WCQ: March 24, 2022 - Away at Mexico City

I'm seriously interested in traveling to this game.

 

Please forgive my ignorance, but I've never tried to go to an away qualifier before and have some questions.

1) If I am a new AO member, will I be able to get game tickets or is there a hierarchy among the membership?
2) How difficult is it to get game tickets through the USSF? What level of Insider do I need to be?
3) About how much can I expect to spend on tickets through either AO or the USSF?
4) For those who have gone to the Azteca before, what's the experience like?

Thanks for any insight anyone can provide.

 

Those AO packages don't include airfare right?

 

As others said, it’s well worth it. Not to mention this will likely be the last ever US away qualifier in Mexico, with the qualification process getting a new format for 2030.

I’ve been to the past two and took the Metro both times to and from the stadium. By myself in 2013 and with my girlfriend in 2017. Same as anywhere else - if you’re friendly, respectful, and just looking to have a good time, you’ll get the same in return. Maybe a little trash talking. But if you have some experience as an away fan (in any sport really), you’d be able to handle it. To me, it’s well worth the experience of mixing with the Mexico fans and soaking up the atmosphere before and after the game, versus the police-escorted bus straight into the stadium. Like everywhere, 99% of people are the friendliest you can imagine and would love to share some tequila and a beer with you.

I’ll caveat that by saying no one’s ever seen what would happen after a US win at Azteca. So I’ll probably bring a jacket with me, just in case it would get too hostile and I need cover up after the game (nighttime in March is chilly anyway). After draws in 2013 and 2017, we encountered no major problems.

There was no lottery for the USSF tickets in 2013 or 2017. They were available first-come-first-serve to all US Soccer insiders and supporters group members. I don’t think USSF sold out their allotment either time (the away fan cage was not full to the top). In 2017, the police confiscated belts (why?) at the entrance to the section, and there were no concessions available in the away section (not even water), though a friend and I were able to cross the police line and grab some beers in the main concourse of the stadium. 2013 was more civilized in all respects (beer, water, etc available in the away section).

Anyway, hopefully you make the trip, one way or another. Mexico City is a world-class city (one of my favorites) and dirt cheap. And a qualifier at Azteca is among the most memorable soccer matches you can ever experience.

 

Yes, they took away an excellent belt that I had worn for almost 20 years. I have bought cheaper tickets from Ticketmaster MX and then moved to the US supporter section once or twice.

I went in '05, '09, '13 and '17 but will likely skip this one.

 

Yikes. I think we're in the clear though.

This is punishment for the October games. Both their (Mexico's) November window games are away. Their January/February window home games now have no fans. We're then up next up in March. Now there's not an opportunity for them to break the rules again at home.

The only way they could is if there is an overwhelming away support contingent between now and then who make a point to do the chant (won't be in Cincinnati, doubtful in Edmonton on 11/16, and at this rate few fans are even allowed in Jamaica where they play on 1/27). The only wildcard left is a friendly they have in Austin on 12/8.

I feel confident it'll be packed on 3/24 but am also talking myself into said confidence as someone who has already bought a nonrefundable flight.

 

I’ve also seen rumors elsewhere that the Mexican federation may move some of the later qualification games to other cities (Guadalajara, Monterrey) if Mexico clinches qualification early. I think it was a tweet posted on the the Concacaf board on this site, but I can’t seem to locate it now.

A match in those cities would be cool, but I do hope this one is at Azteca. This seems like the one match they wouldn’t move regardless.

 

Hello from New Orleans. We have a small group traveling to Mexico City in March 2022 for the match. We have young kids (5, 7, and 10 years of age). Any thoughts on safety when going to Azteca with youngins?

 

You should be fine with whatever precautions you use for similar events. The only stress at Azteca focuses on the organized US section which is heavily guarded. Otherwise, no worries. Just don't wear a belt.

Mexican fans generally enjoy interacting with US fans and, of course, they bring their children to the match.

 

Concur with all this. I’d also recommend getting to the stadium early, maybe taking an Uber or arranging a driver to meet you after the match. And in the US section, just go up towards the top and keep some distance from the side fences and the bulk of the group (or anyone antagonizing the Mexico fans), as they’d be the intended target of any abuse or flying projectiles. The same advice goes for exiting the stadium, which in the past has been in an police-escorted gauntlet down the ramps and out into the parking lot. Maybe follow a little behind the main group.

If you’re planning on wearing any USA gear or cheering for the US, obviously you’ll want to be in the US section.

I’ve seen some kids in the US section at Azteca before, probably not quite as young as yours. But you’ll be fine with some reasonable planning and precautions. The kids will remember it forever.

 

yeah, I hope so, we already have our flights to Mexico City...

 

Here's hoping no Mexico fans do anything at tonight's friendly to jeopardize 3/24. This is theoretically the last (non-covid) hurdle to it unfolding smoothly for us.

 

To the earlier post about kids in Azteca. I think Azteca security does not allow children under 2 into the stadium but children older than that are welcome. Lots of Mexicans bring their kids to national team games. We brought our kids when they were small to many US National Team games with no problems. The bigger question is getting out of the stadium after the game. I think it is likely that Azteca security will find fans dressed in American gear but not part of the American Outlaws group and move them to the foreign fans section. In 2001 it was behind one of the goals but that put the US fans within range of projectiles thrown from the upper deck. In 2005, they located us off to the side outside of upper deck range.

 

In terms of how to travel, there are a couple of different ways and really depends on what your style is as a traveler.

If you are someone who wants someone else to plan everything for you, but pay way more than it would be than if you planned it for yourself, then the AO trip package is the way to go.

AO Package
If you look for instance at the AO 2-Night package with 2 guests per room, the cost is $720 per person (so $1,440 per room over two days) and includes:

• Accommodations at the Sheraton Mexico City Santa Maria on Reforma Avenue (2 nights)
• Party with AO the night before the big game! Inclusive of food and drinks for travel package guests!
• Pre-match party in Mexico City prior to the game at Azteca Stadium. Inclusive of food and drinks for travel package guests!
• Round-trip transportation from your hotel to Azteca Stadium
• Round-trip transportation provided from Mexico City International Airport
• On-site Anthony Travel & AO staff to assist you throughout the trip
• Commemorative trip Souvenir, Credential & Lanyard

Note that the AO package also includes pricing for 1 person room at $845.

That same hotel's website currently shows rooms for the same dates at $138 per night (so $278 for the two-night stay). Same rates whether one bed or two. The two key main other benefits to the AO package are:

• Includes transportation to/from the game which is very important
• Unknown about whether it includes game ticket yet

At least as I look at the package, it's really expensive, BUT there is nothing at all wrong with it, especially if you prefer someone planning all of it for you.

Alternative Options
If you don't mind doing some of the leg work on arranging hotel and transportation to/from the airport, it's probably a lot more cost efficient to book directly.

The two big things of emphasis above are also relevant here to:

• Travel to/from the game. This is important to do as US fans to travel together for security. In the past (and assuming will be for this game), Sammers has organized buses as well for members
• Game tickets. Nobody really is sure how USSF will handle game tickets as they've really been pushing the Insiders program and first chance to get game tickets. In the last cycle if I'm not mistaken, USSF gave their allotment of tickets to AO. Independents and Sammers members, but bought tickets in the same section directly from Ticketmaster Mexico once they were on sale.

So travel, really is an individual decision. Full transparency that I'm a Sammers member and most of our members individually booked hotels together as there are definitely cheaper ways to travel than through a travel agency (Anthony Travel) package but I still want to emphasize that there is nothing at all wrong with the AO package as others are more comfortable with the major details being done by someone else.

All in all, it should be a tremendous last major WCQ game down there and hoping that we have a ton of US fans there to experience it together.

 

I have taken public transit all four times I have attended this match at Azteca. It is super cheap, relatively fast and entirely safe, even when sporting US gear.

 

Just to put the American Outlaws deal in perspective, I traveled alone in 2017 and paid about $700-$750 overall for 4 days and 3 nights. That total included $300 for airfare, $150 for a decent hotel in Condesa, and then the rest for the match, general tourism and eating. I did a ton of walking and mass transit though - and I'll note that I look like a tourist.

I wouldn't be shocked in the long-term, if FIFA wasn't idiotically changing the format in 2026 and beyond. Azteca hasn't really been as much of a fortress as its reputation, and with the US as an opponent in particular there's always the risk that this is the year that the dam breaks and you get 5,000 traveling American fans.

 

We have hardly been anywhere in the last 19 months, but we did go to Mexico City in July. We didn't stay at the Sheraton but stayed about 2 blocks away in the Zona Rosa (45 dollars for a double room) Hotel Century Zona Rosa. . We visited the United Airlines office in the Sheraton. It is a nice hotel and has a great location. Some US fans in 2005 went to the Sheraton to buy Cuban cigars which are sold legally in one of the many swanky shops in the Sheraton complex.
In 2001, I went to the Mexico-Honduras qualifier alone using mass transit. This was a do or die game for Mexico. I went there and back on public transport, buying a ticket for 500 pesos minutes before the start, in front of the stadium. Nobody bothered me. I have ridden the Mexico City subway over 100 times and never met foreigners except for once, when I met two Japanese guys. Never been mugged, but I did meet an American who had been mugged outside the Insurgentes Station when he was drunk at midnight. Not a wise move.
To get to Azteca from the Zona Rosa take the subway from Insurgentes Station Direction Pantitlan, change at Pino Suarez, then take Line 2 to the end of the line at Tasquena. You walk 5 minutes to the station for the light rail Tren Ligures, you will need another 5 peso ticket to pass through this control. The tram stops right in the front of Azteca.

 

If you go the mass transit route, remember Tren Ligures has a stop 3 minutes beyond Tasquena, Xoximilco is a station on the tram line, which is something like an Aztec Venice.

 

Sorry, sent message before finishing. Xoximilco is a UNESCO World Heritage site, a network of canals build 1600 years ago, maybe more. You can also walk from Tasquena to Xoximilco. Also on the way near the tram Tren Ligures is the Delores Olmeida Musueum. She was Diego Rivera's constant companion and the museum hosts the largest collection of Diego Rivera paintings. But I have already been to a lot of Diego Rivera exhibitions, and I gave this one a pass, at least for now.
There is also a huge outdoor market outside Tasquena Station.