49ers Top Brass Bears
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A San Francisco 49ers helmet on the sidelines during a preseason game.
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he San Francisco 49ers face a pivotal offseason. Despite finishing 12-5 and returning to the playoffs after a one year absence, the 49ers dealt with a rash of injuries to several core players, including Fred Warner, George Kittle, Brandon Aiyuk, and Brock Purdy among others. Ready to return to Super Bowl contention in 2026, the 49ers have a lot of decisions to make about their roster, needing to fill holes at several spots.
But the ’26 season will test the 49ers in more ways than one. Announced as one of the teams that will play in Australia in the NFL’s first ever game in the country, the 49ers face a grueling travel situation for that game– with Australia being the farthest NFL game away from the United States ever. But it looks like the 49ers travel schedule just got a whole lot harder, with the team set to play a game in Mexico as well.
49ers Go Global
First reported by ESPN Deportes’ John Sutcliffe, the 49ers will return to Estadio Azteca and be the designated home team for a game at some point in the season– returning to Mexico for the second time since 2022. Now, the 49ers will become the first team ever to play two international games in nonconsecutive weeks– giving them around 38,000 travel miles in 2026, the most ever for a team in regular season history.
But a trip to Mexico is something that is very welcomed by the 49ers. Team owner Jed York revealed last week that the team wanted to be the home team for this game, already preparing to give up a home game at Levi’s Stadium in favor of an international trip.
“For us, Mexico is one of our markets,” York said. “We will most likely give up a home game this season to play abroad, and Mexico is always No. 1 on my list.”
Over the last 20 or so years, the NFL has held six games in Mexico City– with the 49ers playing in two of those games. And now that the NFL signed a multi-year deal to play games in Mexico again, it would not be a surprise to see the 49ers be a prime candidate to play in Mexico’s capital each year of the deal.
49ers’ International Game History
Over the course of their history, the 49ers have played in four international games– in 2005, ’10, ’13 and ’22. And in those games, the 49ers are 3-1.
In 2005, the 49ers faced the Arizona Cardinals in Mexico City, losing 31-14 as part of a 4-12 campaign. But since that loss, the 49ers have dominated in international games, beating the Denver Broncos 24-16 in 2010 and the Jacksonville Jaguars 42-10 in 2013 in London before beating the Cardinals again in Mexico City in 2022 by a score of 38-10.