The United States has been playing Mexico in soccer since 1934 but has yet to win a game on Mexican soil. The Americans’ overall record there is 0-23-1, with Game No. 25 set for Wednesday night, when a United States team with many novices and hopefuls will take on Mexico’s national team at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.

Although the United States and Mexico meet often enough in tournaments and World Cup qualifiers, this will be the first time since 1984 that the two countries have played a friendly at the mile-high stadium.

When they first met on a soccer field, in a play-in game in Rome before the 1934 World Cup, the United States won, 4-2. After that win, however, it was 46 years and a couple of dozen games later before another American victory, this one in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in November 1980.

Two decades later, the United States appeared to be on the verge of staking its claim as the new power in the Concacaf region, which includes countries in North and Central America and the Caribbean, when it ousted Mexico in the second round of the 2002 World Cup in South Korea. As the American team continued to defeat Mexico in games in the United States, the perception that the two nations had changed places grew stronger.