Azteca in numbers… Will England stand up to the Mexican historical record? | sports

Mexico City will host a strong confrontation between the Mexican national team and its English counterpart in the round of 16 of the World Cup at Azteca Stadium on Monday, in a match that carries a special historical character between two teams with different legacies in this famous stadium. This confrontation comes amid many questions about Mexico’s ability to continue its historical superiority, or England’s success in reversing the situation and qualifying for the quarter-finals.

The Azteca Stadium is one of the stadiums most associated with the history of world football, as it hosted 23 matches in the history of the Men’s World Cup, a number that places it at the top of the stadiums in terms of the number of hosts, according to the Opta supercomputer.

The Mexican national team played 10 World Cup matches at this stadium without any defeat, achieving 8 wins and 2 draws, a record that reflects clear strength on its home soil.

In the current edition, Mexico achieved 3 victories at this stadium against South Africa, the Czech Republic and Ecuador, without conceding any goals, continuing the historic undefeated streak.

Throughout history, the Mexican national team has played 89 official matches at the Azteca Stadium, losing only two matches. The two defeats came in World Cup qualifiers: June 2001 against Costa Rica, 2-1, and September 2013, against Honduras, 2-1.

In both matches, Mexico scored first within the first 7 minutes and took the lead in the first half before eventually losing. Since then, Mexico has played 22 official international matches at the stadium without defeat, with 16 wins and 6 draws.

But the most important observation, according to the Opta supercomputer, is that the average rating of the teams it faced was 57 according to the FIFA classification, with: only two matches against teams in the top 20 in the world, the United States (13th place in March 2022) and ended 0-0, Costa Rica (19th place in March 2017) and ended 2-0, only 4 matches against teams in the top 30, 15 matches against Teams ranked 50 or lower.

England and the harsh memories of Azteca

This encounter marks England’s third appearance at the Estadio Azteca. The first appearance was in the 1986 World Cup, where it beat Paraguay 3-0, then lost to Argentina in a historic match that witnessed Diego Maradona’s famous goal, followed by his second goal known as the “Goal of the Century.”

Since then, England have not played at this stadium for 40 years, making the challenge even more difficult.

The Azteca Stadium is located at an altitude of approximately 2,200 meters above sea level, a natural factor that clearly affects physical performance. For comparison, The Hawthorns Stadium in England is located at an altitude of only 168 metres.

The scientific impact of altitude on performance

Performance studies, according to the Opta supercomputer, indicate a clear effect of altitude on players: a decrease in maximum oxygen consumption by 10 to 13%, a decrease in physical performance by 5 to 6%, a decrease in distance traveled by 3 to 9%, a decrease in speed running by 10 to 15%.

These numbers confirm that height is not just a geographical factor, but rather a decisive element in the course of play. Performance data also indicates that the Azteca Stadium witnessed the lowest average distance traveled per match: 208.5 km, the lowest number of sprints: 500.3 km, and the lowest average number of sprints: 113.0 km.

Performance coach Steve Magness believes that playing at this altitude represents a real challenge, explaining that: At an altitude of approximately 7,000 feet, maximum oxygen consumption decreases by 10 to 13%, performance decreases by 5 to 6% depending on the nature of the effort, the distance traveled decreases between 3 and 9%, and fast running decreases between 10 and 15%. He adds that the effect increases the higher the pitch, and the less adaptation to these conditions.