Can England defy the history, altitude and atmosphere at Mexico's mythical Azteca fortress and keep their World Cup dream alive?

The Azteca is a truly mythical arena, the scene of some of the most memorable matches and moments in world football history.

There's a plaque at the ground commemorating 'The Match of the Century' between Italy and West Germany at the 1970 World Cup, but it was also the venue for the final, which saw Brazil legend Pele lead the greatest international team of all time to the most iconic of tournament triumphs.

For some, though, the Azteca will forever be associated with Diego Maradona, who, in space of four magical minutes in Mexico City in 1986, scored the game's most infamous goal, and its most beautiful.

However, Mexico's own tournament history is tied to the Azteca.

El Tri have participated in 17 previous World Cups. Only twice have they made it as far as the quarter-finals and, on both occasions, they were the sole host nation.

In 1970, Mexico played all three of their group games at the Azteca, where they drew with the Soviet Union before beating both El Salvador and Belgium to progress to the knockout stage.

However, despite finishing level on points with the Soviets, Mexico were assigned second spot after the drawing of lots, and that meant having to play their quarter-final against Italy in Toluca, rather than Uruguay at the Azteca. Perhaps inevitably, El Tri were routed 4-1 by the Azzurri.

Mexico suffered similar disappointment after being taken away from their spiritual home in 1986. Having once again gone undefeated at the Azteca in the group stage, Mexico then beat Bulgaria at the same venue in the last 16 to set up a quarter-final clash with West Germany.

However, the game was staged in Monterrey, where El Tri suffered an agonising 4-1 loss on penalties after playing out a 0-0 draw with the eventual runners-up.

For many Mexicans, the scheduling had been a determining factor, as the common consensus was that they would have beaten the Germans at the Azteca. Why? Because of the atmosphere, in every sense.

For starters, the Azteca is a magnificent arena with a capacity of more than 87,000, so when it's packed to the rafters with Mexico fans, as it will be for Sunday's last-16 showdown with England, it has the power to both inspire and intimidate.

As Aguirre said after the 3-0 win over Ecuador in the round of 32, the Azteca crowd has been his team's "12th man" at the World Cup.

"I don't mean to say that we don't have support elsewhere," the coach clarified after a third consecutive World Cup victory in Mexico City without conceding a single goal. "But here we are aware that we have a whole country behind us, and that motivates us a lot. I would say that we are all excited about what's to come."

England, by contrast, are viewing their trip to the Azteca with trepidation, and that's because of the other great aspect of the Azteca, the fact that its located 7,300 feet (2,200 metres) above sea level.

"The altitude will be, of course, a big disadvantage, because we cannot physically adapt to it in four days," Tuchel said after the win over DR Congo. "It just takes too much time. We have only three days in between this match. That is just a huge advantage that Mexico will have."

The hosts will certainly be better acclimated to the Azteca, where the air is thinner, meaning less oxygen reaches the bloodstream and that, in turn, results in an increase in heart-rate, dehydration and fatigue.

The preferred strategy for coping with high attitude is to arrive weeks beforehand to get the body used to the conditions, but the only alternative available to England is to try fly in as close as possible to kick-off to negate the effects.

It's "hardly ideal" preparation, as Czech Republic coach Miroslav Koubek put it, and his opinion should be of great relevance to England, as his side have already done what Harry Kane & Co. are about to do, namely go from playing a game in Atalanta to battling El Tri at their fortress in Mexico City.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it didn't go well for the Czechs, who slumped to a 3-0 defeat at the Azteca that ended their participation in the World Cup.

Of course, it has to be said that England are a far stronger side than the Czechs, while it's also worth pointing out that even though Mexico haven't lost at the Azteca since 2013, they've only played one top-10 team during that time - Portugal, in March of this year. Nonetheless, Tuchel is rightly wary of the hurdle that has been placed between the Three Lions and a place in the quarter-finals.

Ecuador arrived at the Azteca on Tuesday brimming with belief after a famous win over Germany, and with no real worries about playing at altitude having long hosted World Cup qualifiers in Quito, and yet they couldn't cope with the crowd.

"The whole stadium has got their back," Ecuador midfielder John Yeboah explained, "and I think that gives them a big push forward."

The bond that's been formed between the team and the supporters has certainly been mutually beneficial. With four World Cup wins on the spin, Mexico have certainly done a lot to unite a country that was in turmoil less than a month ago.

"It's true that right now, this week or the last two, there's a lot of joy, internally too," Aguirre said ahead of fourth game at a ground that fills his players with confidence. "You can tell just by watching the training. They're serious when training, but when it comes to making adjustments, they're disciplined.

"I feel... I've been in and out of the national team, but we're in a good place." In truth, Mexico couldn't be in a better place for a World Cup clash with England than their beloved Azteca.