History and description

The stadium has an overall capacity of 76,000 and currently hosts matches for the Chilean national team, including qualifiers for the Copa América. The Estadio Nacional de Chile, officially named Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos, officially opened on December 3, 1938 with a friendly match between Colo Colo and Brazilian side Sao Christovao. The stadium has an overall capacity of 76,000 and currently hosts matches for the Chilean national team, including qualifiers for the Copa América. In 1955, a stadium disaster occurred at the site of a football match between Chile and Argentina. Nine people died in a stampede during the game, and the stadium was later condemned as a dangerous place to watch sports.

The Estadio Nacional was remodelled and expanded in the early 1960s in preparation for the 1962 World Cup.

Few changes were made to the stadium in the decades following until it underwent a major renovation in 2009. This renovation included the replacement of all seats and an upgrade of various facilities.

Initially, the remodeled stadium was also planned to have a roof, but this was postponed after an earthquake struck the country early 2010. The reopened stadium officially re-opened in September 2010.

The Estadio Nacional de Chile is owned by the municipality of Nunoa, and it is used for most home matches of the Chilean national team.

The stadium is used by Club Universidad de Chile for most of their home matches, though they have plans to build a new club-owned stadium in the near future.

(photos of the present Estadio Nacional de Chile below)

How to get to Estadio Nacional

The Estadio Nacional is located in Ñuñoa, south-east of Santiago's historic centre (Centro) and about 4 kilometres south of Santiago's well-off Providencia area. The metro station Nuble is a fifteen-minute walk away from the stadium. You can reach Nuble station with the green line L5 from the city centre. Take the metro in the direction of Vicente Valdes. If coming from the Providencia area, a change from the red L1 to the green L5 at station Baquedano is necessary.

These buses will drop you off right in front of the gates.

The easiest way to get to the stadium from the center of town is by catching bus 510 from metro station Los Heroes. Alternatively, you can take line 508, which runs right through the city center over Merced. Buses 515 and 516 all pass directly by the stadium.

Address: Avenida Grecia 2001, Ñuñoa, Santiago

Eat, drink, and sleep near Estadio Nacional

The Estadio Nacional is located in a residential neighbourhood with little entertainment around. While there are the odd local bars or restaurants around, eating and drinking is better done in Santiago's centre or Providencia area. Casa Muriel and Hostel Friendly are the only two hotels in a short walking distance from Estadio Nacional.

If you have more time, it might be a better idea to find a hotel in the centre or Providencia.

Universidad de Chile Tickets

Tickets for Universidad de Chile games can be bought online through Puntoticket, or in person at any of the Puntotickets sales outlets. These sales outlets include the Cinemark cinemas and Ripley stores. Depending on the match, different tickets arrangements can be made. Sometimes it is possible to purchase tickets on the day of the match at Estadio Nacional, but this is not always the case.

Prices for tickets may vary somewhat depending on the occasion. They typically range between CH$ 6,000 for a seat behind the goal and CH$ 35,000 for the best seats at the main stand. Prices will go up for high-profile matches though.

Since the Chile national football team does not own Estadio Nacional, they may at times play a home match at a different stadium when Estadio Nacional is occupied or for other reasons.

Relevant Internet links

The official website of Club Universidad de Chile is udechile.cl. The Santiago section of the website provides information about the metro system and public transport in the city. Alexandra Hall wrote: 10 September 2013 at 12:34 am It is astonishing that there is no information on the use of the Estadio Nacional as a concentration camp following the 1973 coup.

It is astonishing that there is no information on the use of the National Stadium as a concentration camp following the 1973 coup.