The Mexican national team faces its English counterpart at dawn on Monday, in the capital Mexico City, within the round of 16 competitions of the World Cup, in a match that has all the ingredients to be one of the classics of the tournament.
The match will be held at the famous Azteca Stadium, which is located at a high altitude above sea level, and in front of crowds dominated by Mexican attendance, as the hosts look to continue their distinguished path in the 2026 World Cup, after succeeding so far in keeping their net clean without conceding any goal.
The Mexican national team has not lost any match in the World Cup at Azteca Stadium during 10 previous encounters, and has suffered only two defeats in 89 official matches it has played at this stadium.
In contrast, Azteca Stadium does not hold happy memories for the English national team, and this will be its first match there in 40 years, as its last appearance at this stadium dates back to the 1986 World Cup, when it lost to Argentina in the famous match that witnessed Diego Maradona's controversial goal, known as the "Hand of God".
The "Three Lions" national team will need to present a better level if it wants to pass this difficult test.
Is there a stadium more difficult for England than Azteca?
Azteca Stadium is not just the stadium that has hosted the most World Cup matches in the history of the tournament after hosting 23 matches, but it also represents an impregnable fortress for the Mexican national team, which has achieved an exceptional record on it.
The Mexican national team won all three of its matches at this stadium in the current edition of the World Cup against South Africa, the Czech Republic, and Ecuador, extending its unbeaten record at Azteca Stadium in World Cup history to 10 matches, during which it achieved 8 victories and two draws.
The Mexican superiority at Azteca Stadium is not limited to World Cup competitions only, as the Mexican national team has played 89 official matches at this stadium throughout its history, and has suffered defeat only on two occasions.
The only two defeats for Mexico at Azteca Stadium came in the qualifiers for the World Cup, the first against Costa Rica in June 2001, and the second against Honduras in September 2013.
Both matches ended with the same result (2-1), and the scenario of the two encounters was strikingly similar; the Mexican national team opened the scoring within the first seven minutes, and ended the first half leading, before failing to maintain its lead and suffering defeat in the end.
Nevertheless, those two defeats seem to have become a thing of the distant past, as since then, the Mexican national team has played 22 official international matches at Azteca Stadium, and has not suffered any defeat, achieving 16 victories against 6 draws.
The English national team will play its third match at Azteca Stadium, after having played there twice during the 1986 World Cup, and emerged with a mixed record.
The "Three Lions" national team defeated Paraguay 3-0 in the round of 16, before suffering one of the most famous and controversial defeats in its World Cup participation history against Argentina, in the match that witnessed Diego Maradona's famous "Hand of God" goal, followed by his second goal just four minutes later, which is widely classified as the "Goal of the Century".
Among the other factors that England will have to deal with at Azteca Stadium is the high altitude above sea level, as the stadium is located at an altitude of approximately 2200 meters. For comparison, "The Hawthorns" stadium, home of West Bromwich Albion, is the highest stadium in professional English football, but it rises only 168 meters above sea level.
Naturally, the Mexican team's distinguished record at Azteca Stadium is not due to the altitude factor alone, as in the previous round, the Mexican national team defeated Ecuador, a team accustomed to playing its matches at home in the capital Quito, which is located at an altitude of approximately 2743 meters above sea level.
Will the altitude above sea level make a real difference?
Performance coach Steve Magness recently addressed the challenges that the English national team may face at Azteca Stadium, in an article published on his blog, where he said: "At an altitude of about 7000 feet (approximately 2130 meters), the maximum oxygen consumption (VO2max) decreases by between 10 and 13%, and we saw this clearly in the athletics competitions during the 1968 Olympics. Performance level also decreases by between 5 and 6%, depending on the length of the race".
He added: "The total distance covered and high-speed running rates decline significantly, with the first decreasing by between 3 and 9%, while the second declines by between 10 and 15%, and the higher the altitude, the greater its impact, and players less acclimatized to these conditions are affected to a greater degree".
The "Opta Vision" data for the current World Cup largely supports this hypothesis, as upon reviewing the group stage matches held in various stadiums of the tournament, Azteca Stadium recorded the lowest average distance covered in a single match by both teams combined at 208.5 kilometers, and witnessed the lowest number of high-speed runs, with an average of 500.3 times per match, in addition to the lowest average number of sprints for both teams, which reached 113 sprints in a single match.
The impact of altitude above sea level may not be as evident if the English national team succeeds in imposing its style by maintaining possession of the ball, instead of chasing Mexican players and expending energy in attempting to regain it.
So far in the tournament, the average possession of the English national team under coach Thomas Tuchel has reached 63.8%, which is much higher than the Mexican national team's average possession of 48.4%.
However, the context of the matches should be taken into account when reading these figures, as the Mexican national team has not found itself behind in the score during the tournament so far, and therefore has not been forced to chase the match or increase its possession percentage in search of a draw or victory.
