How Mexican World Cup Stadiums Achieved FIFA’s Environmental Certifications
Key takeaways
- To get those certifications, several Mexican stadiums needed updates.
- For a stadium like Azteca in Mexico City, which opened in 1966, this involved major transformations costing tens of millions of dollars.
- LEED certifications also involve the evaluation of the construction, operation, and maintenance of the buildings.
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Estadio Banorte, formerly called Azteca stadium, in Mexico City.Photograph: Hector Vivas/Getty Images Comment Loader Save Story Save this story Comment Loader Save Story Save this story Because of their scale, soccer stadiums require a fair amount of energy and water. A single match activates all their systems at the same time: field irrigation, toilets, lighting, ventilation, and services for tens of thousands of people. In that time, they also generate large volumes of waste, mainly plastics and food trash.
For the 2026 World Cup, the first to be held in three countries in 16 different stadiums, FIFA maintained the requirement that the venues must have LEED environmental certifications, which measure performance in water, energy, and waste management. To get those certifications, several Mexican stadiums needed updates.
For a stadium like Azteca in Mexico City, which opened in 1966, this involved major transformations costing tens of millions of dollars. The BBVA stadium in Monterrey and the Akron stadium in Guadalajara, having been built in the last 15 years, were conceived under more modern parameters and already met some requirements.