Club Nacional de Football

Nacional
Full nameClub Nacional de Football
Nickname(s)Bolso
Tricolor
Bolsilludo
Decano[1]
Founded14 May 1899; 125 years ago (1899-05-14)
GroundGran Parque Central
Capacity38,000[2]
ChairmanAlejandro Balbi
ManagerMartín Lasarte
LeaguePrimera División
2023Primera División, 3rd of 16
Websitewww.nacional.uy
Preview warning: pattern_ra="_nacional24c", filetype="png" → File:Kit right arm_nacional24c.png does not exist.
Current season

Club Nacional de Football (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈkluβ nasjoˈnal de ˈfuðβol], National Football Club) is a Uruguayan professional sports club based in La Blanqueada, Montevideo.

The club was founded on 14 May 1899 as a result of the merger between Uruguay Athletic Club and Montevideo Fútbol Club.[3] Although its main focus is football, the club hosts many other activities, including basketball, futsal, tennis, cycling, volleyball, and chess.

In domestic tournaments, Nacional has won the Primera División title 49 times, most recently in the 2022 season. Domestic cups honours include Copa de Competencia (8 times) and Copa de Honor (7 times), among others.

At international level, Nacional has won 9 titles recognized by FIFA and CONMEBOL,[4] including three Copa Libertadores. In this tournament, Nacional is the 2nd best club all-time with 618 points.[5] Nacional has also won all three Copa Intercontinental it has competed in, becoming the second three time world champion in 1988. In addition, Nacional is the only Uruguayan team to have won the Copa Interamericana (two times)[6] and the Recopa Sudamericana. In the latter competition Nacional won the inaugural edition in 1989.[7] Besides, Nacional won a record four Copa de Honor Cousenier,[8] three Copa Aldao,[9] two Tie Cups,[10] and one Copa Escobar-Gerona,[11] all of them organized jointly by the Argentine and Uruguayan Associations. Nacional is the most titled club in the world, with 163 official titles.

Nacional is identified with the white, blue and red colours inspired by the flag of Uruguay's national hero José Gervasio Artigas.[12] While the club hosts some games at Montevideo's Estadio Centenario, Nacional plays most of its home matches at the Parque Central, located in the La Blanqueada neighborhood and popularly known as El Parque, where on 13 July 1930 Belgium and the United States played one of the two opening games of the 1930 FIFA World Cup, and where Argentina and Brazil, among others, made their debut in the FIFA World Cup. Parque Central was also the only venue in the 1923 and 1924 edition of the Copa América.[13]

Nacional has fierce rivalries with many clubs, notably with cross-town team Peñarol, in clashes known as El clásico del fútbol uruguayo.[14] Along with Peñarol, Nacional has never been relegated from the top flight of Uruguayan football.

According to CONMEBOL, Nacional was the Uruguayan team with the best international performance in the 2007–2012 period.[15] IFFHS named it as the best Uruguayan team of the 2001–2010 period and the seventh best team in South America.[16]

In February 2013, Nacional reached 60,000 associates.[17]

  1. ^ "Nacional en búsqueda de un triunfo en la Copa Libertadores". Archived from the original on 19 March 2014. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  2. ^ Clásico: Unos 38 mil hinchas tricolores dijeron presente en el Gran Parque Central (spanish). Futbol.uy. 13 November 2023. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  3. ^ "Uruguay – Foundation Dates of Clubs". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 27 September 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
  4. ^ Las competiciones oficiales de la CONMEBOL Archived 22 August 2015 at the Wayback Machine on Conmebol website, 19 Ago 2015
  5. ^ "All-time league table". Archived from the original on 17 January 2017. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
  6. ^ "Copa Interamericana". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 25 February 2011. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
  7. ^ "Recopa". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 29 February 2012. Archived from the original on 7 April 2010. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
  8. ^ Honor Cup Archived 17 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine on RSSSF
  9. ^ "Copa Aldao – Campeonato Rioplatense overview". Archived from the original on 3 September 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
  10. ^ Cup Tie Archived 17 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine on RSSSF
  11. ^ Copa de Confraternidad Escobar – Gerona Archived 8 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine on RSSSF
  12. ^ "Nacional entró con la bandera de Artigas – Diario EL PAIS – Montevideo – Uruguay". Ovaciondigital.com.uy. Archived from the original on 13 September 2012. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
  13. ^ "000webhost.com – free web hosting provider". Parquecentral.com.uy. Archived from the original on 19 June 2010. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
  14. ^ "FIFA.com – Peñarol – Nacional, una rivalidad única". FIFA. Archived from the original on 28 May 2009. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
  15. ^ "Conmebol". Conmebol. Archived from the original on 19 December 2012. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
  16. ^ "IFFHS HISTORY : SOUTH AMERICA'S CLUB OF THE FIRST DECADE (2001-2010)". IFFHS. Retrieved 4 July 2018.[permanent dead link‍]
  17. ^ "La pasión no para: 4.000 nuevos socios". Ovación. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 25 February 2013.