Estadio Gran Parque Central - Nacional - Montevideo

Key facts

Club: Club Nacional de Fútbol | Opening: 1900 | Capacity: 34,000

History and description

Estadio Gran Parque Central officially opened on 25 May 1900, and two days later Nacional played their first match at the stadium. The encounter versus Deutscher FK ended in a 1-1 draw.

In the first decade of the 20th century, Nacional only played sporadically at Gran Parque Central and it took until 1911 for the club to finally say goodbye to their ground at Camino Cibils. At the same time, they completely renovated the facilities of Gran Parque Central.

In 1918, Nacional player Abdón Porte shot himself in the centre of the pitch of the stadium. His act followed his exclusion of the club’s first team, which was hard to accept for the former club idol.

The stadium was rebuilt after a fire partly destroyed it in 1923. Until the opening of Estadio Centenario in 1930, it was Uruguay’s primary football stadium.

Estadio Gran Parque Central hosted six group matches at the 1930 World Cup. These matches had not been planned, but heavy rains delayed the completion of Estadio Centenario.

A new stand was built in 1944, but few changes were made in the following decades and Nacional increasingly used Estadio Centenario for their home matches.

In 2003, the club announced a major renovation program and two years later an upgraded Gran Parque Central reopened with a friendly between Nacional and Paraguayan side Olimpo.

Works continued in 2009 with the construction of extra tiers on top of the stands behind both goals. These were completed in the summer of 2012, following which two out of four corners of the stadium were filled up.

In 2015, plans were presented for the further expansion of the stadium. Phase one, the addition of an extra tier behind one of the goals and extra rows of box seats on one of the sides, was completed in 2020. The second phase, an extra tier on top of the other stand behind the goal, will follow in the next years, after which capacity will have been raised to 40,000.

(photos of the present Estadio Gran Parque Central below)

How to get to Estadio Gran Parque Central

Estadio Gran Parque Central is located in central Montevideo, about 4.5 kilometres north-east of its historic city centre.

The stadium lies a short walk away from Estadio Centenario, as well as from the main Tres Cruces bus terminal.

From the historic centre you can reach the stadium with bus 4, 77 100, 102, 103, 105, 106, 109, 110, 111, 112, and 113. All these buses follow the same route.

Take any of the above buses from Av. 18 de Julio (just after Plaza Independencia). The buses follow Montevideo’s main avenue and then take a slight turn left onto the Av. 8 de Octubre. Get off at the corner of Av 8 de Octubre and Jaime Cibils.

Address: Carlos Anaya 2900, La Blanqueada, Montevideo

Nacional Tickets

Tickets for Nacional matches can be bought online, or through one of the Redpagos sales points, of which there are many across the city, e.g. Indumex Rincon in the historic city centre.

Tickets can often also be bought at the ticket windows (ventanillas) of the stadium on the day of the match.

Tickets tend to range in price from UR$600.00 to UR$1,800.00.