By Chalien Dantes

The San Francisco 49ers are heading overseas twice in the 2026 NFL season. 

The five-time Super Bowl champions had already locked in a matchup against the Los Angeles Rams in the league’s first-ever game in Australia, and they have now confirmed they will also serve as the home team for the NFL’s return to Mexico.

The league is bringing regular-season football back to Mexico City after a four-year pause, with a new three-year agreement in place. The exact date and opponent are still to be announced, but the game will take place at the renovated Estadio Azteca, which has been upgraded ahead of this year’s World Cup. 

The 49ers have a long history, with games in Mexico, having played in the first regular-season contest there in 2005, as well as the most recent one in 2022.

With this move, they become just the third team to play two international games in the same season, and only the second to do so in two different countries, following the Minnesota Vikings, who appeared in Dublin and London last season, and the Jacksonville Jaguars, who played twice in London in recent years.

The NFL plans a record nine international games in 2026, spanning four continents, seven countries, and eight stadiums, as the league continues to grow its global reach.