Cowboys to play the first NFL game in Rio de Janeiro in 2026

If you haven’t paid much attention to anything Cowboys-related over the last few weeks, it was announced that the Dallas Cowboys will play the first-ever NFL game in Rio de Janeiro later this year, the NFL announced Thursday.

This will be the third game in Brazil, but the first one ever in Rio de Janeiro.

It will mark the first international game for the Cowboys since they beat the Jacksonville Jaguars in London over a decade ago.

Rest Of The Details?

Well, those have yet to be released. The game will be held in Maracanã Stadium, though the date, time, and the Cowboys’ opponent have yet to be announced.

Still, I am sure they will find a way to make this one of the only games on TV that night so that everyone and their mother can tune in and make sure that the Cowboys draw all the numbers. I am sure Jerry Jones has already made the call to make this happen.

Heck, it might even take place as the opening night kickoff game. Who knows!

Brazil is home to more than 36 million NFL fans and is one of the league’s most significant international markets.

The announcement follows the NFL’s multi-year commitment to bring at least three regular-season games to Rio de Janeiro over the next five years, reinforcing the league’s long-term investment in Brazil.

As noted above, the only other regular-season game the Cowboys have played outside the U.S. occurred in 2014 when they faced the Jaguars at Wembley Stadium in London.

Dallas won the game 31-17, but 11 full seasons have gone before the Cowboys have gone out of the country.

https://twitter.com/VoiceOfTheStar/status/2019566316068434332?s=20

Before that, the Cowboys had played all international games in the preseason, including games in Mexico City, Monterrey, Toronto and Tokyo.

The NFL also announced the 49ers and Rams will play in Melbourne, Australia during the 2026 season as well.

The league has played two games in Brazil (2024: Packers-Eagles; 2025: Chiefs-Chargers) in São Paulo at Corinthians Arena.

I think it is a good thing that teams are playing in other parts of the country. The only issue I have is how they schedule it.

To me, the best thing would be to have the teams either play the game following a bye week or allow them to have the bye week the following week.

Heading internationally and playing these games is always hard to watch, but if the players are given extra time either before or after, I think it would improve the play on the field very greatly.

Honestly, down the road, I think at some point we are going to see a team over there for good and not just playing games internationally.

Sixty-two regular-season NFL games have been played outside the United States, with London, Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Madrid, Dublin, São Paulo, Mexico City and Toronto having hosted games to date.

As soon as more details get released about this game I will come back and update this post, but either way, it will be fun to see how many Cowboys fans come out for the game in that country. I think it will be a lot.

The Cowboys have a lot to worry about before we get to that point though, you can check out all the important offseason dates here.

It will start with getting some important players signed and then worrying about what they plan to do with their two first round picks. The offseason started well with the new defensive staff. Now they just need to make sure they finish the job and get the right personnel in the building and match what they are building on that side of the ball.