| Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos | |
El Coloso (The Colossus) | |
 Interior of the stadium. | |
 Interactive map of Julio Martínez Prádanos National Stadium | |
| Former names | Estadio Nacional (1938–2008) |
|---|---|
| Location | Av. Grecia 2001,Estadio Nacional Sports Park,Ñuñoa,Santiago,Chile |
| Coordinates | 33°27′52″S70°36′38″W / 33.46444°S 70.61056°W /-33.46444; -70.61056 |
| Public transit |   atEstadio Nacional |
| Owner | Municipality ofÑuñoa |
| Operator | Chiledeportes |
| Capacity | 46,190[1] |
| Record attendance | 85,268 (Universidad de Chile–Universidad Católica, 29 December 1962) |
| Field size | 105 m x 68 m |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 1937; 88 years ago (1937) |
| Opened | December 3, 1938; 86 years ago (1938-12-03) |
| Renovated | 2009–10 |
| Expanded | 1962 |
| Reopened | September 12, 2010; 15 years ago (2010-09-12) |
| Construction cost | $18,000,000 |
| Architect |
|
| Main contractors | Salinas y Fabres |
| Tenants | |
| Chile national football team Universidad de Chile Palestino Santiago Morning Deportes Recoleta Deportes Melipilla Real Juventud San Joaquín Municipal Santiago Gremio de Santiago Selknam (rugby club) | |
TheEstadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos (Latin American Spanish pronunciation:[esˈtaðjonasjoˈnalˈxuljomaɾˈtinesˈpɾaðanos],lit. 'Julio Martínez Prádanos National Stadium') is anassociation footballstadium inSantiago,Chile. Located in theÑuñoa commune, it is part of the Estadio Nacional Sports Park, a 62hectare sporting complex which also featurestennis courts, an aquatics center, a moderngymnasium, a velodrome, a BMX circuit, and an assistant ground/warmup athletics track.[2]
Construction began in February 1937 and the stadium was inaugurated on December 3, 1938. Thearchitecture was based on theOlympiastadion inBerlin,Germany. The stadium was one of the venues for theFIFA World Cup in 1962, and hostedthe final whereBrazil defeatedCzechoslovakia 3–1. In 1948, the stadium hosted the matches of theSouth American Championship of Champions, the competition that inspired the creation of theUEFA Champions League[3] and of theCopa Libertadores.[4] The stadium was notoriously used as amass imprisonment,torture, and extrajudicial execution facility by thePinochet dictatorship following the1973 military coup.
In 2009, a complete modernization plan was unveiled for the stadium and surrounding facilities. PresidentMichelle Bachelet said it would become the most modern stadium in South America.[5] A roof above the stands was initially proposed by Bachelet in order to make the stadium an indoor venue, however, this was never completed.[6] The stadium was the opening and closing ceremonies, athletics, and football venue for the2014 South American Games, and hosted the opening ceremonies and the athletics during the2023 Pan American Games. The stadium also hosted the opening ceremonies of the2023 Parapan American Games.
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The stadium was built on former farmland, donated in 1918 by landowner and philanthropist Jose Domingo Cañas. The first sporting event in the new stadium took place on 3 December 1938, with a friendly game between the Chilean clubColo-Colo and Brazilian clubSão Cristóvão, with the former winning 6–3.
It has hosted all matches of the1941,1945 and1955 South American Football Championships, and several matches of the1991 and2015 Copa América.
The stadium hosted the final stages of the1959 World Basketball Championship. It was held outdoors because the intended venue, theMetropolitan Indoor Stadium, was not ready in time.
In the early 1960s, under the government ofJorge Alessandri, the stadium was expanded to host the1962 FIFA World Cup. The main modification was replacing the velodrome that surrounded the stadium with galleries, thereby increasing its capacity to around 95,000.
The stadium hosted group stage games betweenItaly,West Germany,Switzerland and Chile, including a notoriously ill-tempered and violent clash between Italy and Chile which became known as theBattle of Santiago. A quarter-final, a semi-final, the third place play-off, and the final were also held at the ground, where Brazil was crowned world champions for the second time. In the third-place play-off, Chile defeatedYugoslavia 1–0, marking the team's greatest success in international football.
Today, the ground serves as the home field for both the national team and the first-division clubUniversidad de Chile. It also hosts non-sporting events, such as political celebrations, charity events and concerts.
The stadium had been used since 1995 as the final leg of theTeletón withDon Francisco, a 28-hour telecast. The stadium holds up to 100,000 people for this annual event with the Jumbotron showing the required amount required to reach the goal and the current donation level. Exceptions were in 2014 and 2020; the first one was canceled due to bad weather conditions and the second due to the protection afterthe social outbreak.
On July 5, 2008, the stadium was officially renamedEstadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos, in honor ofJulio Martínez, a Chilean sports commentator specializing in football who had a long career in the written press, radio and television, who had died in January of the same year.[7]
After thecoup d'état of September 11, 1973, that ousted PresidentSalvador Allende, the stadium began to be used as a detention facility. An article in theHarvard Review of Latin America reported that "there were over 80 detention centers in Santiago alone" and gave details of the National Stadium and others.[8]
Over 40,000 people spent time in the compound during thejunta regime. Twelve thousand detainees were interned between September 11 and November 7.[9] The field and gallery were used to hold men, while women were held in theswimming pool changing rooms and associated buildings. Locker rooms and corridors were all used as prison facilities while interrogations were carried out in thevelodrome.[10] The Red Cross estimated that 7,000 prisoners occupied the stadium at one point, of whom about 300 were foreigners. According to the testimonies of survivors collected by the humanitarian group, detainees were tortured and threatened with death by shooting. Some were actually shot or taken to unknown locations for execution. Pinochet and other members of the junta would often take turns hollering and swearing at the detainees over the stadium'spublic address system.
FIFA PresidentSir Stanley Rous insisted theUSSR team playa World Cup qualifier at the time. They however refused to do so andChile qualified automatically for the1974 World Cup, where they failed to advance from a group containing bothWest andEast Germany andAustralia.
The use of the stadium during the coup d'état is depicted in the 2002documentary filmEstadio Nacional, directed and produced byCarmen Luz Parot, and in the 2007 Swedish filmThe Black Pimpernel, which is based on the story of Swedish ambassador in ChileHarald Edelstam and his heroic actions to protect the lives of over 1,200 people during and after the military coup.The Black Pimpernel was shot on location in Santiago. The 1982 filmMissing by Greek filmmakerCosta-Gavras depicts the September 11, 1973, coup d'état and execution of American journalistsCharles Horman andFrank Teruggi at the Estadio Nacional.
In 2011, Chile set aside a section of the stadium, a section of old wooden bleachers called"Escotilla 8", to honor the prisoners who were detained there. It is surrounded by a barbed wire fence.[11]
On June 15, 2009, PresidentMichelle Bachelet announced several infrastructure improvements in order to modernize the stadium and its immediate facilities. Out of the total 24 billionpesos (US$42.3 million) contemplated in the plan, 20 billion pesos (US$35.3 million) are destined to bring the stadium up to modern standards. The changes include, a roof covering all the seats, which will also provide illumination; installation of seats around the entire stadium, lowering the current capacity to 47,000; a new state-of-the-artscoreboard; a 2.5 m deep 2 m wide pit will separate the track and the spectators to replace the fence; and several other changes. Because the stadium is anational monument the façade will remain the same, with the roof structure placed on top, without modifying the exterior. The stadium was closed on August 15, 2009. The stadium was scheduled to be reinaugurated in March 2010 to stage a double friendly match between Chile andNorth Korea andPanama, but the works were not finished on time. The construction of the roof has since been postponed by the government of PresidentSebastián Piñera due to financial constraints brought about by theFebruary 27, 2010 earthquake. Although the stadium suffered minor damage from the earthquake, it partially opened to host the match betweenC.F. Universidad de Chile andC.D. Guadalajara forCopa Libertadores 2010. It was officially re-inaugurated on September 12, 2010, during Chile's bicentennial festivities.
On September 12, 2010, during the Chilean bicentennial festivities, PresidentSebastián Piñera announced that the capacity of the stadium will be increased so as to reach 70,000 seats for the2014 South American Games that took place in Santiago.[12] The works started in 2012.[13]
On June 3, 2011, further renovation plans were announced by the government. The complete area surrounding the stadium will be turned into a park to be called "Citizenry Park" (Parque de la Ciudadanía). Over 70% of the new 64-hectare park will consist of green areas, and the rest will include new infrastructure such as a lagoon or restaurants. The park was expected to be ready for the 2014 games. New sporting venues were built for the 2014 games, such as two modern gymnasiums, a new heated pool forsynchronized swimming, a renovated velodrome and an expanded CAR, which will also serve as residence of the future Ministry of Sports. The only venues that will remain are the stadium, the main tennis court, the velodrome, the CAR, the athletics track, the skating track, the hockey field and thecaracolas.[14]
The Estadio Nacional Sports Park was conceived under the improvements of the venue in preparations for the2023 Pan American Games, and included the building of infraestructure for high impact sports and recreative activities, opened in 2023.[15][16]
The highest attendance for a match at Estadio Nacional to date is 85,268, for aPrimera Division match played on December 29, 1962;Universidad de Chile defeatedUniversidad Catolica 4–1.[citation needed] In the 2016–17 season,Universidad de Chile drew an average home league attendance of 30,041 for the Apertura and 33,466 for the Clausura.[17]
Estadio Nacional hosted ten games of the 1962 FIFA World Cup, including the final matches.
| Date | Time (UTC−04) | Team No. 1 | Res. | Team No. 2 | Round | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 May 1962 | 15:00 |  Chile | 3–1 |  Switzerland | Group 2 | 65,006 |
| 31 May 1962 | 15:00 |  West Germany | 0–0 |  Italy | Group 2 | 65,440 |
| 2 June 1962 | 15:00 | Chile | 2–0 | Italy | Group 2 | 66,057 |
| 3 June 1962 | 15:00 | West Germany | 2–1 | Switzerland | Group 2 | 64,922 |
| 6 June 1962 | 15:00 | West Germany | 2–0 | Chile | Group 2 | 67,224 |
| 7 June 1962 | 15:00 | Italy | 3–0 | Switzerland | Group 2 | 59,828 |
| 10 June 1962 | 14:30 |  Yugoslavia | 1–0 | West Germany | Quarter-finals | 63,324 |
| 13 June 1962 | 14:30 |  Brazil | 4–2 | Chile | Semi-finals | 76,594 |
| 16 June 1962 | 14:30 | Chile | 1–0 | Yugoslavia | Third place play-off | 66,697 |
| 17 June 1962 | 14:30 | Brazil | 3–1 |  Czechoslovakia | Final | 68,679 |
The stadium hosts many international and national concerts during the year. In 1977, Spanish singerJulio Iglesias was the first musical act and first solo artist to perform in the stadium.[18] Years later, in 1989,Rod Stewart performed what is considered the first proper rock concert by an international artist in the venue, drawing 70,000 fans to hisOut of Order Tour, with the show being broadcast on TV throughout the country.[19] After that show, the city started being included in many tours from international artists, using several facilities from the Stadium park.
In 2001, Chilean bandLos Prisioneros became the first act to perform two consecutive days in the stadium, whileMadonna is considered the first international artist to achieve the same in 2008. In 2022, Puerto Rican starDaddy Yankee became the first act to sell out three concerts in the venue on a single day,[20] while British bandColdplay became the first act to schedule three and four consecutive concerts as part of the same tour.[21][22] In 2023, Chilean bandLos Bunkers became the second Chilean act to book two consecutive concerts in the venue, after Los Prisioneros achieved the same in 2001.[23] In 2024, Colombian singerKarol G became the first solo female act to sell out three consecutive concerts in the venue.[24] In 2025, Chilean singerMyriam Hernández became the first Chilean solo female act to book a concert in the venue.[25]
Recordings of concerts at the stadium have been commercially released. The show of Cuban folk singerSilvio Rodríguez in March 1990 was released on a 2CD set titledSilvio Rodríguez en Chile, while both concerts ofLos Prisioneros in late 2001 were released on cassette and CD asEstadio Nacional, and on VHS and DVD asLo Estamos Pasando Muy Bien. English heavy metal bandIron Maiden recorded their show in the venue duringThe Final Frontier World Tour in April 2011. The show was released on CD, LP, DVD and Blu-ray asEn Vivo! in March 2012.[26][27]
The following is a list of concerts, showing date, artist or band, tour, opening acts and attendance, separated by decade.
| 1970s | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Headlining Artist | Concert or Tour | Opening acts | Attendance |
| 11 February 1977 | Julio Iglesias | 1977 Tour | — | 60,000-100,000[18] |
| 1980s | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Headlining Artist | Concert or Tour | Opening acts | Attendance |
| 22 December 1987[a] | Pat Metheny Group | Still Life (Talking) | — | 6,000 |
| 7 March 1989 | Rod Stewart | Out of Order Tour | — | 80,000 |
| 10 November 1989 | Cyndi Lauper | A Night to Remember Tour | — | 45,394 |
| 2020s | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Headlining Artist | Concert or Tour | Opening acts | Attendance |
| 20 September 2022 | Coldplay | Music of the Spheres World Tour | Camila Cabello Princesa Alba | 256,916 |
| 21 September 2022 | ||||
| 23 September 2022 | ||||
| 24 September 2022 | ||||
| 27 September 2022 | Daddy Yankee | La Última Vuelta World Tour | Polimá Westcoast | 196,917 |
| 28 September 2022 | ||||
| 29 September 2022 | ||||
| 5 October 2022 | Guns N' Roses | We're F'N' Back! Tour | Molotov Frank's White Canvas | 57,352 |
| 28 October 2022 | Bad Bunny | World's Hottest Tour | Young Cister & Pailita Pablito Pesadilla | 55,278 |
| 29 October 2022 | Pailita Pablito Pesadilla | 55,084 | ||
| 1 March 2024 | Luis Miguel | Tour 2024 | Mario Guerrero | 75,743 |
| 2 March 2024 | ||||
| 19 April 2024 | Karol G | Mañana Será Bonito Tour | Denise Rosenthal | 168,120 |
| 20 April 2024 | ||||
| 21 April 2024 | ||||
| 27 April 2024 | Los Bunkers | Ven Aquí | Fabrizio Copano Pedropiedra | 100,000 |
| 28 April 2024 | ||||
| 29 October 2024 | Aventura | Cerrando Ciclos | Vicente Cifuentes | 60,000 |
| 30 October 2024 | ||||
| 2 November 2024[k] | Slipknot Disturbed Mudvayne Babymetal Amon Amarth Poppy Orbit Culture | Knotfest | — | 30,000 |
| 27 November 2024 | Iron Maiden | The Future Past World Tour | Dogma | 120,000 |
| 28 November 2024 | ||||
| 21 December 2024 | Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Chile Coro Sinfónico de la Universidad de Chile | Oda a la Fraternidad | — | 35,000 |
| 4 April 2025[k][l] | Shakira | Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour | Antonella Sigala | 180,000 |
| 5 April 2025[k][l] | ||||
| 7 April 2025[k] | ||||
| 30 April 2025[k] | System of a Down | Wake Up! Stadium Tour | Ego Kill Talent Sinergia | 65,000 |
| 23 May 2025 | Myriam Hernández | Tauro World Tour | — | 42,000 |
| 30 August 2025[k] | Green Day | The Saviors Tour | Bad Nerves | 55,000 |
| 14 October 2025[k] | Guns N' Roses | Because What You Want & What You Get Are Two Completely Different Things | La Mala Senda | 40,000 |
| 2 November 2025 | Linkin Park | From Zero World Tour | Poppy Tenemos Explosivos | 50,000 |
| 11 November 2025 | Dua Lipa | Radical Optimism Tour | Princesa Alba | — |
| 12 November 2025 | ||||
| 19 November 2025 | Oasis | Live '25 | Richard Ashcroft | — |
| 22 November 2025 | Shakira | Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour | — | — |
| 7 December 2025 | Los Jaivas | Los Jaivas, Siempre | — | — |
| 20 December 2025 | Macha y el Bloque Depresivo | Bloque Nacional | — | — |
| 9 January 2026[m] | Bad Bunny | Debí Tirar Más Fotos World Tour | — | — |
| 10 January 2026[m] | ||||
| 11 January 2026[m] | ||||
| 14 February 2026 | Chayanne | Bailemos Otra Vez Tour | — | — |
| 11 March 2026[k] | AC/DC | Power Up Tour | The Pretty Reckless | — |
| 15 March 2026[k] | ||||
| 8 May 2026[k] | Korn | Latin America 2026 | Spiritbox Seven Hours After Violet | — |
The stadium was built with an original capacity of 48,000 spectators in 1937. At the time, some considered it a "white elephant" because it was thought that it could never be filled. The term also alluded to the charges of corruption against the administration ofArturo Alessandri, which oversaw the stadium's costly construction.[43]
For the1962 FIFA World Cup, seating capacity was increased to 74,000 with overflow areas allowing for a total of more than 80,000 people, by eliminating the cycling track that was moved to another location. Over the years, seating capacity was reduced to keep escape routes clear and prevent accidents.
For the2000 World Junior Championships in Athletics, the installation of individual seats was required, which reduced capacity to 66,000 spectators. This requirement ensured that the stadium could not exceed capacity, as seen with the visit ofPope John Paul II in 1987 (believed to be attended by more than 90,000 people, though no accurate measurement could be taken as attendance was free, with no control), or the closing of the Telethon. The official capacity of the stadium as of 2014 is 48,665.[44]
| Preceded by | South American Championship Finals Venue 1941 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | FIBA World Cup Final Venue 1959 | Succeeded by Ginásio do Maracanãzinho Rio de Janeiro |
| Preceded by | FIFA World Cup Final Venue 1962 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Copa América Final Round Matches 1991 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Davis Cup Final Venue 1976 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Copa América Final Venue 2015 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Copa Libertadores Final Venue 2019 | Succeeded by TBD TBD |
| Preceded by | Pan American Games Opening and Closing Ceremonies 2023 | Succeeded by TBD TBD |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Geographic | |
33°27′52″S70°36′38″W / 33.46444°S 70.61056°W /-33.46444; -70.61056
