The 1996 AFF Championship, sponsored by Asia Pacific Breweries and officially known as the 1996 Tiger Cup, was the inaugural edition of the AFF Championship. It was hosted by Singapore from 1 to 15 September 1996 with all 10 nations of Southeast Asia taking part, four of which were invitees.

All six founding members of the ASEAN Football Federation are participants, with remain Southeast Asian nations joining as invitees as they were not yet members of the AFF at this time.

Two Singaporeans and one Malaysian were arrested for attempting to fix a group stage game between Singapore and the Philippines. The three reportedly tried to bribe Filipino defender Judy Saluria for his side to concede seven goals so that Singapore can advance to the next round.

This table will show the ranking of teams throughout the tournament.