The Estadio Banorte, also known as the Azteca Stadium (Mexico City), hosted a reopening friendly between Mexico and Portugal after being closed for years. The match ended 0-0.
‘THE STRAITS TIMES’ stated that the above match was intended to serve as a stress test for the facility after an around-the-clock construction push to meet the March 28th deadline.
The Azteca Stadium, officially known as the Estadio Banorte for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium located in Coyoacán, Mexico City, Mexico. It is the official home of the football team Club América as well as the Mexico national team. With a capacity of 87,523 it is the largest stadium in Latin America and the eighth-largest association football stadium in the world.
The Club América is a professional football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. Nicknamed Las Águilas (The Eagles) it competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football. The club was founded in 1916 and since 1959 has been owned by the mass media company Televisa. The team plays its home games at the Azteca Stadium, the largest stadium in Latin America and one of the largest in the world.
‘THE STRAITS TIMES’ further stated that the above venue reopened following a renovation lasting several years ahead of the 2026 World Cup which is due to be held in Mexico this Summer.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup™ will be the 23rd FIFA World Cup™, the quadrennial international Men’s soccer championship contested by the national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament will take place from June 11th-July 19th, 2026. It will be jointly hosted by 16 Cities – 11 in the United States, three in Mexico and two in Canada. The tournament will be the first FIFA World Cup™ to be hosted by three nations and the first to include 48 teams, an expansion from 32.
The Azteca Stadium, scheduled to hold the Opening Ceremony on June 11th, is to be the first to host matches in three different World Cups earlier hosting matches in 1970 and 1986. It will host the World Cup opening match between Mexico and South Africa.
Boardroom Overhaul
The Club América has continued their boardroom overhaul with Ferran Reverter named the Director General (DG) of Grupo Águilas to run the business of the club and the Azteca Stadium. His arrival was announced recently.
The past few months have brought changes across the sporting and operational sides including the recent departure of the Sporting Director Diego Ramírez.
The ownership structures have also shifted with the Atlantic Group coming in as a 49 percent investor and a subsequent restructure of América’s management through the entertainment and sports firm Grupo Ollamani.
Reverter is a Spanish executive with extensive experience in football and his last major post was with the LaLiga team FC Barcelona (Spain) where he worked until 2022.
América have been seeking to grow the brand beyond Mexico and the United States, a drive that underpinned the decision to bring in the Atlantic Group and now Reverter.
How this reshaping will affect results on the pitch remains to be seen. The team are enduring an uneven semester yet they remain in contention for both titles this season.
Fan Death
A fan died after falling from the VIP Stand into the car park at the Azteca Stadium.
The friendly match between Mexico and Portugal was overshadowed by the above tragic news. The authorities have launched an investigation but have sadly confirmed his death.
“The Mexico City Public Prosecutor’s Office (Fiscalía CDMX) expresses its deep regret at the death of a person that occurred on March 28th inside the Banorte Stadium prior to the start of the Mexican national team’s friendly match. Furthermore, analysis of footage from the stadium’s surveillance cameras and those at its entrances is currently underway as is the collection of the statements from those present at the scene in order to accurately reconstruct the sequence of events and determine any liability. Similarly, the postmortem examination required by the law is currently being carried out to establish with certainty the cause of death as well as the individual’s physical condition at the time of the fall. The Mexico City Public Prosecutor’s Office will continue its investigations in depth and will keep the public informed of any significant developments in strict compliance with the principles of due process.”
Authorities said the man was intoxicated. He attempted to jump from the second-level Box seats to the first level by climbing along the exterior of the structure before falling to the ground floor.
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