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Estadio Azteca

Estadio Azteca

Mexico, Mexico

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The Azteca Stadium is a soccer stadium located in Mexico City, with a capacity of 87,000 spectators.

Capacity

87.000

Opened in

May 1966

About the Building

History

The Azteca Stadium was inaugurated in 1966 and was considered one of the most modern stadiums at the time. The inaugural match pitted Club América against Torino FC on May 29, 1966 in front of 107,494 spectators. The first goal was scored by Brazilian Arlindo Dos Santos Cruz and the second by another Brazilian player from Club América, José Alves “Zague”. Torino then equalized, and the game ended in a 2-2 draw. Mexico’s President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz gave the symbolic kickoff in the presence of FIFA President Stanley Rous.

A modern lighting system was inaugurated on June 5, 1966. The first goal of the match was scored by Honduran player José Cardona. During this game, Roberto Martínez or “Caña Brava” scored the first goal for the Mexico team. The final score was 3-1 in favor of Valencia CF.

The capacity of the Azteca Stadium has been slightly reduced for comfort and safety reasons, going from 114,580 to 105,094 seats, making it the sixth-largest stadium in the world in terms of capacity.

The stadium also hosted the 1968 Summer Olympics, the 1970 and 1986 FIFA World Cup, the 1975 Pan American Games, the 1983 Under-20 World Cup and the 1999 Confederation Cup. It has also hosted major international tournaments such as the Copa Interamericana and the Copa Libertadores.

Since 2016, the stadium has hosted the NFL international series, meaning a regular season game that is played outside the United States. This event followed the 2005 championship game, which marked the first regular season NFL game played outside the United States.

Non-sporting events

The Azteca Stadium is also used for shows and concerts: Michael Jackson (five concerts in 1993 with almost 500,000 spectators), U2 (in 2006), Elton John, Maná, Juan Gabriel, Luis Miguel, Gloria Estefan, Jaguares, Lenny Kravitz, Ana Gabriel or The Three Tenors have performed there. It has also been used for political events, such as the end-of-campaign rally of Mexican President Felipe Calderón in 2006, as well as religious events such as Pope John Paul II’s visit where he celebrated mass in 1992 and T. B. Joshua’s crusade on May 8-9, 2015.

The Azteca Stadium is the largest stadium in mexico

The Azteca Stadium is the second largest stadium in Americas

The Azteca Stadium is the seventh largest stadium in the world

The Azteca Stadium is the first stadium in the world to have hosted two World Cup finals. The first was won by Pele's Brazilian team in 1970; the second by Diego Maradona's Argentine team in 1986.

Photo Gallery

Estadio Azteca

Pinjm2000, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Estadio Azteca

Luicheto, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Residents Teams

Football

Club América

Football

Cruz Azul

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