Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos - University of Chile Stadium Guide

Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos’ inaugural match was held on 3rd December 1938 between famous Chilean club Colo-Colo and Brazilian’s São Cristóvão, with the home side winning the entertaining friendly 6-3. Constructed on a piece of farmland which was donated to the Municipality of Ñuñoa by a generous farmer, many believed that the stadium would become a white-elephant after opening.

In the early part of the 20th Century football was still growing in popularity as a sport and many considered the initial 48,000 capacity to have been too large – a fact not helped by allegations of corruption between the local council and construction company. However by the time Chile hosted the World Cup in 1962, Estadio Nacional had become much-loved and was even expanded for the tournament.

With a new capacity of 74,000 Estadio Nacional hosted seven matches of the tournament including three group games and a match from every knock-out stage including the final between Brazil and Czechoslovakia. The National Stadium also hosted the third place play-off which saw Chile defeat Yugoslavia 1-0, marking the nation’s greatest football achievement to date.

The stadium was officially renamed in honour of a recently deceased sports journalist in July 2008, becoming known as Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos. This was followed a year later by an estimated $42.3 million worth of renovations to the stadium, with the lions share of the budget dedicated to modernising the ageing facilities with the capacity reduced to a more comfortable 48,665 – close to the original figure.

Below is a seating plan of University of Chile's Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos: