There are few venues in the world as revered as Estadio Azteca.
The Mexico City stadium has hosted the final of two World Cup tournaments (1970 and 1986), and was the venue for arguably the biggest goal ever scored in the history of the sport (Diego Maradona's "Hand of God"). It also serves as the home ground for the Mexican national team, which has enjoyed overwhelming home-field advantage at the venerable stadium over the years.
Some of Mexico's biggest triumphs at the Azteca have come against Canada — at least in the literal sense. The 8-0 drubbing served up by the Mexicans in a 1993 World Cup qualifier still stands as the largest defeat ever suffered by Canada's men's side, and it was not an outlier from an historical standpoint.
Canada's most recent visit to "The Colossus of Santa Úrsula" was a much more competitive affair — Canada fell 2-0 to a Chicharito-led Mexico in March 2016 — but the fact remains that you have to go all the way back to 1980 to even find a Canadian goal scored at the Azteca.
However, there is reason to believe that Thursday's World Cup qualifier will be even more of an competitive match. The Canadians have enjoyed a resurgence under coach John Herdman, led by the prodigious talents of Bayern Munich's Alphonso Davies and current Ligue 1 Golden Boot race leader Jonathan David, and enter the October international break in second place in CONCACAF's final round of qualification for Qatar 2022.
Even without the two star youngsters, the Canadians were able to push Mexico to the brink in the Gold Cup semifinals in July. Now Davies and David are back, with history in their eyes. A result — win or draw — would signal the continued growth of the team and its increased importance in the region. Even a hard-fought loss, like in July, could provide a boost for a side that has found nothing but misery in Mexico City.
"It's one of the greatest football coliseums in the world,” Herdman said of the Azteca, via MLSsoccer.com. “To go and play a game of football in that stadium, I want to make sure that these players get a chance to embrace that mentality. We've experienced the Mexican crowd before [at the Gold Cup] and there is a little bit of something that was left on the field in that game that I know this group of players want answered. They are going to go into this with some belief and some confidence that they can compete with, historically, the best team in Concacaf, in their hometown.”
Here's everything you need to know about Thursday's match.
Mexico vs. Canada: What time is kickoff?
- Date: Thursday, October 7
- Time: 9:40 p.m. ET
The match is scheduled for an 9:40 p.m. ET at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.
Mexico vs. Canada: What channel is the World Cup qualifier on?
- TV: Sportsnet 360, OneSoccer (Telus ch. 980), RDS (French)
- Stream: OneSoccer.ca, SN NOW
Canada's remaining World Cup qualifying schedule
| Date | Time (ET) | Match |
| Oct. 7 | 9:40 p.m. | Mexico vs. Canada |
| Oct. 10 | 6:00 p.m. | Jamaica vs. Canada |
| Oct. 13 | 7:30 p.m. | Canada vs. Panama |
| Nov. 12 | 9:05 p.m. | Canada vs. Costa Rica |
| Nov. 16 | 9:05 p.m. | Canada vs. Mexico |
| Jan. 27 | TBD | Honduras vs. Canada |
| Jan. 30 | TBD | Canada vs. USA |
| Feb. 2 | TBD | El Salvador vs. Canada |
| March 24 | TBD | Costa Rica vs. Canada |
| March 27 | TBD | Canada vs. Jamaica |
| March 30 | TBD | Panama vs. Canada |