Nelson Francisco Espinoza Díaz

Nelson Espinoza came through the Universidad de Chile academy and made the first-team squad in the second half of 2013, debuting in the Copa Chile the following year against Audax Italiano. He never established himself as an undisputed starter at the club, and much of his development happened away from Santiago, on loan spells that took him to San Luis de Quillota, Magallanes and O'Higgins. It was a long, unglamorous route to regular football, but it kept him in nets across several levels of Chilean football through his twenties.

Despite the years spent shuttling out on loan, Espinoza still has silverware from his time at Universidad de Chile: two Primera División titles, in the 2014-Apertura and 2017-Clausura, along with the 2015 Supercopa and Copa Chile. He left the club in 2022 and signed with Deportes Copiapó as a free agent. That move gave him the sustained playing time he had lacked, and in 2023 he helped the club reach Chile's top flight, making his Primera División debut there. The same year, he was named for the best save in Chilean football at the Gala Crack Easy ceremony.

His time with the national team never went beyond the youth ranks. Espinoza was included in Chile's squad for the 2015 South American U-20 Championship in Uruguay but did not play a single minute, staying on the bench throughout. In January 2026, after three seasons at Deportes Copiapó, he moved to Unión La Calera as a free agent, continuing a career built almost entirely on loans and free transfers rather than fees.