Concacaf Stadium Series Episode #2: Estadio Universitario Alberto "Chivo" Córdoba

For this edition of our Concacaf stadium tour we head down to central Mexico, to the city of Toluca. Toluca's most famous ground is the Estadio Nemesio Diéz, which has been home to the city's main club since 1954, and while it's an impressive stadium that has even made its way into that weird Geico ad, it is not the subject of today's tour.

We are headed to the city's lesser known stadium, the Estadio Universitario Alberto "Chivo" Córdoba. The 32,000 capacity venue actually makes it the largest in the city, but its main tenants, the UAEM Potros, rarely if ever fill it up. The Potros have bounced around the lower divisions of Mexican football since their formation in 1970, but never reached the top flight. They currently sit in the 4th tier of the pyramid, and with the uncertainty surrounding Mexican pro/rel they may never climb higher than that again.

Although the Potros may not be the biggest draw in the world, Mexican soccer fans are still probably familiar with the Universitario due to its use as a temporary home for Toluca in 2016 while the Nemesio Díez underwent renovations. It only takes one glance at the western stands for the place to grab your attention:

The gigantic coliseum style concrete seating is a sight to behold on its own, but the mural that covers the grandstand is what makes the Universitario one of the most beautiful stadiums on Earth. The mural, created by famous artist Leopoldo Flores, was added to the stadium in the mid-1970s, about a decade after the stands were first constructed. Flores called the abstract depiction of a person grabbing the sunlight from the sky the Aratmósfera. I do not have an eye for high art, but I think it's impressive how the mural remains so captivating even though I struggle to see anything other than a splash of colors and shapes.

In addition to the mural, overlooking the stadium high atop a painted cliff that acts as an extension of the Aratmósfera itself, is a gigantic statue of the head of former Mexican president Adolfo López Mateos. The mural is among the most beautiful backdrops you'll ever see in a football stadium; the president's gigantic head is among the most unique.

From up on the cliff you get a fantastic view of not only the stadium, but the entire city. The view is nice on google maps, but certainly this is an overlook worth seeing for yourself.

Sadly, unless Toluca ever returns to the stadium it is unlikely we'll ever see it full again; with only the Potros playing there regularly it may be tough to catch a game with a lively atmosphere. But that shouldn't stop you from seeing the ground altogether. If you ever find yourself in Toluca, the Universitario is a must-visit.

 

Concacaf Stadium Series Episode #1: Canada

Hello Concacaf fans! Hope you are all staying safe and healthy! It sure has been a while since I posted here. Unfortunately, the current state of the region has left us without all that much soccer to watch, though of course Costa Rica managed to sneak in the end of their season and other leagues are beginning to trickle back in. So perhaps there will be some "regular" content to talk about in the near-ish future, but for now I want to introduce a new series of sorts to Concacaf Lives!

What I have cleverly titled the Concacaf Stadium Series will be a series of brief looks at some of the more interesting venues around the region. There are some absolutely tremendous grounds to look at, and since we are not going to be traveling or attending matches for the time being, I wanted to take you all on a virtual soccer pilgrimage. Perhaps, when this is all over, some of you will be inspired to visit these places on a real soccer pilgrimage. For now though, enjoy the images and Google StreetView links when applicable.

Our first stop will be in Concacaf's largest member nation: Canada. While known much more for its ice hockey, there are some beautiful pitches dotted across the northern lands. Canada will of course be co-hosting the 2026 World Cup, and just hosted the 2015 Women's World Cup, and the country's biggest soccer venues, many of which double as homes for CFL teams, are pretty well known.

And perhaps none moreso than the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Originally built for the 1976 Olympics, the stadium is the current part-time home of the Montreal Impact, who use the building exclusively for their biggest games. The iconic 2015 Concacaf Champions League final, in which Dario Benedetto netted a soul-crushing hat trick for América to deny Impact fans the ultimate prize, took place inside the Big O.

In the upper reaches of the country, soccer pitches become increasingly rare. It's just too cold. But Shell Place in Fort McMurray, Alberta, acts as one of the game's northern outposts in the country. The venue hosted FC Edmonton for two special games during the 2015 NASL season, making it, to my knowledge, the northernmost venue to host professional soccer in Concacaf. Seriously, look at Fort McMurray on a map, it is waaaaaay the heck up there.

You can actually find one of those FC Edmonton matches in full here, which can give you a pretty good feel for the stadium.

At the very Western tip of Vancouver, where the land meets the Strait of Georgia, lies the campus of the University of British Columbia and Thunderbird Stadium. The main tenants are various teams of the UBC Thunderbirds, for which the stadium is named, but the Whitecaps reserves used to play here when they fielded a USL team from 2015-2017.

I'm sure the gridiron football lines are upsetting to a lot of people, but I have always liked the cozy look of the single grandstand. It's so neatly tucked into the surroundings.

Our final stop takes us near the Arctic Circle, to Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut. As far North as Shell Place was, it has nothing on the Artic Winter Games Arena. The turf field inside the complex, which hosts local adult and youth leagues, is a testament to the sport's ability to survive in any conditions. Even here in a remote community of just over 7,000, where the temperature is rarely warm enough for an outdoor game, players of all ages take to the pitch each week.

The arena itself is nothing too out of the ordinary for an indoor field, but indoor pitches don't get enough love as it is and it's cool to see the game being played up here. It really speaks to the universality of soccer. You can explore pretty much the whole arena on StreetView, albeit with ice installed over the turf. Just walk right through the front door and take a peek!