Teams, tales and tips – a football fan's guide to Monterrey
Which city generates the highest average attendances in Mexico’s Liga MX, among the top ten most lucrative leagues in the world? Mexico City? No. Guadalajara? No way, José. It’s Monterrey.
And not just five-time champions CF Monterrey, who play in front of 45,000 fans every home game at the Estadio BBVA https://estadio-bbva.mx/, a 2026 World Cup venue – but also their city rivals, Tigres UANL, based at the Estadio Universitario, where four games took place for the 1986 tournament.
Given that Tigres usually attract 40,000-plus, too, the Clásico Regiomontano between them is arguably the fiercest in Mexico, tickets snapped up straight away. The name refers to mountainous terrain surrounding Monterrey. Towering over the Estadio BBVA to the south-east rise the four peaks of the Cerro de la Silla, a symbol of the city. The location is officially Guadalupe, a separate community a few kilometres east of Monterrey.
CF Monterrey – known as the Rayados after their blue-and-white striped shirts – have only played here since 2015. Before then, the Stripes mainly played at the Estadio Tecnológico, another 1986 World Cup host. It was here that England lost their opening game of that campaign to Portugal and drew 0-0 with Morocco.
In 1999, the club was bought by FEMSA (Fomento Económico Mexicano SA; Mexican Economic Development plc), a powerful multinational involved in beverage and retail. It oversees the bottling of more units of Coca-Cola than anywhere in the world, in what is considered the richest city in Mexico. It was FEMSA which developed the Estadio BBVA, the eco-friendly Steel Giant of 53,500 capacity, co-designed by Populous of Wembley fame and prestigious Mexican architects VFO.
Green-lit in 2010, the stadium was created with serious green credentials, blending in with the ecological park around it. The curtain-raiser in 2015 pitted CF Monterrey against Benfica, competing for the Eusébio Cup, named after the great Portuguese star who played ten games for the host club in 1975.
Halfway between the city centre and Guadalupe, Parque Fundidora hosts the Fan Festival, where Avenida Fundidora meets Adolfo Prieto.
Getting here
Arriving in town and city transport
Monterrey International Airport is 17 miles (28km) north-east of the city centre and, until the completion of line 6 of the Metrorrey network, is only connected by road. If you’re not in a hurry and on a budget, the Ruta Express bus (MX$15/US$0.90, every 20-30mins, 4.30am-10.30pm) to town sets off from Terminal C and calls at some 20 stops before arriving at José Martí near Estación Y Griega.
From town, it goes from Estación Y Griega to Terminal A. Journey time might be 90mins or might be 2hrs, depending on traffic along main Miguel Alemán. Pay cash on board, purchase a rechargeable Me Muevo card (MX$20/US$1.15) from a metro station or convenience store or download the Urbani travel app for Apple or Google Play. A free shuttle links all three termini at the airport.
Alternatively, also from Terminal C, the Noreste service (MX$140/US$8, every 30-45mins) runs to Monterrey Central bus station (45min-1hr journey time) at Avenida Cristóbal Colón 855 by Cuauhtémoc metro station. The Grupo Senda runs hourly services from the airport (referred to as ‘Aeropuerto Mariano Escobedo (NL)’ on timetables) Terminal C to Estación Y Griega for about the same price, journey time 90mins-2hrs.
Both Y Griega and Cuauhtémoc are on the same line 1 of the Metrorrey network as Exposición, its terminus and the nearest station to Estadio BBVA a 10-15min walk south, making it an easy transfer. A single metro journey is MX$10/US$0.60, a combined or longer one, MX$15/US$0.90. Alternatively, it’s a good 40-50min walk south-east from the city centre.
From its outlets in the airport terminal, Taxi Seguro (+52 81 1649 2295 )offers fixed rates to various points in town, charging around MX$500/US$29 depending on your destination. It also has a main dispatch office at the Central bus station.
Where to Drink
The best pubs and bars for football fans
A short hop south of the Estadio BBVA in a residential quarter some 2km away, the screen-filled Stadium Doce Sports Bar Club (Paseo de las Américas 2101) ticks all the right boxes, filling its narrow space with framed CF Monterrey and Tigres shirts and match tickets, serving superior bar food and pouring various types of bottled beer into chilled glasses. Open noon to midnight daily.
Further south, in the lively district of Contry at the foot of La Silla, the recently opened Strikers Sports Joint (Avenida Eugenio Garza Sada Sur 3680) puts the focus on food, served in bare-brick surroundings offset by rows of screens beaming out football
On the same avenue nearer the centre, La Taberna House of Brews offers two-dozen sought-after varieties on tap in five sizes running up to a litre glass and a growler, including from domestic producers such as local Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma and Cervecería Rrëy, in a stand-alone wooden house dotted with TV screens.
Alongside, the Monterrey branch of the Mexico-wide McCarthys Irish Pub lives up to its motto (‘Let’s Rock!’), keeping students from the nearby university happy with house lager, pub grub and plentiful TV football.
On the fringes of the Historic Quarter, where bars surround cobbled streets, the Beer Saloon Barrio Antiguo attempts to recreate the days of the Old West while treating guests to TV sport, ice-cold beer and wood-fired pizzas.
