SANTA CLARA – The globe-trotting 49ers will make NFL history next season by playing international games on two different continents, including hosting a game in Mexico City, the NFL announced Wednesday morning.
Compounding the 49ers’ worldwide travel itinerary is a season opener against the Los Angeles Rams in the league’s Australian debut in Melbourne.
The multi-continent international scenario does not sit well with several 49ers, who also will play games from coast to coast in the United States.
“That’s not fair. The NFL, I feel, is doing us a disservice,” fullback Kyle Juszczyk said two weeks ago in an exclusive interview with this news organization. “Because if we’re going to talk about health and safety, to do two international games like that, it is almost like playing three games in 13 days,” which is how the 49ers squeezed in the end of this past regular season.
San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan arrives ahead of the NFL Super Bowl 58 football game Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024, in Las Vegas. The Kansas City Chiefs play the 49ers on Sunday. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan arrives ahead of the NFL Super Bowl 58 football game Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024, in Las Vegas. The Kansas City Chiefs play the 49ers on Sunday. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Al Guido, the 49ers’ CEO, put a positive spin on the Mexico assignment that was confirmed with Wednesday morning’s announcement.
“We are thrilled to return to Mexico and to play in front of one of the most passionate fan bases in the league,” Guido said in an NFL-issued statement. “After two unforgettable experiences in 2005 and 2022 in Mexico City, we’re excited to reunite with the Mexico Faithful and look forward to the energy local fans will bring in creating a true home-field advantage for our team abroad.”
No date or opponent was announced for the 49ers’ third regular-season trip to Mexico City. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced two weeks ago, however, that December was when the league would return to Mexico for the first time since the 49ers’ 2022 win there over the Arizona Cardinals.
Goodell, when asked by this news organization at his Feb. 2 press conference, did not confirm the 49ers would be cast into a first-of-its-kind international doubleheader spanning both hemispheres. Three days later, the league announced the 49ers indeed would be the Rams’ guest at Melbourne Cricket Ground as part of the NFL’s record nine international games this season.
“Australia is pretty far,” running back Christian McCaffrey said before Pro Bowl practice Feb. 2. “I’d love to see how the schedule would work. Transparently, that might be a little too far.”
A nonstop flight from San Francisco to Melbourne is close to 16 hours, whereas Mexico City is a simpler 3-hour flight.
Performers prior to the start of the regular season NFL game between the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, Mexico on Sunday Oct. 2, 2005. ( (AP Photo/Marco Ugargte)
(AP Photo/Marco Ugargte)
Performers prior to the start of the regular season NFL game between the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, Mexico on Sunday Oct. 2, 2005. ( (AP Photo/Marco Ugargte)
When Goodell spoke Feb. 2, he said the NFL’s international schedule hadn’t yet been finalized, “but the 49ers, from Day 1 back in the ’80s, were raising their hand and saying, ‘We’ll go,’ and I have no doubt that they’ll want to participate.”
Last week, as rumours continued to swirl over the 49ers’ Mexico and Australia trips, tight end George Kittle posted a picture of him on Instagram wearing a Mexican wrestling mask while holding a crocodile.
As the Rams’ guest in Australia, the 49ers will miss out on their annual fan-friendly matchup at SoFi Stadium, although the 49ers will play the Los Angeles Chargers there, which also will serve as site of Super Bowl LXI on Feb. 14.
Other away games are at Arizona, Seattle, Dallas, Kansas City, New York (Giants) and Atlanta.
Coach Kyle Shanahan was among those none too pleased when the NFL repeatedly scheduling the 49ers to play on short rest late last season, including Saturday games against the eventual champion Seahawks in both the regular-season finale and the divisional-round playoffs. In between those defeats was a wild-card playoff win at Philadelphia.
For the first time since Levi’s Stadium opened in 2014, the 49ers are giving up a home game to go international; three games were moved to Arizona during the 2020 COVID pandemic.
Mexico City has not hosted a NFL game since the 49ers beat the host Arizona Cardinals 38-10 on Nov. 21, 2022, after the Niners spent the week practicing in Colorado Springs, Colorado, for the high-altitude conditions at Estadio Azteca.
Since rebranded as Estadio Banorte, Mexico City’s 83,000-seat stadium has been undergoing renovations that not only kept the NFL away the past three seasons but has cast doubt whether it will be completed in time to host the June 11 FIFA World Cup opener between Mexico and South Africa.
San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel scores a touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals, Monday, Nov. 21, 2022, in Mexico City. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
A.P. Photo
San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel scores a touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals, Monday, Nov. 21, 2022, in Mexico City. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
“We’re delighted to host the San Francisco 49ers once again in Mexico City for the 2026 NFL Mexico Game,” NFL director general Arturo Olive said in a statement. “Returning to Estadio Banorte highlights our strong, ongoing commitment to Mexico. Few places generate the kind of energy we see here, and we look forward to being back in a country that plays such a meaningful role in the growth of our game.”
Mexico City is where the 49ers lost 31-14 to the Cardinals in 2005 when the NFL played its first regular-season game outside of the United States. The 49ers have won their three international games since then: at London’s Wembley Stadium in 2010 (vs. Denver) and in 2013 (vs. Jacksonville), as well as the 2022 win over Arizona in Mexico.
The NFL, as announced during Super Bowl week, is committed to playing a game in Mexico each of the next three seasons.
Also on its international calendar this season are three games in London (two at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, one at Wembley); in Madrid, Spain (Bernabéu Stadium); in Munich, Germany (FC Bayern Munich Arena); in Paris, France (Stade de France Stadium); and in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil (Maracanã Stadium).
The 49ers’ home opponents this season are the Cardinals, the Seahawks, the Los Angeles Rams, the Denver Broncos, the Las Vegas Raiders, the Philadelphia Eagles, the Washington Commanders, the Miami Dolphins and the Minnesota Vikings.
The 49ers played exhibitions in London four times (1988, 1992, 2010, 2013), as well as in Japan (Tokyo 1989, ’95; Osaka 2002), Germany (Berlin 1991), Spain (Barcelona 1993) and Canada (Vancouver 1998).
The NFL opened the past two seasons in São Paulo, Brazil, with the Philadelphia Eagles beating the Green Bay Packers in 2024 and the Los Angeles Chargers topping the Kansas City Chiefs last Sept. 5.
The NFL’s full schedule should be released within two months, and Australia’s long-distance debut figures to pit the 49ers-Rams matchup as the opening game. The 49ers last played in an NFL season opener in 2002, with a 16-13 win over the host New York Giants.