Estadio San Carlos de Apoquindo

Estadio San Carlos de Apoquindo, also referred to as Claro Arena for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium, in Las Condes in the metropolitan region of Santiago de Chile. The stadium, located into the San Carlos de Apoquindo Sports Complex was built in 1988 and currently holds 20,249 people. It is used mostly for home matches stadium of the Chilean first division club Universidad Católica, which also owns the stadium.

Claro Arena

The stadium before the renovation carried out between 2022 and 2025.
Location	Camino Las Flores, 13000, Las Condes, Chile
Owner	Universidad Católica
Operator	Universidad Católica
Capacity	20,249[1]
Record attendance	20,936[2]
Field size	108 m × 68 m (354 ft × 223 ft)
Surface	Artificial turf
Construction
Opened	1988; 37 years ago (1988)
Renovated	1994, 2012, 2014, 2022-2024
Architect	Esteban Barbieri (1988) César Azcárate (2024)
Tenants
Universidad Católica Chile national football team (selected matches) Major sporting events hosted 1994 Copa Interamericana 2001–02 World Sevens Series 2002 Torneo Apertura Final 2003 Rugby World Cup qualifying 2004 Gracias Chile Tennis Tour[3] 2008 IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy 2008 Campeonato Central de Rugby Final[4] 2011 Copa Chile 2014 Supercopa de Chile 2021 Copa Trasandina[5] 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification

The stadium hosted an Copa Interamericana final, among other events such as Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana and Copa Mercosur matches. Chilean league championships and cups have been held at this venue, mostly in favor of Universidad Católica. The stadium also hosted the Chile national football team in five matches of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.^[6][7]

History

The image shows the stadium during the 2024 renovation and part of the San Carlos de Apoquindo sports complex.

Universidad Católica has owned four stadiums: Estadio Universidad Católica, located in the Maestranza and Marcoleta sector; Campos de Sports de Ñuñoa, which already had an extensive history in Chilean sports; Estadio Independencia, located in the homonymous commune of Santiago and inaugurated on October 12, 1945; and San Carlos de Apoquindo, which opened its doors on September 4, 1988. The football stadium was not the whole complex, the stadium had also rugby, athletics and some other sport fields. The highest attendance for a football match at San Carlos de Apoquindo to date is 20,936, for a 0–0 tie between Universidad Católica and Cobreloa on November 1, 1992.

Universidad Católica has won various trophies while playing home games at the San Carlos de Apoquindo, including the Chilean Primera División in 2002 (Apertura tournament), 2010, 2016 (Clausura tournament), 2019 (Season where the team received the trophy at home without playing the last games due to the social outbreak of that year) and 2020.^[8][9]

In 1994, Católica faced Saprissa of Costa Rica in the final of the 1993 Copa Interamericana at the stadium, winning with an aggregate score of 6-4 (3–1 in favor of each team in the home and away games, and 2–0 in extra time of the tiebreaking game).^[10]

Between 2022 and 2025, the stadium was remodeled. The venue seats 20,249 comfortably.^[1] The press area, locker rooms, and lighting were also improved, and a synthetic turf was installed. Although it was called Claro Arena for commercial reasons, the name San Carlos de Apoquindo remains a social reference for the venue.^[11]

Concerts

Roxette, pictured with Eva Dahlgren in 1987, drew a crowd of 45,000 spectators at San Carlos de Apoquindo, a record set in 1992.^[12]

The stadium has hosted concerts by famous artists, spanning many different genres. The number of recitals performed that same year in San Carlos is recorded in parentheses.

• 1989: UB40^[13]
• 1991: Luciano Pavarotti^[14]
• 1992: Roxette,^[12] Luis Miguel
• 1993: Simply Red,^[15] Pat Metheny^[16]
• 1994: INXS,^[17] Sting,^[18] James Taylor, Eros Ramazzotti, Whitney Houston^[19]
• 1995: Phil Collins (3)
• 1997: Luis Miguel (2)^[20]
• 1998: Oasis,^[21] Andrea Bocelli
• 1999: Luis Miguel
• 2002: Chayanne
• 2003: Miguel Bosé, Luis Miguel
• 2004: Gal Costa, The Chemical Brothers, The Mars Volta, PJ Harvey, Morrissey, Electric Six, Gustavo Cerati, Death in Vegas, Rinôçérôse, Blondie^[22]
• 2005: Gufi,^[23] Avril Lavigne,^[24] Mudhoney (2), Pearl Jam (2)^[25]
• 2006: La Oreja de Van Gogh, Ian Brown, The Bravery, The Rasmus, The Black Eyed Peas^[26]
• 2007: La Oreja de Van Gogh, Tom Jones,^[27] Lucybell, Placebo, Björk^[28]
• 2008: Journey, Peter Frampton, Earth, Wind & Fire, Rod Stewart,^[29] Queen + Paul Rodgers^[30]
• 2021: Los Jaivas,^[31] Los Tres, Javiera y los Imposibles, David Lebón
• 2025: Lionel Richie,^[32] Ricky Martin,^[33] Rod Stewart,^[34] Miranda!,^[35] Los Fabulosos Cadillacs,^[36] Christopher Cross,^[37] Toto^[37]

Along with some of those already mentioned, there were other artists who performed at the old Events Center (Centro de Eventos), attached to the stadium. These include Lisa Stansfield, Camilo Sesto and Air Supply.

Video clips & music

Part of Pearl Jam's "World Wide Suicide" clip was filmed in the dresser rooms of the stadium.

Roxette's hit "It Must Have Been Love" (Live In San Carlos de Apoquindo) was included in their Tourism album (1992). In the booklet it reads: Vocals: Marie Fredriksson / Backing vocals: 45.000 Chilean fans.