Mexico’s surging World Cup belief has a high-altitude X factor: The Estadio Azteca

A short phrase — three words, five letters — has taken hold of Mexico over the past week. No one is quite sure where it came from, but its prevalence is undeniable.

It has been on the front pages of newspapers. You hear it in cafes and walking down the street.

It’s a question, a spiky little response to internalised self-doubt — and the received wisdom that Mexico, for all the depth of its football history, could never actually challenge for the World Cup.

¿Y si sí?

And what if we did?

With every passing match, the defiance grows stronger. A couple of nerve-settling wins became a faultless record in the group stage. On Tuesday night, Mexico faced their first proper test and aced it, swatting aside an Ecuador side that many assumed would make life hard for them. In the stands, the usual songs were supplemented by the new motto, belief and its opposite slow dancing under the Mexico City stars.

The doubts that surrounded this team have slunk away, one by one, replaced by reasons for optimism. The defence, built around brick-wall brothers Johan Vasquez and Cesar Montes, has been impeccable. Julian Quinones and Raul Jimenez look sharp in attack. Gil Mora, blessed midfield cherub, has played without fear. Then there is Erik Lira, this team’s most important player, a midfielder with so much Scrappy-Doo energy that Hanna-Barbera should probably sue for plagiarism.

More than anything, there is the Azteca.

Manager Javier Aguirre called it Mexico’s “12th man”. Jesus Gallardo, the left-back, said after the win against the Czech Republic that the players could feel the atmosphere. It would, in truth, be a surprise if they could not: the noise doesn’t so much ring out as cascade down the steep stands, a snowball effect for decibels.

It is not a classically intimidating atmosphere. Before the delayed kick-off here, it felt like an open-air dance hall. There were pantomime boos for Ecuador but nothing nasty. When the first whistle blew, however, the Mexico players started as though this was the last day on Earth. Most of them are not, in their day-to-day lives, world beaters. This place, though, does something to them, pours jet fuel into their souls.

This is backed up by history. Mexico have played close to 150 games here — records vary slightly — and have only lost eight times. The last of those defeats came in September 2013. Since then, they have been unbeaten in 26 matches.

It’s a similar story if you look only at World Cup games. This was Mexico’s 10th game at this stadium across the 1970, 1986 and 2026 editions of the tournament. They have yet to lose and have only drawn twice. They have kept eight clean sheets, including three in the past three weeks. This place is a serious stronghold.

There are factors beyond the matchday atmosphere. Mexico City sits over 2,000 metres above sea level. That altitude is more than enough to impact athletic performance, particularly without prior time to acclimatise. Ecuador, who play half of their matches up in the clouds in Quito and El Alto, can’t really use that as an excuse, but it surely was no coincidence that the Czechs ran out of puff in the previous game here.

Aguirre’s team have spent the entire World Cup — as well as a prolonged period before it started — at their permanent training base just outside the city, only leaving briefly to play South Korea in Guadalajara. They train at altitude. They have also been at home, with all of the associated comforts. Contrast that with Ecuador’s players, kept awake by a so-called ‘serenade’ outside their hotel on the eve of the game, and it’s not hard to detect the potential for a competitive edge.

One of the things that Mexico have had to deal with at this tournament is the knowledge that all this cannot last.

Their next game, against England or DR Congo in the round of 16, will be their final one here; win it, and they will have to decamp to the United States. There was an obligation to maximise what the Azteca offers them — and, on the other side of the coin, to give this nation the World Cup it deserved, at least within the bounds of the fixture count. By beating Ecuador, they came good on that mission.

“The relationship we have with the Mexican public has given us a major boost,” a delighted Aguirre said in his post-match press conference. “It was a demanding game but it turned into a beautiful night for the Mexican people.”

The hope, now, is that there is one more of those left in the tank. On Sunday, Mexico will bid to reach the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time in 40 years.

Their new catchphrase will be on everyone’s lips. And the Estadio Azteca will be at their backs, reinforcing a belief that does now dare to speak its name.