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Estadio Nacional
Coloso de José Díaz
Full name	Estadio Nacional
Location	Lima, Peru
Built	1951 - 1952
Opened	October 27, 1952
Renovated	1992, 1996, 2004
Expanded	2004
Owner	Instituto Peruano del Deporte
Operator	Instituto Peruano del Deporte
Surface	Polytan Ligaturf 240 ACS 65
Project Manager	Miguel Dasso
Tenants
Peru national football team Sporting Cristal Deportivo Municipal
Capacity
45,574 (football)
Dimensions
105 x 68

Northern stand of the Estadio Nacional showing the Trinchera Norte, an ultra group of the Peruvian football club Universitario de Deportes.

Close up of the northern stand and the tower.

The Estadio Nacional de Lima is a 45,574-spectator stadium located in Lima, Peru. Inaugurated on October 27, 1952, it has been Peru's principal and national stadium and host for the five Copa América's football competitions held in Peru between 1927 to 1957. It is referred to as the "Estadio Coloso de José Díaz."

Peru obtained its first soccer-based field in the late 19th century, when the club Union Cricket asked the Municipality of Lima for an appropriate piece of land where they could play soccer. The municipality gave them a small piece of land in the Santa Beatriz neighborhood where the old field belonging to a certain club of Lima was situated. On July 18, 1897, the field was officially inaugurated and named Estadio Guadalupe. The Liga Peruana de Futbol (known as the FPF today) used it for the first tournaments in Lima.

In 1921, the English government gave the Guadalupe to Peru as a gift. It had small wooden stands that could not support the city's fans that came every week. They renamed it Estadio Nacional and today is known as the Old National Stadium (Viejo Estadio Nacional). It was in the 1950s, that Miguel Dasso and the Peruvian General President Manuel A. Odria began to fund a project to expand the stadium so that Peru may be able to enjoy the Copa America of 1953 with a larger stadium. They planned to have a spectator-capacity of 48,000 and have it entirely made out of cement. The northern and southern stands would have a capacity of 15,000 each while the preferred eastern and western stands would have three levels. On October 27, 1952, the new Estadio Nacional José Diaz was inaugurated with many comfortable features such as luxury boxes and elevators in one of the stands.

The official spectator-capacity was reduced to 42,000 in 1964. This was done as a result of a tragedy which occurred after a Peru vs. Argentina game which ended in a feeling of discontent by the spectators as they thought a goal from Peru was annulled unfairly two minutes before the game ended. The police took the erroneous decision to close the exit doors and used tear gas to calm violent fans, resulting in the asphyxia of more than 300 persons as people rushed to the stadium's exits and accidentally pushed and knocked down other fans.

In 1992, modern lighting was installed into the stadium. In 1996, an electronic scoreboard was installed to replace the old manual one. The stadium's symbolic element is the tower situated in the northern stand. This tower was abandoned for many years until in 2004, it was used again.

The western entrance to the stadium.

For many years the 42,000 capacity was its official limit, until it was expanded to 45,000 for the 2004 Copa América Group A football matches held in Peru. Very popular international football teams and renowned players have played in this stadium, including Spain's Real Madrid, as well as players like Pelé and Maradona in previous years.

Thanks to a 5-million dollar government investment program to remodel older Peruvian stadiums, spectators were able to enjoy games with the high standards required by CONMEBOL for the Copa América 2004. In return the country received throngs of tourists, international media coverage, and more locals buying tickets to attend the games. Peru's biggest stadium, Estadio Monumental "U", is also located in Lima with a capacity of 80,093 and belongs to the Universitario de Deportes team, although it was not used for the Copa América 2004.

Peru also hosted the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship. This stadium hosted several games including the final. Artificial turf was installed for this competition into all the venues used. The artificial turf still remains in the Estadio Nacional but has received heavy criticism from clubs of the Peruvian First Division, asking to remove it because of the constant injuries it causes.[1]

• Peru national football team
• List of Peruvian Stadiums

• (Spanish) Peruvian Football Federation

Coordinates: 12°04′02.2″S, 77°02′01.4″W