NFL oddly reveals Cowboys' Brazil game details in middle of draft chaos

In early February, a little over a month after the Dallas Cowboys closed out their disappointing 2025 campaign with a 34-17 defeat at the hands of the rival New York Giants, the NFL announced that America's Team would serve as the home club for the league's first-ever matchup in Rio de Janeiro.

The league has held a regular-season contest in each of the last two years, of course, but both of those games have been played at Corinthians Arena in São Paulo. The matchup in Rio will be contested at Maracanã Stadium, which primarily serves as the home venue for two of the bigger Brazilian soccer clubs, CR Flamengo and Fluminense FC.

Now, when the official announcement was made that the Cowboys would host what is one of nine international games in 2026 across four continents, seven countries, and eight stadiums, it was also announced that the opponent, date, and kickoff time would come at a later date.

And in a bit of weird timing, that date turned out to be Friday night, as the news dropped during the second round of the 2026 NFL Draft that the Cowboys will take on the Baltimore Ravens in Week 3 on Sunday, September 27, with kickoff set for 4:25 p.m. Eastern. Television coverage will be handled by CBS.

The Dallas Cowboys will play the Baltimore Ravens in Brazil in Week 3

Now, the Ravens have been the rumored opponent for a few weeks now, and the announcement did come down just before Baltimore made its selection at No. 45 overall, but it was still just a weird time for this announcement, don't you think?

Jerry Jones, who's been crushing the draft thus far, by the way, obviously knew this was coming, as the Cowboys' official website had a post ready to roll just moments after the news broke, and here's what the divisive Dallas owner had to say:

"We're thrilled and honored to be part of Rio's first NFL game. Playing in the legendary Maracanã Stadium against the Ravens in front of such a passionate and growing fan base on a global stage will be very special for our team, our entire Cowboys organization and the millions watching back home and around the world."

This matchup marks just the second regular-season game for the Cowboys outside the United States, with their first coming back in Week 10 of the 2014 campaign when they took a 31-17 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium in London.

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