CHAPTER 1849: CHAPTER 968: FIRST MATCH OF GROUP D, NATIONAL TEAM VS. AMERICA

Mexico City.

Aztec Stadium.

This stadium is the home field for the Mexican Football Super League and the Mexican National Soccer Team, capable of accommodating 87,523 spectators, and has set the highest record of 119,853 spectators.

Here, the World Cup games have been held twice, in 1970 and 1986, with the finals taking place here, making Aztec Stadium an undeniable monument in the history of world soccer. It witnessed the final glory of Pelé and the moment Maradona conquered the field.

Today.

In this Aztec Stadium, the first match of this year’s America-Canada-Mexico World Cup Group D stage is about to commence, featuring the national team of Xia Country against Team America.

This match is undoubtedly a global spectacle, given that it is a soccer showdown between two superpowers. People are eagerly anticipating who will win the match.

However, on some international social networks, many foreign netizens are more inclined to support Team America. Although Team America’s soccer prowess isn’t overwhelmingly strong, they still have a certain level of strength.

Due to the national team’s performance over the past decade or more, they haven’t left a good impression on foreign fans, with many believing that the national team’s entry into the World Cup is just a matter of luck and that they are not on par with Team America in terms of capability.

Facing such global opinions, the players of the national team are fully prepared and determined to make Team America understand that the national team is no longer the team of old times. This renewed national team will show soccer fans worldwide a brand new team!

"It’s so lively."

Near Aztec Stadium, Ding Yue and his group arrived at the stadium, ready to enter and watch the match. There was still some time before the match started, but many people were already arriving near Aztec Stadium.

Among them were many Chinese.

Moreover, many Chinese have come from various places in North America, even quite a few from South America, as well as domestic spectators, all arriving in Mexico City at Aztec Stadium to watch the match between the national team and Team America.

"There are quite a lot of people. I’ve heard that Aztec Stadium is very large and can hold more than eighty thousand people."

Huang Youjie exclaimed.

"That’s really big, over eighty thousand people; it can rival our Bird-Nest in Xia Country. It’s no wonder Aztec Stadium is quite legendary, and the Mexican team’s soccer ability is pretty strong too. Oh, by the way, what group is the Mexican team in?"

Ding Yue remarked with admiration.

"Group A."

Xu Bin replied with a smile: "Group A is known as the ’group of death.’ Spain, Germany, Mexico, and Italy are all in Group A."

"Wasn’t Italy not qualified for the World Cup?"

Ding Yue asked, puzzled.

"Yue, you must be talking about the last World Cup, right? Italy indeed did not qualify for the last Qatar World Cup, just like our national team; they were among the first to prepare for the 2026 America-Canada-Mexico World Cup. But this year, both Italy and our national team made it to the World Cup, which is quite lamentable."

Xu Bin calmly explained.

"I see."

Upon hearing this, Ding Yue nodded slightly and added: "Then for Group A, it’s likely that Germany and Spain will qualify. Mexico and Italy are still somewhat less impressive than the German tank and Spain."

"That makes sense; I share the same view as Yue."

Huang Youjie agreed with Yue.

Group A being called the ’group of death’ is not without reason. In this group, the strength of Germany and Spain is undoubtedly strong, and being in the same group with these two teams truly induces a sense of despair.

"Let’s not discuss Group A. Let’s focus on our Group D; our primary opponent in Group D is Team America."

Ding Yue brought the topic back to Group D.

After all, the national team is placed in Group D, and the situation in Group D is noticeably better than Group A’s. From Ding Yue’s perspective, Team America is the most threatening, alongside Ecuador Team and Tunisia Team.

These two teams are not very weak, but saying they’re strong is not very accurate either.

Regarding the national team’s matches against Tunisia and Ecuador, Ding Yue remains confident, given that the national team’s current strength is much more robust than in the past.

"Yes, yes, today’s match against Team America poses quite a hurdle for our national team."

Xu Bin analyzed and said: "As long as our national team defeats Team America at Aztec Stadium today, the path ahead should be smoother, increasing the chance of qualifying from the group stage."

"Right, right, let’s go, hurry up and get our tickets checked."

Ding Yue, along with several others, arrived at Aztec Stadium’s ticket-check entrance, ready to have their tickets checked and enter.

Since Ding Yue bought the most expensive VIP tickets for everyone, which are much pricier than standard tickets, they passed through the exclusive VIP ticket-checking channel.