The Chargers will open their 2025 season by facing the three-time defending AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs in San Paulo, Brazil Sept. 5, the first of their five games in prime time.
The 5 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time Friday game at Corinthians Arena will be streamed free to most of the world on YouTube. It will also be shown by a Los Angeles television station to continue fulfilling the NFL's policy of showing all of a team's games on broadcast television in its market.
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The Chargers will be considered the home team.
The game will make the Chargers the first NFL team to play on five continents, including preseason.
When they were based in San Diego, the Chargers faced the then-St. Louis Cardinals in a 1976 preseason game in Tokyo in the first NFL game played outside of North America. They played in preseason games in Berlin against the New York Giants in 1994, in Tokyo against the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1996 and in Sydney against the Denver Broncos in 1999.
This will be the Chargers' fourth regular-season game outside the United States and first since 2019 when they lost to the Chiefs, 24-17, in Mexico City. The Chargers are 1-2 in regular-season international games.
The Chargers will play twice on "Monday Night Football" -- Sept. 15 at Las Vegas and Dec. 8 against the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles at SoFi Stadium. The Chargers will play on "Sunday Night Football" Nov. 9 against the Pittsburgh Steelers and on "Thursday Night Football Oct. 23 against the Minnesota Vikings, both at SoFi Stadium.
The Chargers' first regular-season game of 2025 at SoFi Stadium will be on Sept. 21 against the Denver Broncos, the NFL announced Wednesday as it revealed the bulk of the 2025 schedule.
The Chargers' other games at SoFi Stadium will be on Oct. 5 against the Washington Commanders, Oct. 19 against the Indianapolis Colts, Nov. 30 against the Raiders and Dec. 27 or Dec. 28 against the Houston Texans.
Their other road games will be on Sept. 28 against the New York Giants, Oct. 12 against the Miami Dolphins, Nov. 2 against the Tennessee Titans, Nov. 16 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Dec. 14 against the Chiefs, Dec. 21 against the Dallas Cowboys and Jan. 3 or 4 against Denver.
The date for the Week 18 game will be determined and announced following the conclusion of Week 17.
NFL rules allow games to be shifted in and out for prime time from the fifth through 17th weeks of the 18-week schedule.
The NFL's schedule is based on a formula assuring that a team will face each of the 31 other teams at least once over four years.
During a season, a team plays home and road games against each of the other three teams in its division, one game each against all the teams in one division in its conference and one in the other conference, the remaining teams in its conference that finished in the same position in the standings as it did and the team from a designated division in the other conference that finished in the same position it did.
The Chargers were second in the AFC West in 2024 with an 11-6 record and lost at Houston, 34-12, in a wild-card playoff game.
The NFL earlier announced that the Chargers will begin their four-game preseason schedule July 31 by facing the Detroit Lions in the Hall of Game in Canton, Ohio.
On Wednesday, the league announced that the Chargers will play preseason games Aug. 10 against the New Orleans Saints and Aug. 16 against the Rams, both at SoFi Stadium, with Rams designated as the home team.
The Chargers will conclude the preseason at San Francisco on a date to be announced.
Here is the Chargers' 2025 regular-season schedule:
Sept. 5: Kansas City (at San Paulo, Brazil)
Sept. 15: at Las Vegas
Sept. 21: Denver
Sept. 28: at New York Giants
Oct. 5: Washington
Oct. 12: at Miami
Oct. 19: Indianapolis
Oct. 23: Minnesota
Nov. 2: at Tennessee
Nov. 9: at Pittsburgh
Nov. 16: at Jacksonville
Nov. 30: Las Vegas
Dec. 8: Philadelphia
Dec. 14: at Kansas City
Dec. 21: at Dallas
Dec. 27/28: Houston
Jan. 3/4: at Denver
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