| Competition: | Latvian Higher League |
| Season: | 1996 |
| Winners: | Skonto FC |
| Relegated: | Skonto/Metals FK Jurnieks |
| Continentalcup1: | UEFA Champions League |
| Continentalcup1 Qualifiers: | Skonto FC |
| Continentalcup2: | UEFA Cup |
| Continentalcup3: | Cup Winners' Cup |
| Continentalcup4: | UEFA Intertoto Cup |
| Continentalcup4 Qualifiers: | RAF Jelgava |
| League Topscorer: |  Mihails Miholaps (33 goals) |
| Prevseason: | 1995 |
| Nextseason: | 1997 |
The 1996 season in the Latvian Higher League, named Virslīga, was the sixth domestic competition since the Baltic nation gained independence from the Soviet Union on 6 September 1991. Tenth teams competed in this edition, with Skonto FC claiming the title.
The matches were played on 29 October and 3 November 1996.|}
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FK Daugava Rīga | 33 | ||
| 2 | Skonto FC | 17 | ||
| 3 | Skonto FC | 16 | ||
| Dinaburg FC | ||||
| 5 | Dinaburg FC | 13 |
| Best | Name | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper | Skonto FC | ||
| Defender | Skonto FC | ||
| Midfielder | Skonto FC | ||
| Forward | FK Daugava Rīga |
| Pos | Name | Birthdate | P | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MF | Vitālijs Astafjevs | 03.04.1971 | 18 | 12 | 1 | - |
| MF | Vladimirs Babičevs | 22.04.1968 | 25 | 16 | 3 | - |
| - |  Vladlen Bausev | 03.03.1967 | 10 | 3 | - | - |
| DF | Oļegs Blagonadeždins | 16.05.1973 | 23 | 1 | - | - |
| MF | Imants Bleidelis | 16.08.1975 | 20 | 3 | - | - |
| - | Konstantin Ivanov | 10.05.1964 | 6 | - | - | - |
| MF | Valērijs Ivanovs | 23.02.1970 | 27 | 3 | 2 | - |
| FW | Aleksandrs Jelisejevs | 11.08.1971 | 15 | 10 | 1 | - |
| GK | Aleksandrs Koļiņko | 18.06.1975 | 9 | –3 | 1 | - |
| GK | Raimonds Laizāns | 05.08.1964 | 19 | –9 | 1 | - |
| - | Vsevolods Līdaks | 22.10.1977 | 6 | 1 | - | - |
| - | Valentins Lobaņovs | 23.10.1971 | 19 | 3 | 2 | - |
| DF | Boriss Monjaks | 11.04.1970 | 10 | - | - | - |
| FW | Marians Pahars | 05.08.1976 | 28 | 12 | 2 | - |
| - |  Aleksandr Pindejev | 03.03.1971 | 26 | 17 | 5 | - |
| - | Igors Stepanovs | 21.01.1976 | 22 | 2 | 3 | - |
| DF | Jurijs Ševļakovs | 24.01.1959 | 24 | 1 | 5 | - |
| FW | Andrejs Štolcers | 08.07.1974 | 26 | 6 | 3 | - |
| DF | Igors Troickis | 11.01.1969 | 26 | 3 | 4 | - |
| DF | Mihails Zemļinskis | 21.12.1969 | 24 | 4 | 3 | - |
| Manager: Aleksandrs Starkovs |