MIAMI-. He Azteca stadium in Mexico City will host the ceremony inauguration and the first game of the 2026 Soccer World Cup, which will also be held in the United States and Canadaannounced the FIFA this Sunday.
The emblematic Mexican stadium, whose current capacity is about 83,000 spectators, will become the first to celebrate three World Cup openings after those of 1970 and 1986, of which it also hosted the finals.
The opening of the 2026 World Cup, the first to be organized in three countries and expanded to 48 teams, will be held on June 11.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino confirmed this nomination during a television ceremony in which he revealed the World Cup match schedule, which will include the announcement of the venue for the final.
AT&T Stadium, located in the Dallas metropolitan area (state of Texas, United States), is considered the favorite venue to host the final, for which MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford (New Jersey) and SoFi Stadium are also competing. (outside of Los Angeles, California).
The Azteca stadium, for its part, will expand its legendary history in the World Cups, in which a chapter is reserved for the quarterfinals of the 1986 edition between Argentina and England, when Diego Maradona scored a goal with his hand, baptized as the “Hand of God”, and shortly after the so-called “Goal of the Century”.
Maradona collected the champions’ trophy from that World Cup on the same grass and Pelé collected the trophy from the 1970 edition for Brazil in front of more than 100,000 fans.
The Azteca stadium, inaugurated in 1966 and home to the América team’s games, will be the first to host matches from three different editions of the World Cup.
Source: AFP
