The World Group was the highest level of

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...

competition in 1996. The first-round losers went into the Davis Cup World Group qualifying round, and the winners progressed to the quarterfinals and were guaranteed a World Group spot for

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

. The United States were the defending champions, but were eliminated in the quarterfinals. France won the title, defeating

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

in the final, 3–2. The final was held at the

Malmö Isstadion Malmö Isstadion (Malmö Ice Stadium) is an indoor sports arena located in the Stadionområdet area of Malmö, Sweden. The capacity of the arena is 5,800 and it was built in 1968. It is the former home arena of the Malmö Redhawks ice hockey te ...

in Malmö,

, from 29 November to 1 December. It was the French team's 8th Davis Cup title overall.

Participating teams

Draw

First round

Italy vs. Russia

South Africa vs. Austria

Switzerland vs. Germany

France vs. Denmark

India vs. Netherlands

Sweden vs. Belgium

Czech Republic vs. Hungary

United States vs. Mexico

Quarterfinals

Italy vs. South Africa

France vs. Germany

India vs. Sweden

Czech Republic vs. United States

Semifinals

France vs. Italy

Czech Republic vs. Sweden

Final

Sweden vs. France

References

External links

Davis Cup official website
{{1996 ATP Tour World Group Davis Cup World Group