| Season | 1996 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Sporting Cristal 13th Primera División title |
| Runner up | Alianza Lima |
| Relegated | Aurich–Cañaña Ciclista Lima Guardia Republicana San Agustín |
| Copa Libertadores | Sporting Cristal Alianza Lima |
| Copa CONMEBOL | Universitario |
| Top goalscorer | Waldir Sáenz (19) |
← 1995 1997 → | |
The 1996 Torneo Descentralizado was the 81st season of the top category of Peruvian football. A total of 16 teams competed in the tournament. Sporting Cristal won its 13th first division title, completing a string of 3 consecutive titles starting in 1994. The feat is known as a tricampeonato and was previously accomplished only by Alianza Lima.
| Promoted from 1995 Segunda División | Promoted from 1995 Copa Perú | Relegated from 1995 Primera División |
|---|---|---|
| Team | City | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alianza Atlético | Sullana | Campeones del 36 | 8,000 |
| Alianza Lima | Lima | Alejandro Villanueva | 35,000 |
| Atlético Torino | Talara | Campeonísimo | 8,000 |
| Aurich–Cañaña | Chiclayo | Elías Aguirre | 24,500 |
| Ciclista Lima | Lima | Nacional | 45,750 |
| Cienciano | Cusco | Garcilaso | 42,056 |
| Deportivo Municipal | Lima | Nacional | 45,750 |
| Deportivo Pesquero | Chimbote | Manuel Gómez Arellano | 25,000 |
| Guardia Republicana | Lima | Nacional | 45,750 |
| La Loretana | Pucallpa | Aliardo Soria | 15,000 |
| Melgar | Arequipa | Mariano Melgar | 20,000 |
| San Agustín | Lima | Nacional | 45,750 |
| Sport Boys | Callao | Miguel Grau | 18,000 |
| Sporting Cristal | Lima | San Martín de Porres | 15,000 |
| Unión Minas | Cerro de Pasco | Daniel Alcides Carrión | 8,000 |
| Universitario | Lima | Nacional | 45,750 |
The first stage of the season was played as a double round-robin tournament. Sporting Cristal as champions qualified for the 1997 Copa Libertadores. Alianza Lima directly advanced to the end-of-season Liguilla and received a bonus point for placing second. The teams that placed 3 to 8 advanced to a preliminary round.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sporting Cristal (C) | 30 | 22 | 3 | 5 | 73 | 26 | +47 | 69 | 1997 Copa Libertadores |
| 2 | Alianza Lima | 30 | 17 | 9 | 4 | 68 | 23 | +45 | 60 | Liguilla Pre-Libertadores with 1 bonus point |
| 3 | Universitario | 30 | 16 | 10 | 4 | 39 | 20 | +19 | 58 | Pre-Liguilla |
| 4 | Sport Boys | 30 | 13 | 14 | 3 | 49 | 26 | +23 | 53 | |
| 5 | Atlético Torino | 30 | 14 | 7 | 9 | 33 | 33 | 0 | 49 | |
| 6 | Cienciano | 30 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 32 | 36 | −4 | 41 | |
| 7 | Deportivo Pesquero | 30 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 27 | 33 | −6 | 37 | |
| 8 | Unión Minas | 30 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 35 | 42 | −7 | 37 | |
| 9 | Deportivo Municipal | 30 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 44 | 57 | −13 | 37 | |
| 10 | La Loretana | 30 | 11 | 4 | 15 | 39 | 59 | −20 | 37 | |
| 11 | Melgar | 30 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 36 | 35 | +1 | 36 | |
| 12 | Alianza Atlético | 30 | 10 | 6 | 14 | 40 | 51 | −11 | 36 | |
| 13 | Aurich–Cañaña (R) | 30 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 30 | 37 | −7 | 33 | 1997 Copa Perú |
| 14 | Ciclista Lima (R) | 30 | 6 | 11 | 13 | 36 | 51 | −15 | 29 | 1997 Segunda División |
| 15 | Guardia Republicana (R) | 30 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 30 | 45 | −15 | 29 | |
| 16 | San Agustín (R) | 30 | 4 | 4 | 22 | 27 | 62 | −35 | 16 |
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unión Minas | 0–3 | Universitario | 0–0 | 0–3 |
| Deportivo Pesquero | 3–1 | Sport Boys | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| Cienciano | 5–2 | Atletico Torino | 5–1 | 0–1 |
Universitario, Deportivo Pesquero, and Cienciano qualified for the Liguilla. [1]
All matches were played in Lima.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation | ALI | UNI | PES | CIE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alianza Lima | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 | +6 | 8 [a] | 1997 Copa Libertadores | 4–1 | 4–1 | |||
| 2 | Universitario | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 | +6 | 7 | 1997 Copa CONMEBOL | 0–0 | 5–0 | |||
| 3 | Deportivo Pesquero | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 9 | −4 | 1 | 2–3 | |||||
| 4 | Cienciano | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 11 | −8 | 1 | 2–2 |