The Soccer Hall of Fame, (known as Salón de la Fama del Fútbol in Spanish) is a football museum and FIFA's hall of fame for professional footballers from Mexico and from all over the world. It is located in Pachuca, Mexico. The Hall of Fame includes two sections: Mexican and international football. It is currently the only official FIFA-recognized hall of fame.Mundo Fútbol in Pachuca de Soto - atlasobscura.com
Background In 2002 five days before the start of the World Cup, FIFA announced plans to open its own FIFA Hall of Fame in Valencia, Spain, with a planned inauguration of November 2004. The hall would be built and run as a joint venture between FIFA, Spain's football federation and the municipality of Valencia. However, the museum was never built.
A year later, in 2003 in Mexico, a proposal of a commemorative site for the personalities who contributed to the construction and success of soccer in the country became publicly known after a newspaper article written by Antonio Moreno. Afterwards, he was contacted by the president of the Pachuca Football Club, Jesús Martínez, who proposed to start a project for the materialization of his idea in Pachuca, the birthplace of Mexican football.Pachuca, the birthplace of Mexican football - mlssoccer.com The museum and hall of fame would be the anchor in the institution's plan to accompany the University of Football and the club's sports facilities. Jesús Martínez also suggested that the museum should be international and not only local.
Museum
On March 13, 2005, the David Ben Gurion Park was inaugurated; a Museum of Contemporary Art was originally planned in this complex. The building that would house the Museum of Contemporary Art was built between 2004 and 2005. In mid-2010, the Government of the state of Hidalgo ceded the building to the Pachuca Group, arguing that the building was abandoned. The building would house the Museum of Contemporary Art became the headquarters of the Mundo Fútbol Interactive Center, the Soccer Hall of Fame.
Construction work was completed on June 9, 2011, by the architect Ricardo Calderón Zorrilla, using reinforced concrete. The building is shaped like a sphere that emulates a huge soccer ball. It has a height of 38 m and a diameter of 36 m; It has three levels and 120 steps.Beloglovsky pide rescatar el museo - milenio.com
On July 9, 2011, the President of Mexico, Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, accompanied by the President of Chile, Sebastián Piñera Echenique and the head of FIFA, Sepp Blatter, inaugurated the Soccer Hall of Fame and the Mundo Fútbol Interactive Center. On November 8, 2011, the first Investiture Ceremony was held at the Gota de Plata Auditorium Theater, where 30 soccer players were inducted.
Inductees Source: rsssf.org
As a criterion to be inducted, a player must have participated at least a total of ten years in official international competitions, and have retired for five years.
In italics players who were retired and eligible for selection in the inaugural Class of 2011, but they were inducted later.
Inaugural Class of 2011 +MexicoWorld Ignacio Trelles Enrique Borja Jorge Campos (GK) Raúl Cárdenas Salvador Reyes Carlos Reinoso José Cardozo Guillermo Cañedo Héctor Hernández Luis de la Fuente Horacio Casarín Miguel Marín (GK) Hugo Sánchez Cabinho Antonio Carbajal (GK) Alfredo Di Stéfano Bobby Charlton Eusébio Franz Beckenbauer Ferenc Puskás Gerd Müller Garrincha Johan Cruyff Lothar Matthäus Lev Yashin (GK) Michel Platini Mário Zagallo Diego Maradona Pelé Zinedine Zidane
Class of 2012 +MexicoWorldDeans Carlos Hermosillo Alex Aguinaga Luis Hernández Jaime Gómez (GK) Benjamín Galindo Cristóbal Ortega Luís Roberto Alves Manuel Negrete Javier de la Torre Guillermo Aguilar Álvarez Bobby Moore Dino Zoff Emilio Butragueño Just Fontaine Jules Rimet (executive) Mario Kempes Marco van Basten Obdulio Varela Rinus Michels (coach) Ricardo Zamora (GK) Fernando Marcos González (coach, referee) José Antonio Roca (coach) Juan Carreño
Class of 2013 +MexicoWorldDeansWomen Luis Fernando Tena Bora Milutinović Alfredo Tena Mágico González Franco Baresi George Weah Paolo Maldini Adalberto López Rafael Garza Gutiérrez Renato Cesarini Mia Hamm
Class of 2014 +MexicoWorldDeans Javier Aguirre Leonardo Cuéllar Nemesio Diez Manuel Lapuente Sir Alex Ferguson (coach) Carlos Valderrama César Luis Menotti (coach) Romario Santiago Bernabéu (director) Isidro Lángara Giuseppe Meazza
Class of 2015 +MexicoWorldDeansWomen Luis García Enrique Meza Víctor Manuel Vucetich Daniel Pasarella Luis Figo Ruud Gullit Vicente del Bosque (coach) Amadeo Carrizo (GK) Alcides Ghiggia Laszlo Kubala Michelle Akers
Class of 2016 +MexicoWorldDeansWomen Claudio Suárez Jared Borgetti Ricardo Ferretti Karl-Heinz Rummenigge Paolo Rossi Ronaldo Zico Telmo Zarra Francisco 'Panchito' Hernández José Luis Lamadrid Sun Wen
Class of 2017 +MexicoWorldDeansWomen Alberto García Aspe Carlos Miloc Ramón Ramírez Enzo Francescoli Hristo Stoichkov Pep Guardiola Jorge Valdano Francisco Gento Ignacio Calderón (GK) Guillermo Sepúlveda Birgit Prinz
Class of 2018 +MexicoWorldDeansWomen Fernando Bustos Héctor Zelada (GK) Miguel Mejía Barón Carlos Bilardo (coach) Cafu Roberto Baggio Roberto Rivellino Aarón Padilla Arlindo dos Santos Juan Alberto Schiaffino María Eugenia Rubio Silvia Neid
Class of 2019 +MexicoWorldDeansWomen Pável Pardo Miguel Calero (GK) Tomás Boy Didier Deschamps Gabriel Batistuta Arrigo Sacchi (coach) Javier Zanetti Tomás Balcázar Gustavo Peña Raymond Kopa Alicia Vargas Sissi
Class of 2020 +MexicoWorldDeansWomen Pablo Larios (GK) Antônio Carlos Oswaldo Sánchez (GK) Ronaldinho Fabio Cannavaro Raúl González Roberto Carlos Vicente Pereda Jesús del Muro Didi Maribel Domínguez Pia Sundhage
Class of 2023 +MexicoWorldDeansWomen Rafael Márquez Cuauhtémoc Blanco Óscar Pérez (GK) Fernando Quirarte Ricardo La Volpe Emilio Azcárraga Milmo Carlo Ancelotti (coach) Francesco Totti Carles Puyol Xavi Kaká Rivaldo Samuel Eto'o José Alves "Zague" Isidoro Díaz Uwe Seeler Pretinha Andrea Rodebaugh
Class of 2024 +MexicoWorldDeansWomen Sinha Rodrigo Ruiz Carlos Salcido Ricardo Peláez Hernán Cristante (GK) Omar Bravo Andrea Pirlo David Beckham Oliver Kahn (GK) Juan Román Riquelme Iván Zamorano Diego Simeone José Luis Chilavert (GK) Jaime Belmonte Walter Ormeño (GK) Sepp Maier Esther Mora Kristine Lilly
Class of 2025 +MexicoWorldDeansWomen Luis Flores Miguel España Ignacio Ambríz Tita Francisco Palencia Gerardo Torrado Iker Casillas (GK) Carlos Dunga Gary Lineker Ronald Koeman René Higuita (GK) Diego Forlán Osvaldo Castro Bernardo Hernández Ubaldo Fillol (GK) José Martínez "Pirri" Guadalupe Tovar Abby Wambach
Class of 2026 +MexicoWorldDeansWomen Oribe Peralta Christian Giménez Antonio Mohamed Ramón Morales Fabián Estay Humberto Suazo Thierry Henry Alessandro Del Piero Bebeto Miroslav Klose Fernando Torres Davor Šuker Teófilo Cubillas Sócrates Gerónimo Barbadillo Ignacio Flores Mónica Vergara Homare Sawa
See also FIFA World Cup awards FIFA Museum International Football Hall of Champions
Notes
References
Sources All Hall of Famers (Ranked)
External links Hall of Fame of Soccer Mexico and World (RSSF) Mundo Fútbol at visitmexico.com Official website Hall of Fame