Return of the Temple: The Myth Around the Azteca

Pele, Maradona and the Wave, Mexico City’s iconic stadium will make history again in 2026, Sport 5 Published: 11.06.26, 11:36 Photo: Sport 5

The biggest World Cup ever got underway tonight (Thursday) with a match between host Mexico and South Africa. Many records will be broken at this tournament, and the first is tied to one of the most mythical and iconic stadiums in World Cup history. Estadio Azteca will become the first stadium ever to host three World Cup opening matches. In 1970, Mexico kicked off the tournament in a goalless draw against the Soviet Union, and 16 years later, reigning champions Italy finished 1-1 against Bulgaria.

The idea to build the stadium was conceived by leaders of the Mexican Football Federation in the 1950s, with the aim of hosting a World Cup. Construction on the stadium only began in 1962 and was completed four years later. The result was a grand stadium that held 115,000 people and was considered a marvel of its time, modeled after the Maracanã in Brazil, Wembley in England and San Siro in Italy.

The stadium hosted some of the most memorable matches in World Cup history. Pele led Brazil there to the 1970 World Cup title after a dominant 4-1 win over Italy, in what is likely considered the best performance by a team in a World Cup final ever. In that same tournament, Italy beat West Germany 4-3 in the semifinal known as the “Game of the Century” at the stadium, which sits more than 2,000 meters above sea level.

Sixteen years later, a small Argentine named Diego Armando Maradona scored the Hand of God goal and the famous slalom goal against Peter Shilton and England in the quarterfinal at the Azteca. Diego went all the way and led Argentina to its second World Cup title with a 3-2 win over West Germany, setting up Jorge Burruchaga for the winning goal. That tournament 40 years ago also gave rise to the first Mexican wave in the stands.

The Azteca has also hosted historic events outside football. In 1979, Pope John Paul II held a mass there before more than 100,000 people. In 1993, 132,000 spectators came for the boxing fight between Julio Cesar Chavez and Greg Haugen, one of the largest crowds ever for a boxing match.

More than half a century later, the stadium underwent an extensive renovation at a cost of about 3.6 billion pesos, about 160 million euros, which was completed at the start of 2026. It has about 87,500 seats, though ahead of the World Cup, due to press seating arrangements, it was reduced to 80,824. It is the largest stadium in Latin America and the biggest venue in the current World Cup.

If we return to the present, the Central American side has an excellent record at the Azteca, with five wins in seven matches across the two previous tournaments in which it also reached the quarterfinals. Mexico has never lost a World Cup match at the Azteca and also wants to continue its positive streak in World Cup openers, having won five of its last seven such matches.

Very few stadiums can boast that they have witnessed history. The Azteca did not just witness it, it helped create it, and during the upcoming World Cup, in which it will host five matches, it will continue to do so, even 40 years later.

World Cup 2026

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