SAN FRANCISCO — The Dallas Cowboys will play their first international game in more than 10 years with a trip to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the 2026 regular season, the NFL announced Thursday.
The date of the game and opponent will be announced at a later date.
“I have a lot of business in Brazil,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Thursday night from the Super Bowl. “I’ve had it for 35 years and the largest automobile dealership, with a partner. It would be great to have those Cowboys [fans] involved. It’s exciting.”
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The Cowboys last played internationally in 2014 in London, a 31-17 victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars. That was also their first regular season international game since the league started scheduling games outside of the United States in 2007. Dallas’ 11-year stretch of not playing internationally was the longest in the NFL.
Overall, the Cowboys have a 2-7-1 record in international games, with nine of those contests being preseason games. The Cowboys have played preseason games in London, Tokyo and Mexico City.
Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones expressed a desire to play in Mexico City because of the franchise’s huge fanbase in Mexico.
The NFL has committed to play nine regular-season international games in this upcoming season, with a contest coming to Mexico City in December.
Last year, the NFL announced it would play three games over the next five seasons in Rio de Janeiro’s famed Maracanã Stadium.
NFL teams have played in Brazil the last two seasons. The Packers-Eagles (2024) and Chiefs-Chargers (2025) games were played in Sao Paulo at Corinthians Arena.
NFL teams are required to give up a home game to play internationally once every eight years. Jones has said in the past that some teams vetoed giving up a home game against the Cowboys because Dallas is a huge road draw.
When teams have nine home games, they normally want to give up one of those dates for an international contest, which is the situation with the Cowboys.
The NFL’s bigger goal is to have every team play internationally at least once a year.
“I’ve said it many times, 16 games, so that every team is playing a regular season game every season,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said this week at the Super Bowl.
“I think that’s an important mark for us to go for. I think we’re well on our way, with the desire we have from our side, but also the desire for people to have this in their communities, and some of the greatest cities in the world are asking to do this.”
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