Who Are the Biggest Teams in Chilean Soccer?

These three Chilean soccer teams have an incredible 80 percent following! This is out of all the soccer fans in Chile.

What makes a ‘big club’ in soccer? Well, we could look at the number of supporters, the number of trophies they’ve won, or even use some sort of “greatness index” for their particular league. Today, we’re going to look at the three biggest teams in Chilean soccer. Do you know which ones they are?

Which are the three biggest teams in Chilean soccer?

Many sports analysts focus on three things when deciding whether a team counts as a ‘big’ club or not. The first obvious measure is how many people go to see home matches. Then, they consider national popularity. And finally, they look at the number of national and international titles that they’ve won. So, taking all this into account, who are the biggest teams in Chilean soccer?

1. Colo-Colo

Its full name is Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo and it’s based in the Chilean capital city, Santiago. Colo-Colo was founded in April 1925 by David Arellano and a group of former soccer players from Club Deportivo Magallanes (founded in 1897).

Their team colors of white and black have been the same since their foundation, and their stadium is known as The Monumental. Their team crest contains the colors of the Chilean flag (white, red, and blue). In 1927, they added a black band as a symbol of mourning for founder Arellano, who died during an international tour. Since 1950, the crest has also featured the figure of a Mapuche man.

Colo-Colo’s official matches began right from its inception, and they formed part of the professional league from 1933. It’s the only team to have featured in every season of the league.

As for national titles, the team has 32 Primera División titles, 12 Copa Chiles, and two Supercopas. They’ve won more titles than any other team in the country and their main rival is Club Universidad de Chile.

Regarding international titles, Colo-Colo has won one Copa Libertadores, one Recopa Sudamericana, and one Copa Interamericana. They achieved all of this between 1991 and 1992.

2. Biggest teams in Chilean soccer: Club Universidad de Chile

The second of the biggest teams in Chilean soccer is also based in the country’s capital and was founded in May 1927. However, some authors dispute this and claim that the club began in March 1911. In reality, it was registered with the Santiago Football Association as University College and then later merged with another team to create Club Universitario de Deportes de Chile.

In 1934, they changed their name again to Club Deportivo de la Universidad de Chile. Since 1980, they have been known simply as Club Universidad de Chile.

The ‘U’ plays in a completely blue kit, and their crest consists of a red and white owl on top of a large letter ‘U’. Club Universidad plays its home games at the Julio Martínes Prádanos National Stadium, which can hold just over 48,000 people. Their main rivals are Colo-Colo and Universidad Católica, with whom they have played the university derby since 1937.

Club Universidad has won 18 Primera División titles and finished runners-up eight times and won the Segunda División in 1989. They’ve also won five Copa Chiles and one Supercopa de Chile. Internationally, they’ve only won one Copa Sudamericana in 2011 (they lost the final of the Recopa Sudamericana in 2012 against Santos in Brazil).

3. Universidad Católica: biggest teams in Chilean soccer

The soccer team at Club Deportivo Universidad Católica is one of the greatest teams in Chile. It was founded in April 1937 by a group of athletes from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.

The Crusaders wear blue and white and their crest is triangular with a white background, a blue cross, and red letters with the initials CDUC. This symbol copies the combat uniform of the Christian crusaders, and the club’s motto is: “For Country, God, and University”.

Universidad Católica plays its home games at the San Carlos de Apoquindo Stadium, which opened in 1988 and has capacity for almost 15,000 spectators. The team has spent 80 seasons in the Primera División and just three seasons in the second tier.

They’ve won 14 Primera División titles, four Copa Chiles, two Supercopa de Chile trophies, one Copa de la República, eight Liguilla Pre-Libertadores trophies, and two Segunda División titles. They also triumphed in the Copa Interamericana in 1994 and finished runner-up in the Copa Libertadores in 1993.

Amazingly, these teams are all based in the same city, and as a result, are all historic rivals. Between them, they have the support of almost 80 percent of the country’s soccer fans. These are doubtlessly hugely important clubs for Chilean soccer!