Estadio Carlos Vega Villalba

Estadio Carlos Vega Villalba
Coloso de Tres Cruces; "The Colossus at Tres Cruces"; Socavón de la Avenida México; "The Sinkhole at Mexico Avenue"
	Interior of the stadium
	Interactive map of Estadio Carlos Vega Villalba
Full name	Estadio Carlos Vega Villalba
Former names	Estadio Francisco Villa (1986-2018)
Location	Zacatecas, Zacatecas, Mexico
Coordinates	22°46′0.44″N 102°32′57.40″W / 22.7667889°N 102.5492778°W
Owner	Zacatecas State Government
Operator	Grupo Islo
Capacity	20,777
Surface	Grass
Scoreboard	Manual
Construction
Groundbreaking	1985
Built	1985
Opened	1986
Renovated	2014
Expanded	2018
Tenants
	Real Sociedad de Zacatecas (Ascenso MX) (1996–2003); Aguilas Reales (Segunda División de México) (2007–2014); Tuzos UAZ (Segunda División de México) (2013–present); Mineros De Zacatecas (Liga de Expansión MX) (2014-present);

Estadio Carlos Vega Villalba, formerly known as the Estadio Francisco Villa is a multi-use stadium in Zacatecas, Zacatecas, Mexico. It is used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium for Mineros de Zacatecas. It holds a capacity of 20,777 people. Besides from football, the facility also hosts regional athletics events and practices. The running track is generally open to the public for jogging and running.

History

This stadium was originally a part of a project to build a multi-purpose stadium for the city, the project included a Sports Complex (Unidad Deportiva Benito Juarez) and other facilities like Gimnasio Marcelino González, located across the street. The stadium was opened on June 12, 1986, with a friendly international soccer match between the Leones Negros UdeG and the South Korea national under-20 football team. The Mexican team emerged winner by 1–0 with Francisco Ríos scoring the first goal.

In late 2017, the stadium was expanded from 14000 seats to 20,777 and renamed in honor of local football coach Carlos Vega Villalba.^[2]

Football

The stadium has been home to several football teams, the highest level to be played in the Stadium is the second tier of the Mexican football league system with three stints:

The original Mineros de Zacatecas played a single season in Segunda División, until its relegation to Segunda División B in 1986-87.
Real Sociedad de Zacatecas Played at the second-tier from 1997 to 2003 when the franchise relocated to Altamira, Tamaulipas, reaching the final once in the Invierno (Winter) 1997 tournament, losing to Pachuca.
Mineros de Zacatecas: Currently plays in the second level since 2014, having played the final once in Clausura 2016 losing to Necaxa.

Also Tuzos UAZ, a team that participates at the Liga Premier de México, third tier of Mexican football, regularly plays home matches at the stadium. UAZ was runner-up in the 2018–19 season after losing the final against Loros, and champion in Apertura 2022 after defeating Tampico Madero, but lost the promotion to Expansión MX after narrowly losing to the same team at the 2022-23 championship series.

Club friendly matches

Villa has hosted a number of friendly matches between Liga MX teams and one official fixture between Santos Laguna and C.D. Guadalajara (1–1 draw) in September 8, 1996.^[3]

2010: Santos Laguna 1-2 Jaguares de Chiapas
2011: Santos Laguna 2-1 América
2013: Jaguares de Chiapas 1-0 Monterrey
2014: Pachuca 1-2 Querétaro
2014: Pachuca 1-2 León
2018: Pachuca 0-0 Chivas
2024: Cruz Azul 3(4)-3(5) Chivas
2024: Pachuca 3-0 Chivas
2025: Chivas 3-1 Santos Laguna
2025: Cruz Azul 2-0 Santos Laguna

International matches

Mexico defeated the U.S. Virgin Islands 9–0 in a 2026 CONCACAF W Championship qualification match on April 10, 2026, held at Estadio Carlos Vega Villalba. Maria Sanchez led with four goals while Charlyn Corral, Kiana Palacios, and Scarlett Camberos also scored in the lop-sided Group A victory

10 April 2026

19ː00 UTC−6