The home of huge football historypublished at 13:31 BST
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Mexico v England (Mon, 01:00 BST)
Daniel Austin
BBC Sport
The Azteca is the only stadium to have hosted matches in three different editions of the World Cup – 1970, 1986 and 2026.
The first two featured some of the most iconic matches and goals in World Cup history.
The 1970 semi-final between Italy and West Germany is regarded by many as the greatest match ever played. It was 1-1 after 90 minutes, before five goals were scored in extra time, with the Italians winning 4-3.
But in the final they were defeated by Pele – winning the World Cup for the third time – and his Brazil team-mates in a side still cited as one of the greatest teams of all time.
Brazil won 4-1, and their final goal – rocketed into the far corner by full-back Carlos Alberto – was a beautiful passing move in which all but three players touched the ball, and is considered one of the best team goals ever scored.
“The atmosphere, the noise at that final was unbelievable,” Alberto later said. “Wonderful, indescribable.”
Image source, Getty Images
Pele scored four goals and made six assists in the 1970 tournament, and remains the only player to have won the World Cup three times
Sixteen years later Mexico was selected to host the tournament again, and this time it was Argentina and Maradona who shone in the Azteca spotlight.
Aged 25 and having moved to Napoli from Barcelona the year prior, Maradona delivered possibly the most dominant tournament performance in football history, scoring five goals and making five assists, to win his country’s second trophy.
Against England in the quarter-final he scored two goals which are among the most famous moments in sporting history, for different reasons.
Firstly, Maradona opened the scoring in the second half with his notorious ‘hand of God’ goal by punching a miscued back pass with his hand past Peter Shilton and into the net.
Four minutes later, he picked the ball up inside the centre circle in Argentina’s half with his back to goal. Within 11 seconds, he had danced past five England players, rounded the goalkeeper, and slipped the ball into the back of the net entirely on his own.
All four sides of the Azteca roared in adulation and astonishment as El Diego ran towards the corner flag in celebration.
In 2016, four years before his death, Maradona called it the most important match of his career.
Image source, Getty Images