The Minnesota Vikings will become the first NFL team to play in back-to-back international games in different countries this upcoming season.
Sunday, September 28, they'll face the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first-ever regular season game in Dublin, Ireland. That game is followed a week later with a game in London against the Cleveland Browns.
Both are considered "away" games for Minnesota, so Viking fans will not lose any opportunities to watch their team at U.S. Bank Stadium. Both of the overseas games will be on NFL Network with an 8:30 a.m. kickoff locally.
"Playing in Ireland's first-ever NFL game is an opportunity to introduce new fans to the Minnesota Vikings and help the league continue to make the game of football more accessible globally," said Vikings Owner/President Mark Wilf. "To do so against a storied franchise like the Pittsburgh Steelers adds a unique challenge that makes this even more special. We are honored to be selected for this historic game and will be anxious to see what promises to be an electric game day environment in Croke Park."
The entire NFL schedule is slated to be released Wednesday.
For the Vikings, it is a chance to remain undefeated on international soil. The team has never lost a game traveling overseas.
The Vikings have played in four international exhibition games:
Aug. 6, 1983: Vikings 28, St. Louis Cardinals 10 in London, England
Aug. 14, 1988: Vikings 28, Bears 21 in Goteburg, Sweden
Aug. 7, 1993: Vikings 20, Bills 6 in Berlin, Germany
Aug. 7, 1994: Vikings 17, Chiefs 9 in Tokyo, Japan
The Vikings have played four international regular-season games:
Sept. 29, 2013: Vikings 34, Steelers 27 in London, England (Wembley Stadium)
Oct. 29, 2017: Vikings 33, Browns 16 in London, England (Twickenham Stadium)
Oct. 2, 2022: Vikings 28, Saints 25 in London, England (Tottenham Hotspur Stadium)
Oct. 6, 2024: Vikings 23, Jets 17 in London, England (Tottenham Hotspur Stadium)
OTHER MATCHUPS
The league is known for trickling out some high-profile matchups ahead of that, however. The NFL announced the season opener on Monday. That game will feature the Philadelphia Eagles who will start defending their championship at home on Sept. 4 against the division rival Dallas Cowboys.
The Cowboys-Eagles matchup will be on Thursday night in the first game in NBC’s package of primarily Sunday night games. The Eagles are also featured in a Saturday doubleheader on Fox on Dec. 20 against the Washington Commanders and on Nov. 28 on Prime Video's Black Friday game against the Chicago Bears.
Amazon also announced Monday that the Kansas City Chiefs will host the AFC West rival Denver Broncos on Christmas night on Prime Video. The league plans a tripleheader for the Dec. 25 holiday, which falls this year on a Thursday, with the other two games on Netflix.
The Eagles, Commanders, Bears and Green Bay Packers would thus be natural picks for the two Netflix games, with more turnaround time than any team playing on that Sunday, Dec. 21. That puts Eagles-Packers and Bears-Commanders in line for potential matchups, with all the NFC East and NFC North teams playing each other this season.
The other game on Fox pits the Packers against the Bears, in an NFC North matchup in Chicago. That doubleheader will put the NFL in a ratings competition against the College Football Playoff, with three first-round games scheduled that day — two on TNT and one on ESPN — creating some inevitable overlap.
The NFL unveiled all the matchups for its record seven international games this season on Tuesday. In addition to the two Viking games, the Broncos will play the New York Jets on Oct. 12 in London, the LA Rams play Jacksonville Oct. 19 in London, it's Atlanta against Indianapolis Nov. 9 in Berlin, Germany, and finally Washington plays Miami Nov. 16 in Madrid, Spain, the first ever NFL game in that country.