Mumbai: For the duration of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, an 87,000+ venue will be known as the Mexico City Stadium. No amount of sponsorship obligations, however, can hide the vast historical footballing significance of the Estadio Azteca, the largest football stadium in Latin America.
Already, the stadium already holds the unique honour of being the first venue to host the opening match of three men’s FIFA World Cups. That however, remains just a number when compared to the major milestones that have taken place on its hallowed turf.
This was the place a World Cup match was first televised in colour, the place where Pele won his third title and Diego Maradona his first. It was the place where the Hand of God and Goal of the Century occurred. The place that marked the first World Cup to take place outside of South America and Europe.
“There’s just something very special about the Azteca,” the great Pelé once told FIFA. “You need to be inside it, to feel it, to understand. It’s unique.”
For the Mexican football team, it has been a place of good fortune. Only twice in 17 World Cup appearances prior to this edition has Mexico reached the quarter-final of the competition – on both occasions, it was as hosts. The only World Cup knockout match Mexico has won came in the 1986 Round of 16 when they beat Bulgaria 2-0 (the 1970 World Cup knockout round began in the quarter-final).
They have never lost a World Cup match at Estadio Azteca. And as the team beat South Korea 1-0 in Guadalajara on Thursday, days after their 2-0 win over South Africa in the tournament opener in the capital, the co-hosts of the competition have ensured they will play their Round of 32 match at a stadium widely considered the Mecca of North American football.
That choice of venue might be the shot in the arm El Tri needs to break an unwanted streak. Mexico has now played 62 World Cup matches and is the only team to have played that many games without reaching at least the semi-final.
From the 1994 World Cup to the one in Russia in 2018, Mexico remained consistent in progressing from the group stage while making a defeat in the Round of 16 just as predictable. The failure to even reach the knockout round in 2022 came as a rude awakening, and the federation sacked two coaches before bringing in a familiar face.
Javier Aguirre had coached the team to the World Cup in 2002 and 2010. More importantly, he was part of the Class of 1986 – one of 44 Mexican players to have played in a World Cup quarter-final (squad sizes were increased to 23 from the 2002 edition).
Yet not even Aguirre has managed to muster much faith from the Mexican public going into the tournament.
The former midfielder has set his team up with a strong defensive foundation, only for it to lack fluidity in attack. So much so that in the tournament opener against South Africa, the home fans started to boo their own team for failing to score more than the two they managed against a team that had seen two players sent off.
There was a little more compassion against a stronger South Korean team that looked eager to find an equaliser in Guadalajara. But that win guaranteed them a spot in the knockouts. Still, the 40-year wait for another quarter-final run has become more difficult.
With 48 teams competing at the World Cup this time, the Round of 32 is an extra stage added to accommodate teams. Essentially, for Mexico to reach the last eight, they will need to win two knockout games.
But in this World Cup where venues of historical significance have been accompanied by concrete marvels borrowed from a different sport, Estadio Azteca will provide a boost.
The ancient Aztecs were staunch believers in omens; Mexico playing at the famed stadium in the Round of 32 is a good sign. A win will ensure they play their Round of 16 match there as well.
There is no shortage of talent in this Mexican squad, as they try to add their names to that exclusive list of 44 – which includes the likes of the legendary Real Madrid striker Hugo Sanchez, former captains Gustavo Pena and national hero Manuel Negrete, whose scissors-kick goal against Bulgaria in the 1986 event was voted the most spectacular World Cup goal in a 2018 FIFA fan poll. The player who teed up Negrete for the goal: the current coach Aguirre.
Mexico’s road to a third quarter-final, and perhaps beyond, goes through the Estadio Azteca. Mexico’s happy place.
