Confirmed: The San Francisco 49ers will play in Mexico City this year

The San Francisco 49ers are headed backmost to Mexico City successful 2026, anchoring the NFL’s instrumentality to a market the league sat retired for 3 consecutive seasons during stadium renovations and World Cup preparations.

The squad with 5 Super Bowl championships from 1981 to 1994 volition service arsenic the location squad for a regular-season crippled astatine renovated Azteca Stadium — present tabbed Estadio Banorte successful a 12-year naming-rights woody to assistance money the work.

Al Guido, precocious promoted to CEO of the 49ers, said the players are “excited to reunite with the Mexico Faithful.” (SF 49ers)

The 49ers’ opponent, on with the crippled day and kickoff time, volition beryllium announced erstwhile the afloat 2026 NFL docket is revealed this spring.

Only the 49ers were announced this week, with the league treating it arsenic a “home squad designation” reveal.

We besides cognize that the crippled volition beryllium played successful December, according to a connection from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, and that the league besides has agreed to instrumentality to the Mexican superior for games successful 2027 and 2028.

This year’s crippled volition people the 49ers’ 3rd regular-season quality successful Mexico City aft a 31-14 nonaccomplishment to the Arizona Cardinals successful 2005 — the NFL’s archetypal regular play crippled extracurricular of the U.S. — and a 38-10 triumph implicit the Cardinals successful 2022 earlier 78,427 fans.

The 2005 crippled drew a then-NFL-record assemblage of 103,467 to Azteca Stadium, a decennary up of a large refurbishment (VIP boxes, widened aisles, idiosyncratic seats) that reduced the stadium’s capableness by astir 20,000. That grounds fell to a 2009 Dallas Cowboys’ location crippled that drew 105,121 fans.

The 2022 crippled marked the NFL’s 5th regular-season crippled successful Mexico City, including a tally of games successful 2016 (Oakland Raiders 27-20 implicit Houston Texans), 2017 (New England Patriots 33-8 implicit Raiders) and 2019 (Kansas City Chiefs 24-17 implicit Los Angeles Chargers). Each drew crowds successful the mid-70,000s.

In precocious 2024, the NFL was talking astir an expected return to CDMX for the 2025 season, but reports soon began circulating that the crippled was successful peril — and by outpouring it was known that the NFL was again skipping Mexico.

For 2026, the NFL has scheduled a grounds 9 regular-season games crossed 4 continents. There volition beryllium games successful 7 countries astatine 8 stadiums: Mexico City, Madrid, Munich, Melbourne, Paris, Rio de Janeiro and London (three games successful 2 stadiums).

NFL Director General Arturo Olive said the league is “delighted” to person the 49ers backmost successful Mexico City, and 49ers CEO Al Guido said the players are “excited to reunite with the Mexico Faithful.”

The 49ers are 1 of 10 teams that clasp selling rights successful Mexico arsenic portion of the league’s Global Markets Program, an inaugural to physique marque consciousness and fandom beyond the U.S.

Media reports person floated NFC West rivals specified arsenic the Arizona Cardinals and Los Angeles Rams, arsenic good arsenic the Miami Dolphins, among imaginable opponents for the 49ers.

Fans tin motion up present for entree to tickets, merchandise and peculiar offers related to the crippled successful Mexico City.

The 49ers volition go the archetypal squad to play 2 planetary games successful nonconsecutive weeks successful a azygous season. In summation to the Mexico City game, they are slated to look the L.A. Rams astatine the Melbourne Cricket Ground successful Week 1 of the 2026 play connected either Sept. 9 oregon 10.

With reports from NFL.com, ESPN.com.mx, El Financiero and AS México