Mexico’s World Cup ‘curse’ faces ultimate test on home soil

Mexico will become the first country to host three World Cups when the renovated Estadio Azteca again takes centre stage from June 11, but beneath the historic milestone lies a national team still wrestling with decades of disappointment and instability.

The weight of “la maldicion del quinto partido” — the failure to reach the quarter-finals since 1986 — has haunted Mexican football for generations....