The 1996 Davis Cup World Group qualifying round was held from 20 to 22 September. They were the main play-offs of the 1996 Davis Cup. The winners of the playoffs advanced to the 1997 Davis Cup World Group, and the losers were relegated to their respective Zonal Regions I.

Bold indicates team had qualified for the 1997 Davis Cup World Group.

Date: 20–22 September

The eight losing teams in the World Group first round ties and eight winners of the Zonal Group I final round ties competed in the World Group qualifying round for spots in the 1997 World Group.

Home team	Score	Visiting team	Location	Venue	Door	Surface	Ref.
Mexico	3–2	Argentina	Mexico City	Club Alemán de México	Outdoor	Hard	[1]
Croatia	1–4	Australia	Split	Teniski klub Split	Outdoor	Clay	[2]
Brazil	4–1	Austria	São Paulo	Hotel Transamérica	Indoor	Carpet	[3]
Romania	3–2	Belgium	Bucharest	Arenele BNR	Outdoor	Clay	[4]
Spain	4–1	Denmark	Tarragona	Club de Tennis Tarragona	Outdoor	Clay	[5]
Russia	4–1	Hungary	Moscow	Olympic Stadium	Indoor	Carpet	[6]
Switzerland	5–0	Morocco	Olten	Olten Hallenstadion	Indoor	Carpet	[7]
Netherlands	4–1	New Zealand	Haarlem	Sportclub Haarlem	Outdoor	Hard	[8]

•  Mexico,  Netherlands,  Russia and   Switzerland remain in the World Group in 1997.
•  Australia,  Brazil,  Romania and  Spain are promoted to the World Group in 1997.
•  Argentina,  Croatia,  Morocco and  New Zealand remain in Zonal Group I in 1997.
•  Austria,  Belgium,  Denmark and  Hungary are relegated to Zonal Group I in 1997.

Mexico 3	Club Alemán de México, Mexico City, Mexico[1] 20–22 September 1996 Hard		Argentina 2
1 2 3 4 5 1 Alejandro Hernández Gastón Etlis 77 65 6 2 6 4       2 Leonardo Lavalle Hernán Gumy 65 77 4 6 6 4 7 5 5 7   3 Alejandro Hernández / Óscar Ortiz Pablo Albano / Luis Lobo 65 77 6 4 3 6 77 62 6 4   4 Alejandro Hernández Hernán Gumy 6 4 7 5 6 1       5 Leonardo Lavalle Gastón Etlis 3 6 6 3       retired

Croatia 1	Teniski klub Split, Split, Croatia[2] 20–22 September 1996 Clay		Australia 4
1 2 3 4 5 1 Saša Hiršzon Mark Philippoussis 2 6 3 6 2 6       2 Goran Ivanišević Jason Stoltenberg 6 4 3 6 6 3 65 77 2 6   3 Saša Hiršzon / Goran Ivanišević Pat Rafter / Mark Woodforde 3 6 2 6 4 6       4 Goran Orešić Mark Philippoussis 1 6 4 6         5 Saša Hiršzon Jason Stoltenberg 6 2 6 2

Brazil 4	Hotel Transamérica, São Paulo, Brazil[3] 20–22 September 1996 Carpet (indoors)		Austria 1
1 2 3 4 5 1 Fernando Meligeni Thomas Muster 3 6 3 6 3 6       2 Gustavo Kuerten Markus Hipfl 4 6 3 6 77 60 77 65 6 1   3 Gustavo Kuerten / Jaime Oncins Thomas Muster / Udo Plamberger 77 62 4 6 6 3 3 6 2 0   4 Gustavo Kuerten Udo Plamberger           w/o   5 Fernando Meligeni Markus Hipfl           w/o

Romania 3	Arenele BNR, Bucharest, Romania[4] 20–22 September 1996 Clay		Belgium 2
1 2 3 4 5 1 Adrian Voinea Johan Van Herck 78 66 4 6 2 6 1 6     2 Andrei Pavel Filip Dewulf 6 1 6 3 6 2       3 George Cosac / Dinu Pescariu Filip Dewulf / Libor Pimek 6 4 0 6 2 6 4 6     4 Adrian Voinea Filip Dewulf 6 0 6 0 6 2       5 Andrei Pavel Johan Van Herck 6 3 6 4 6 3

Spain 4	Club de Tennis Tarragona, Tarragona, Spain[5] 20–22 September 1996 Clay		Denmark 1
1 2 3 4 5 1 Albert Costa Frederik Fetterlein 6 0 6 0 6 2       2 Carlos Moyá Kenneth Carlsen 6 1 6 2 6 1       3 Tomás Carbonell / Àlex Corretja Kenneth Carlsen / Frederik Fetterlein 6 4 7 5 4 6 5 7 6 3   4 Albert Costa Kenneth Carlsen 6 3 5 7 3 6       5 Carlos Moyá Thomas Larsen 6 3 6 4

Russia 4	Olympic Stadium, Moscow, Russia[6] 20–22 September 1996 Carpet (indoors)		Hungary 1
1 2 3 4 5 1 Yevgeny Kafelnikov Attila Sávolt 7 5 3 6 6 3 6 4     2 Andrei Chesnokov József Krocskó 6 2 6 2 6 2       3 Yevgeny Kafelnikov / Andrei Olhovskiy Gábor Köves / Sándor Noszály 77 62 6 3 6 1       4 Yevgeny Kafelnikov József Krocskó 6 0 6 3         5 Andrei Chesnokov Attila Sávolt 3 6 2 6

Switzerland 5	Olten Hallenstadion, Olten, Switzerland[7] 20–22 September 1996 Carpet (indoors)		Morocco 0
1 2 3 4 5 1 Jakob Hlasek Mehdi Tahiri 0 6 6 3 6 2 7 5     2 Marc Rosset Mounir El Aarej 6 0 6 1 6 3       3 Jakob Hlasek / Marc Rosset Mounir El Aarej / Mehdi Tahiri 6 2 6 2 6 0       4 Marc Rosset Mehdi Tahiri 3 6 6 3 6 1       5 Jakob Hlasek Larbi Rharnit 6 0 6 1

Netherlands 4	Sportclub Haarlem, Haarlem, Netherlands[8] 20–22 September 1996 Hard		New Zealand 1
1 2 3 4 5 1 Jan Siemerink Brett Steven 64 77 77 62 6 3 3 6 6 2   2 Richard Krajicek Alistair Hunt 65 77 6 3 6 4 1 4   retired   3 Sjeng Schalken / Jan Siemerink Alistair Hunt / Brett Steven 3 6 78 66 6 4 6 2     4 Sjeng Schalken James Greenhalgh 7 5 6 1 65 77 6 1     5 Dennis van Scheppingen Alistair Hunt 3 6 6 3 78 66

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