Soccer History | Estadio Azteca — The Only Ground to Open Three World Cups

No other stadium has started a World Cup three times. This one did it in 1970, in 1986, and again on 11 June 2026. The Azteca opened in May 1966 in the south of Mexico City, on ground 2,240 metres above sea level. Six decades of visiting squads have planned their acclimatisation around that number. It became the first ground to stage two World Cup finals, in 1970 and 1986, and has now hosted 19 World Cup matches, more than any other venue in the world. For 2026 it took the opening game once more, Mexico against South Africa, one of five matches assigned to it. The name above the gate is where the recent history gets complicated. In 2025 the owners, Grupo Ollamani, agreed a naming-rights deal with the bank Banorte: a loan of 2.1 billion pesos, roughly 105 million US dollars, repayable over twelve years, in exchange for the ground becoming Estadio Banorte. That was only the second renaming in the building's life. It was briefly Estadio Guillermo Cañedo in 1997. Then FIFA's sponsorship rules overrode the sponsor. Through the 2026 tournament the stadium was called Mexico City Stadium — the same rule that turned MetLife Stadium into New York New Jersey Stadium for the final. The renovation behind all of this closed the ground after the Clausura 2024 season and ran to about 110 million euros: hybrid turf, new drainage, reworked player areas, replaced seating, LED screens around the bowl. It reopened in March 2026 with Mexico playing Portugal. Anyone visiting should expect that modern version rather than the concrete of the Maradona and Pelé footage. Club América play their home matches here. One practical note for finding it: maps, tickets and transit signage may say Banorte, while most people in Mexico City still say Azteca. Sources: ESPN; StadiumDB; Buenos Aires Herald; FIFA. Cover photo: ProtoplasmaKid, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.