Here’s What Azteca Stadium Will Look Like for the 2026 World Cup Leave a comment
Mexico Metropolis’s Azteca Stadium is a 15-kilometer journey from the Zócalo—kind of the middle of the metropolis of 18 million inhabitants. The drive can take the 18 minutes predicted by Google Maps, however it may simply exceed an hour in the event you occur to be in the midst of what my driver calls “the height,” the time when the town’s perpetual swarm of automobiles swells to bursting.
The primary feeling on seeing the Coloso de Santa Úrsula— the nickname given to the stadium the place each Pelé and Maradona performed legendary video games—is that of being in a spot suspended between previous and future. The venue’s seemingly motionless dinosaur skeleton exterior hides an enormous work in progress as the entire stadium is being modernized for 2026 World Cup.
On March 26, 2026, a pleasant match between Mexico and Portugal will function a costume rehearsal for the June 11 inaugural ceremony and subsequent first World Cup match.
How the Azteca Is Remodeled
The icon of Mexican soccer is present process an unprecedented metamorphosis. Renovations to Azteca Stadium, important to its standing as a delegated venue for 5 matches, are of their most important and visual part.
The purpose is to modernize the Colossus to satisfy probably the most demanding worldwide requirements, bettering the spectator expertise and the performance of the power whereas sustaining its historic soul.
The present state is that of a building web site in full swing. The stands, fully empty and devoid of their signature indicators and colours, reveal the grey of concrete and scaffolding. The empty bleachers, lit by the white lights of a building web site, are enlivened solely by groups of technicians and engineers working day and night time. The sphere, the center of the stadium, is now a sea of grime and dirt, the place heavy equipment works to degree and reinstall the drainage system and put within the state-of-the-art hybrid floor that mixes pure grass with superior air flow, drainage, and air injection methods.
The Architectural Design
The stadium could also be new inside, however the exterior is holding its figuring out options. The primary construction of the stadium has solely been strengthened, however not considerably altered. Nevertheless, the upgrades do embrace some flash. The outside will probably be embellished with LED banners mounted on the attribute columns and cross beams that can improve the looks of the stadium and permit for colourful choreographed gentle exhibits.
From the sphere degree, the most important change is straight away noticeable: The brand new steel and glass ring roof is sort of full and can shield a lot of the stands. “We did not need to erase the unique silhouette,” a group engineer explains, “however to replace it with lighter supplies that may higher stand up to the local weather and combine photovoltaic methods invisible to the bare eye.”
The undertaking—by KMD Arquitectos in collaboration with Populous—fully renovates {the electrical}, water, and air flow methods, and contains the set up of a wise vitality administration system. It additionally introduces new FIFA evacuation requirements. Whereas the official capability of the Azteca is about 83,000, the renovations would take the power nearer to 90,000 seats, though neither the federal government nor FIFA has confirmed the ultimate quantity. For positive, it’s going to transform the expertise: particular person ergonomic seats change most of the previous seats, rising area and luxury for each spectator. Accessibility and sight strains for followers have been optimized because of a revised bleacher structure.
