Estadio El Teniente

Key facts

Club: O’Higgins FC | Opening: 1945 | Capacity: 14,450 seats

History and description

Estadio El Teniente was built to serve as the sports stadium of American mining company Braden Copper. The stadium was therefore initially called Estadio Braden Copper and hosted the games of Braden football club, which would eventually turn into O’Higgins.

During the 1962 World Cup, the stadium hosted six first round group matches and the quarter-final between Czechoslovakia and Hungary (1-0). The stadium, a relatively small ground, hadn’t been officially proposed as one of the playing venues, but served as a replacement for a number of other stadiums that had gotten damaged in the 1960 Valdivia earthquake.

In the late 1960s, the Chilean state nationalised Braden Copper Company and thus acquired Estadio Braden Copper, which, following the name change of the mine to El Teniente, led to the stadium name change to Estadio El Teniente.

Estadio El Teniente didn’t really change for the next decades, though several stands had to get rebuilt following a fire in 1995.

In the late 2000s, the stadium was part of plans of the Chilean government to upgrade the nation’s stadiums. The concrete redevelopment plans were presented in 2012, and around the same time the stadium was announced as one of the playing venues of the 2015 Copa America.

The redevelopment works started in 2013 and were completed in April 2014. During the 2015 Copa America, Estadio El Teniente hosted two first round group matches.

How to get to Estadio El Teniente

Estadio El Teniente is located just south of the city centre of the small city of Rancagua. The walk from the Plaza de los Heroes in the city centre takes just 10 minutes.

The MetroTren suburban trains connect Santiago with Rancagua. Trains depart from station Alameda, just east of Santiago’s historic centre and on metro line 1. The journey takes about an hour. Rancagua railway station is the last one on the line. It lies just west of Rancagua’s city centre. The walk to the stadium takes about 20 minutes.

The MetroTren service is rather infrequent though, and it may be easier to catch a bus from Santiago’s Terminal Sur bus station, which is located close to Alameda. Tacoha and Nilahue bus companies run buses at least every half an hour for the 70-minute journey. Rancagua’s bus terminal is located north-west of the city centre. The walk from the terminal to El Teniente takes about 25 minutes.

Address: Ramón Freire, Rancagua

O’Higgins Tickets

O’Higgins tickets can be bought online or at the club store at Cuevas 226 in Rancagua’s city centre.

Tickets are generally also available on the ticket windows of the stadium before the match, but the odd exception can apply for high-profile games, for which it is recommended to buy in advance.

Ticket prices depend on the opponent, but for a typical match expect to pay CH$5,000 for a seat behind the goal, CH$10,000 for the Tribuna Andes on the side, or CH$ 25,000 for the main stand.

Tickets for high-profile matches are CH$1,000 to CH$5,000 more expensive. It is furthermore cheaper to buy in advance that on the day at the ticket windows.