Formerly the ancient Aztec city of Tenochtitlan, Mexico City was founded in 1325 and constructed in the Valley of Mexico over ancient Lake Texcoco. Today, the city is an important political, cultural, educational and financial center. Greater Mexico City is also the largest metropolitan area of the Western Hemisphere and the largest Spanish-speaking city in the world.
Football plays a very important role in the city’s tradition and is the most practiced sport among its citizens. Mexico City is the only city in North America that has three professional football teams: Club America, Club UNAM and Cruz Azul. On average, Mexico City hosts 75 professional football matches per year.
The city has hosted two FIFA World Cup™ Finals. The 1970 competition was the first staged in North America, and the second in 1986. Mexico City has also hosted the first ever Central American and Caribbean Games with two more following, two Pan American Games, and the XIX Olympic Games in 1968. Mexico City has hosted a series of other world-class events such as the Formula One Mexico Grand Prix, as well as regular season games of the NFL and NBA.
Mexico City hosted the 2016 Soccerex Americas Forum and the 66th FIFA Congress™, receiving football authorities from all around the world.
Football also extends to the city’s community programs, with Fut Barrios CDMX the most prominent. This tournament involves the city’s 16 boroughs and 24,000 male and female participants. It has been so successful that some boroughs have created other events around it to choose the players that ultimately represent them.
Other major international sporting events include: UFC Fight Night, MLB Mexico City Series, World Golf Championships, Global Champions Tour, Lorena Ochoa Match Play, World Archery Championships, Formula E, Mexico City ePrix, FIA World Endurance Championship, WRC FIA World Rally Championships Street Stage, GFNY Mexico City, Tour de France – L’Etape Mexico, FIBA Americas Championship, WTF Grand Prix Final and the FIVB World Olympic Qualification Tournament.