The early history of cacao
Colours had several layers of meaning in ancient Mexico...
A cremated example of a death whistle is rediscovered
To be moral was to follow the example of your ancestors
Aztec artists were considered as razor sharp
Browse through photos snapped in recent schools...
Super glue makers - a great job for Aztec children
How spies brought chocolate secrets to England...
Guess what English children think a Mexica chocolate whisk is...!
Europe is home to artefacts with a mistaken identity...
What happened to the Mexica gods after the Conquest?
Aztec hell - Christian Mictlan
Tenochtitlan depended on an ecological miracle
An Aztec stone jaguar head lurks in Mexico City
The encounter of Spanish and Nahuatl languages
Which feathers went into making headdresses?
Personified knives dressed as Mexica gods
The famous obsidian Aztec jar in the form of a spider monkey
For the Maya tattoos were signs of personal bravery
The pre-Columbian ballgame survives today in Sinaloa...
General Aztecs Maya Tocuaro Kids Contact 19 Nov 2019/6 Lizard
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The Concept of the Wheel in Ancient Mesoamerica Click the flag for a Spanish translation
The Mexica approach to alcohol
Mexica (Aztec) Human Sacrifice: New Perspectives Click the flag for a Spanish translation
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Households and Daily Life in Mesoamerica
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Witchcraft and Sorcery in Ancient Mexico
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The Aztecs, patolli and gambling
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Aztec running
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What lies underneath Aztec sculpture?
Caves as Sacred Space in Ancient Mesoamerica
Mesoamerican Copper
Lightning in Mesoamerica
Dr. H.B. Nicholson - ‘Grandfather’ of Aztecs Studies
Games and Other Amusements of the Ancient Mesoamericans
Especial Birds in the Americas
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Nahua Moral Philosophy
The Aztecs and Lake Navigation Click the flag for a Spanish translation
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Water in the Valley of Mexico
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Mexica Weaponry Click the flag for a Spanish translation
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Aztec Women
Vienna’s Mesoamerican Featherworks
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Mexico’s Faked Prehistory
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How Aztec poetry works
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Portrait of a Collection: National Museum of Mexico, 1865
Clean Aztecs, Dirty Spaniards
Templo Mayor animation
The Aztecs and the atlatl
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The Aztecs have been called many things... Click the flag for a Spanish translation
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The Skywatchers of Cahokia
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Aztecs and the power of lament
Mexico’s long-distance running tradition
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3 Mexican football fans

Aztecs, ballgames and logos...

Mexico have come pretty close (quarter finals) to winning the World Cup, and were the first country to host the FIFA series twice - in 1970 and again in 1986, each time in the famous ‘Estadio Azteca’ or Aztec Stadium in Mexico City. (Written/compiled by Ian Mursell/Mexicolore)

Official FIFA World Cup emblem, Mexico 1986
Official FIFA World Cup emblem, Mexico 1986

The Aztec Stadium, designed by Pedro Ramírez Vázquez (who also designed Mexico City’s celebrated National Anthropology Museum), was built in 1966, and is the second largest (capacity 114,000) football stadium in the world. It was in the stadium during the 1986 World Cup that the world famous ‘Mexican Wave’ first broke onto the international scene.

Mexico City’s Aztec Stadium
Mexico City’s Aztec Stadium (Click on image to enlarge)

For decades the Mexican team have sported a strip with a striking design based on the ultimate Aztec icon - the Sunstone or Calendar Stone. The ‘ghosted’ version in grey became very popular around the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Mexico’s 1998 World Cup shirt design based on the Calendar Stone
Mexico’s 1998 World Cup shirt design based on the Calendar Stone (Click on image to enlarge)
Mexicans learn to love football from before they’re born!
Mexicans learn to love football from before they’re born! (Click on image to enlarge)
More on the Aztec Calendar Stone
More on the ancient Mesoamerican ballgame
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Here's what others have said:

Mexicolore replies: Thanks for asking, George. We’re afraid we don’t know, at present. We’ll try and find out for you...
Mexicolore replies: There is a link on this page, Alma, to a page on our site about the pre-Hispanic ballgame, ullamaliztli! Click on ‘More on the ancient Mesoamerican ballgame’...