Denmark to take the bronze medal.

Final

March 17, 1996

Norway	4–0	Sweden
8' 83' Aarønes 36' 71' Pettersen	SvFF Report (in Swedish)

Quarteira

An all Scandinavian final saw 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup winners Norway beat Sweden 4–0 and become champions for the second time in the competition's history.

Awards

1996 Algarve Cup
Norway Second title

Best player
Hege Riise

External links

• 1996 Algarve Cup on RSSSF