Estadio Azteca – where Maradona scored his ‘Hand Of God’ goal against England – is being monitored by radar from space as Mexico City sinks up to 10in a year
The iconic football stadium where the World Cup will kick off is feared to be sinking – and bits of it are dropping off. NASA has started monitoring the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City by radar from space as parts of the capital are plummeting up to 10in-a-year.
The revelation came as fans reported chunks of concrete breaking off the floor of the famous 87,500-seat stadium where Diego Maradona scored his notorious ‘Hand Of God’ goal to dump England out of the 1986 tournament.
Within the past few days supporters have posted videos online showing them taking the splinters home as souvenirs. Some of the crumbling sections had been renovated for the World Cup.
Tournament co-hosts Mexico are due to play South Africa there in the opening fixture on June 11. The match will be preceded by a lavish 90-minute opening ceremony starring Alejandro Fernández, Belinda, Danny Ocean and Lila Downs.
Co-hosts America and Canada will stage their own the following day with Katy Perry headlining in Los Angeles and Alanis Morissette and Michael Bublé starring in Toronto.
But in one video filmed at the Azteca posted last week the concrete floor of a recently repaired stand can be seen shedding fragments. The damage emerged during the first leg of the Liga MX Clausura 2026 quarter-finals.
Photos and videos posted by the crowd showed loose concrete scattered across the stands. One fan said: “I have a souvenir from the match.”
No injuries have been reported but the images have heightened criticism of the condition of the stadium built in 1966. It was first in the world to host two World Cup finals – in 1970 when Brazil beat Italy 4-1 and in 1986 when Argentina defeated West Germany 3-2.
And it is the only stadium in the world to witness two of the greatest players in the history of the game – Pele and Maradona – winning the World Cup.
But fans fear for its condition at next month’s tournament with Mexico City battling one of the fastest subsidence rates in the world.
Boffins are so worried about the city’s infrastructure the US space agency is monitoring it in real time using one of the most powerful radar systems ever launched into space.
The NISAR satellite can detect minute changes in the Earth’s surface through thick vegetation or cloud cover.
It found some parts of Mexico City, including the main airport, were sinking by more than half-in-inch a month – one of the fastest rates in the world.
The 114ft Angel of Independence statue – built in 1910 to commemorate 100 years of Mexican freedom – has had to have 14 steps added to its base because the land around it has sunk so much.
Across the city buildings tilt at dangerous angles, roads are warping and parts of the underground metro system have fractured.
Efraín Ovando Shelley, an engineer at Mexico’s National Autonomous University, said: “It affects the entire urban infrastructure of the city – the streets, the pipes for water distribution, the water supply, the drainage pipes.”
The sinking is a result of centuries of pumping out half of the city’s water supply from an aquifer beneath it.
Because the city was built on an ancient lake bed the soil is soft and when water is pumped out from beneath it the clay-like earth compacts resulting in subsidence.
Groundwater pumping has increased to satisfy the city’s growing 9.2m population – speeding up shrinkage under the weight of the buildings above.
The water table is currently contracting by 16in-a-year. As the city sinks in on itself the aging pipes that pump water across the urban centre crack and break.
The capital now loses 40% of its water due to leakage. Bids to tackle the problem have so far involved fortifying the foundations of ancient buildings.
Experts say NISAR imagery will help monitor the rate of sinking but may not yield a solution.
Efraín said: “To stop the sinking we would have to stop water extraction. And if we stop water extraction what water are we going to drink? The standard joke is that if we can’t drink water, well, let’s drink tequila.”
Marin Govorčin, a scientist at NASA’s jet propulsion laboratory, said NISAR took ‘radar imaging observations of Earth to the next level’ and revealed the true extent of Mexico City’s plight.
“Nisar will see any change big or small that happens on Earth from week to week. No other imaging mission can claim this,” he said.
“Mexico City is subsiding primarily due to pumping of groundwater from the aquifer below the city at a rate that far exceeds natural recharge from precipitation. As water is withdrawn the aquifer compacts under the weight of the city above it.”
Enrique Cabral, a researcher studying geophysics at the National Autonomous University, said: “It damages part of the critical infrastructure of Mexico City, such as the subway, the drainage system, the water, the potable water system, housing and streets.
“We have one of the fastest velocities of land subsidence in the whole world. It’s a very big problem.”
It is now known if the damage to the Azteca captured on fans’ videos is due to subsidence or construction issues.
FIFA did not respond to a request for comment.