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 PR
|
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 16 |
| Goals scored | 52 (3.25 per match) |
| Best player |
Hege Riise
|
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.
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.
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