The Mexico team begins its third run as host at the World Cup this Thursday, facing off against South Africa at 4pm (Brasília time). For the confrontation, the team can count on the favorable record of its main ordeal and sporting fortress: the Azteca stadium. The Mexican team never suffered a defeat playing on the capital’s traditional pitch, a stage that received public praise from FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who classified it as a temple of global football.
In the 1970 and 1986 tournaments held in Mexican territory, the home team accumulated five wins and two draws in the seven times they stepped onto the pitch at the Azteca stadium. The disqualification on both occasions occurred precisely when the team needed to move to other arenas. In the first experience, the group got a 0-0 draw against the Soviet Union and beat El Salvador 4-0 and Belgium 1-0, but ended up being beaten by Italy in the quarter-finals when playing in the city of Toluca.
Sixteen years later, the country’s best historical performance in the competition was interrupted in the municipality of Monterrey. Until that moment, the hosts had beaten the Belgians 2-1, Iraq 1-0 and drawn 1-1 with Paraguay in the initial stage of the tournament. In the next phase, they defeated Bulgaria with a score of 2-0, however, in the emblematic fifth match, they were beaten on penalties by West Germany away from the capital.
The logistical arrangement created for the current edition of the tournament proves to be advantageous for the local teams, who face the South Africans and the Czech Republic at the Azteca stadium, leaving there only for the match against South Korea, scheduled for the city of Guadalajara. If Mexico consolidates the leadership of its group, the return to the Federal District will be guaranteed to face one of the teams classified in third place in other groups. The breaking of the historic taboo of reaching the quarter-finals could be consolidated at the Azteca stadium itself if the team advances to the round of 16, with a possible sixth duel being played in the United States.
The current team commander, Javier Aguirre, participated in the squad of athletes in the 1986 edition and highlighted the positive impact that the support from the stands will have on the players on the field. The coach declared at a press conference that the public will support the team regardless of the circumstances, transforming the event into a lasting memory, and highlighted the desire to start the journey with a positive result to mark a unique moment in the athletes’ careers.