page_title: O'Higgins F.C.
section_title: First seasons and Golden Age
hierarchical_section_title: O'Higgins F.C. / History / First seasons and Golden Age
caption_attribution_description: Español: Estadio Rancagua (Chile). 30 de Mayo de 1962
context_page_description: O'Higgins Fútbol Club also known as O'Higgins de Rancagua, is a Chilean football club based in Rancagua, that is a current member of the Campeonato Nacional. The club's home stadium is the Estadio El Teniente, opened in 1945 and renovated for the 2015 Copa América, which was hosted by Chile.
  Founded in 1955, the club was named in honour of the country's founding father and supreme director Bernardo O'Higgins, after the merger of the clubs O'Higgins Braden and América de Rancagua. O'Higgins has won two Primera B titles, and in 2013 they won their first top-flight championship against Universidad Católica, coached by Eduardo Berizzo; they later won the 2014 Supercopa de Chile on penalty kicks against Deportes Iquique. The team has competed four times in the Copa Libertadores, once in the Copa Sudamericana in 2012, and once in the Copa CONMEBOL in 1992.
  The club emblem is a phoenix standing upon the club's colours. The club has a long-standing rivalry with regional neighbours Rangers de Talca and Curicó Unido, as well as with clubs from Santiago.
context_section_description: In the 1957 season, still only four points of Universidad de Chile and Colo-Colo, teams champion of Primera División tournament, the club under the orders of the Argentine coach José Salerno, finished in third place alongside Santiago Wanderers, four points lower, making this form one of his most successful campaigns in contests of Primera División, with René Meléndez as the key player.
  Seasons later, was relegated to the Segunda División the team after a 1963 Tournament's poor campaign. The next season, with the signings of the defender Federico Vairo and the attacking midfielder Mario Desiderio, both from the Argentine Primera División, the team returned to Primera División. In special, the performances of Vairo consecrated him as the best footballer in the club's history according to the supporters of Rancagua, who chose the Rosarian centre back with the honour in 1999. Vairo also discovered Lionel Messi, taking it on trial to River Plate, his former club. In the 1964 season, since the promotion, the club made regular seasons, finishing in mid-table and also suffered the departure of Federico Vairo and Mario Desiderio to the Colombian side Deportivo Cali in 1966.
  In the 1973 season, under the orders of the coaches Luis Vera and Jorge Aretio, behind of Unión Española and Colo-Colo, the team and Huachipato finished in third place, returning to the success of this form. After a notable 1978 tournament, the team reached the qualification to the following edition of the Copa Libertadores, in which they achieved their biggest win for an international contest against Deportivo Galicia, beating to the Venezuelan side at Parque El Teniente in the city of Rancagua, and also achieved his most important away win for an international tournament, winning 1–0 at Valencia to the same Galicia. The performances achieved under Luis Santibáñez as head coach was very well, after of be eliminated in by Palestino in the first round, failing to qualify to the semifinal against Paraguayan side Olimpia, because the team of La Cisterna won 1–0 to Rancagua's club with a goal of the historic centre back Elías Figueroa.
  The team directed by Luis Santibáñez reached the fifth place in the Primera División, qualifying to the 1980 Copa Libertadores, via the Libertadores Liguilla, after a notable unbeaten of five matches, finishing in the first position over powerhouse clubs Universidad de Chile and Cobreloa and the mid-club also traditional in Chile, Unión Española of the Independencia neighborhood.
caption: The Estadio El Teniente was host stadium for the 1962 FIFA World Cup.
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