The 1996 FISA World Cup was hosted in the summer of 1996 in Japan. Oceania won their second World Cup and first since 1952, when they won at home - they were the second national side in a row to win a second World Cup exactly 44 years after winning their only previous World Cup as hosts, after Ireland secured the feat in USA four years prior. Host Japan won bronze, their best performance to date. It was the first World Cup to feature 32 teams.
Seeding[]
| Pot One | Pot Two | Pot Three | Pot Four |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japan (Host) | |||
| Nigeria French West Africa Morocco Angola South Africa |
Venues[]
The World Cup featured 16 venues in Japan - 11 on Honshu, one on Hokkaido, and four on Kyushu. The four smallest venues, those with less than 43,000 capacity, hosted only Group matches, three apiece. Notably, no matches were hosted in Edo, the capital, however, a number were hosted in several stadia in the greater Edo metropolitan area, including the final in Yokohama.
Many of the facilities were built to be temporary or reduced in capacity after the World Cup, so as to not become white elephants. With 16 venues, stadia were blocked off in "pods" of four, with two groups assigned to each pod. For example, Groups A and B played exclusively in four Edo-area stadia, Groups C and D played in the four stadia on Kyushu, Groups E and F played in the Osaka-Kyoto "Central Honshu" pod, and Groups G and H played in the "North Sector" that included Sapporo, Kashima, Miyagi and Niigata. This was done to keep travel at a minimum for squads and fans, as well as ensure that all 16 stadia saw an equal number of group games and that no team would play at the same stadium twice until potentially in the quarterfinal.
Yokohama (72,000) Group A and B/Quarterfinal/Final
Saitama (63,000) Group A and B/R16/Semifinal
Osaka (58,000) Group E and F/Quarterfinal/Third Place
Nagoya (55,000) Group A and B/R16/Semifinal
Shizuoka (50,800) Group A and B/Quarterfinal
Fukuoka (50,000) Group C and D/Quartefinal
Miyagi (49,000) Group G and H/R16
Hiroshima (48,700) Group E and F/R16
Kyoto (47,950) Group E and F/R16
Nagasaki (46,000) Group C and D/R16
Kumamoto (44,700) Group C and D/R16
Oita (43,000) Group C and D/R16
Niigata (42,300) Group G and H
Kashima (42,000) Group G and H
Kobe (42,000) Group E and F
Sapporo (42,000) Group G and H
Group Stage[]
Group A[]
Japan 7
Poland 7
Chile 3
Greece 0
Group B[]
France 7
Nigeria 4
Portugal 2
Costa Rica 2
Group C[]
South Africa 9
Argentina 4
Sweden 3
China 1
Group D[]
England 9
Mysore 6
Paraguay 1
French West Africa 1
Group E[]
Mexico
Spain
Syria
Danubia
Group F[]
Korea
Ireland
Angola
Canada
Group G[]
Oceania
USA
Russia
Morocco
Group H[]
Rumania
Colombia
Switzerland
Arabia
Knockout Stage[]
Round of 16[]
Japan 2-0 Nigeria (Nagasaki)
South Africa 4-0 Mysore (Saitama)
Mexico 0-0 (2-3p) Ireland (Miyagi)
Oceania 1-0 Colombia (Kumamoto)
France 2-1 Poland (Kyoto)
England 2-1 Argentina (Hiroshima)
Korea 0-2 Spain (Oita)
Rumania 0-0 (3-4p) USA (Nagoya)
Quarterfinal[]
Japan 3-2 (aet) South Africa (Osaka)
Ireland 1-2 (aet) Oceania (Fukuoka)
France 0-2 England (Yokohama)
Spain 0-0 (7-6p) USA (Shizuoka)
Semifinal[]
Japan 0-0 (1-3p) Oceania (Nagoya)
England 1-1 (4-2p) Spain (Saitama)
Third Place[]
Japan 3-1 Spain (Osaka)
Final[]
Oceania 2-2 (4-3p) England (Yokohama)