Estadio Azteca

The stadium’s construction first broke ground in 1962, and was finished in 1966, in preparation for the 1968 Olympics that were held in Mexico. The site cost 260 million pesos, and is the only stadium in the world to have hosted two FIFA World Cup finals in 1970 and 1986. The architects, Pedro Ramirez Vasquez and Rafael Mijares, visited some of the other great stadiums in the world to get an idea of how they wanted to make Mexico's home stadium rival all others. They took influences from Spanish, English, French, and Italian stadiums to make sure that Estadio Azteca would have a little piece of influence where soccer is most attended.

In 1970, Estadio Azteca had the honor of hosting the World Cup Final. However, the game that fans around the world will forever remember being held here was on June 17, when Italy and West Germany met in the semi-finals and had a record five goals in extra time. It is known to many people as the Game of the century. In this game, Franz Beckenbauer dislocated his shoulder and continued to play due to the substitution max that had been reached for the Germans. The Italians won in extra time but the legacy of the game lives on in the stadium.

In 1986, Estadio Azteca was also the site for two of the most famous goals in the history of soccer. Diego Maradona scored the Hand of God when the outside of his hand was used to score and he facetiously said, “A little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God." And the Goal of the Century in which he dribbled past four English defenders to score an amazing goal that sent Argentina to the World Cup Final that they eventually won.

In modern times, the stadium is home to El Tri, the Mexican National team, and the local Mexico City team Club America. The Stadium regularly populates over 95,000 people and is used for multiple different events. The more famous events have been when the NFL established relations with Mexico to play games in Estadio Azteca and when the Pope visited in 1979. Both filled the stadium and drew crowds from all over the country. Modern changes have been made within the past couple of years including the addition of executive ground level suites, huge jumbotrons on both sides of the pitch, and a 30,000,000-euro hanging track camera that is able to cover every area of the field almost immediately.

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