Mercury

No crying in the casino

A man who fears pain more than failure will taste both.

[Anish Moonka @anishmoonka]

The firm behind Wembley and Tottenham's stadium designed a football ground in Mexico, then pointed it at a mountain. They dropped the roof on one end so the open side frames the Cerro de la Silla, the saddle-shaped mountain that rises over Monterrey, sitting right behind the pitch.

That view in the clip came first. The architects, a firm called Populous, built the stadium around it, and they have said the mountain was one of the biggest reasons it looks the way it does. The roof stands tall on the north side and slopes down toward the south, opening up so the mountain fills the gap above the stands.

The roof is one solid piece that reaches 55 meters out over the crowd, longer than an Olympic pool, with nothing holding it up from underneath. It shades fans from a summer sun that climbs past 40°C, or 104°F. The sides stay open so the air keeps moving. Instead of closing the place up and running air conditioning, Populous cut "gills" into the metal shell, angled to catch the breeze and push warm air up and out. The building cools itself.

The metal shell is a nod to the city's past. Monterrey built its fortune on steel and had the first iron and steel foundry in Latin America, so the stadium is wrapped in steel and aluminum, which got it the nickname "El Gigante de Acero," the steel giant. The lopsided, sweeping shape comes from an odd place: the outline of old brewing stills, a tip of the hat to the beer-making the city has done since 1890.

Inside, they pulled the crowd right on top of the grass. The first row sits 9 meters from the field. At the club's old ground, it was 27. The stands tilt back at 34 degrees, one of the steepest angles in the Mexican league, packing all 53,500 seats close to the pitch, which is part of why it gets so loud.

FEMSA, the drinks giant that owns the club, paid for all of it. The bill came to around $200 million, making it the most expensive stadium ever built in Mexico when it opened in 2015. In 2024 it became the first stadium in Latin America to earn LEED Gold, a major green-building rating, for how it handles energy and water.

So the view in that clip was drawn into the plans years before they laid the first beam. The whole building is a frame, and the mountain is the picture.

[San Cadilla El Norte @SancadillaNorte]

Me sorprende lo rápido que los holandeses se adaptaron a la Ciudad, traen el acento regio, es más, unos hasta consiguieron trabajo como burócratas del Gobierno del Estado.

[FURIA @FURIA]

tk

[I7 @Isahinho]

dios mío los tuits xenófobos entre Brasileros y Japoneses JAJAJAJAJAJA

[Rеvеn @RevenRV]

La traducción automática durante este mundial:

[Emi Montxnx 🇲🇽/🇵🇹 @emimontxnx]

JAJAJAJAJAJAJA HASTA LA RUCA LE ENTRÓ A LA GRITADERA Y SE PUSO A GRABAR, QUE PUTA MAGIA DE PAÍS.

[0800CJ @0800Cj]

Lo de los japoneses contra los bazucas

[Roberto Haz @tudimebeto]

Uffff no mames qué locura toda la afición de Marruecos tomando las calles de Monterrey para hacer una fiesta antes de su partido contra Holanda🇲🇦❤️🇲🇽

Es el mejor Mundial de la historia🏆✨

[Mundo Despectivo @MundoDespectivo]

Pero que es esta maravilla.

[ッピの小屋 @ppi_hut]

そんなにでかい国土があってサッカーと強盗だけしかしてないの！？

[Joaconel. @Joaconel]

Sabes que se acerca el final de la película (mundial) cuando la casa del villano (Mbappé) se ve así

[chaotic memes @memechaotic]

How is this my first time seeing this 💀

[َ @MessiiiGoat]

تغيرت مسيرة ميسي الدولية ابتداءً من هذي اللحظة

[Jay-C @JayC_Trades]

Lo bueno de poner entradas a 2k usd

[🇸🇪 @trscabj]

Argentina ya jugó con esta Colombia

[A.🕊️ @MrSnowflake09]

Clips from Obama 1.0 administration...

[Brailovskismo. @CF_America_13]

Hay que investigar al portero de Jordania. Cómo te van a meter ese gol. Es una vergüenza lo de la FIFA con Messi.

[Ataque Futbolero @AtaqueFutbolero]

JAJAJA, un hincha argentino PIERDE LA BILLETERA, arman una canción con el nombre del dueño, lo encuentran y pasa esto.

MOMENTAZO TOTAL. 😅🇦🇷