Salón de la Fama del Fútbol

Pachuca bills itself as the birthplace of Mexican football, and in the Zona Plateada district it makes the point with a building you cannot miss: a reinforced-concrete sphere painted like a ball, 38 metres tall and 36 across, with three floors and 120 steps. It houses the International Football Hall of Fame, opened on 9 July 2011 by Mexican president Felipe Calderón, Chilean president Sebastián Piñera and then FIFA head Sepp Blatter. The architect was Ricardo Calderón Zorrilla. It is usually described as being in Pachuca, but the plot lies in the municipality of Mineral de la Reforma, inside David Ben Gurion Park.

The idea came from a 2003 newspaper column by journalist Antonio Moreno. Jesús Martínez, president of the Pachuca club, asked him to run the project and insisted it be international rather than purely Mexican. A year earlier FIFA had announced a hall of fame of its own in Valencia, Spain, which was never built. The neighbouring building, put up in 2004-2005 for a contemporary art museum that never took off, was handed by the Hidalgo state government to Grupo Pachuca in mid-2010 and became the Mundo Fútbol interactive centre, which opened the same day as the ball.

Every year a jury of journalists from many countries picks new inductees in four categories: Mexican, international, "deans" and women's football. To qualify, a player needs at least ten years in international competition and five years in retirement. The first ceremony, on 8 November 2011 at the Gota de Plata theatre, inducted 30; the roll now stands at 198 legends, among them Pelé, Maradona, Beckenbauer, Hugo Sánchez, Rafael Márquez, Mia Hamm and Abby Wambach, plus coaches such as Alex Ferguson.

The visit climbs through the sphere: the ground floor holds temporary shows on past induction classes; the second floor has the Mexican and international halls, photo galleries, interactive tables and figures from every World Cup; the third has a 360-degree screen replaying the inductees' best moments. Look out for the wall of inductees, a FIFA tunnel, an alcove for Hugo Sánchez and a balcony that rings the ball. Next door, Mundo Fútbol has more than 50 interactive stations in four themed halls, where you can take penalties, clock the speed of your shot, call a match like a commentator and play on a mini pitch. The basic ticket covers both buildings, the 3D room, padbol courts and Robogenius; the full one adds Mundo Tuzo and a tour of the Estadio Hidalgo.