NFL confirms Steelers will host game in Ireland, but opponent not announced

Posted by author February 7, 2025 NFL

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The NFL confirmed Friday the Pittsburgh Steelers will host a game in Dublin, Ireland, this upcoming season.

It is the sixth international game announced for the 2025 season. The others are the Indianapolis Colts in Berlin, New York Jets, Cleveland Browns and Jacksonville Jaguars in London, and the Miami Dolphins in Madrid. (Additionally, the NFL said the Los Angeles Rams will play in Melbourne, Australia, in 2026.)

Speculation has the Packers and Buffalo Bills among the most desirable opponents for the Ireland game. The Packers are popular in Ireland and the United Kingdom, and the Bills have newly minted NFL MVP Josh Allen.

The Steelers’ home opponents this year include the Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Buffalo Bills, Green Bay Packers, Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings and Seattle Seahawks. The Colts, Dolphins and Browns can be reasonably eliminated as likely international opponents because they host their own games.

The Packers also are scheduled to go to Cleveland this season, so that remains a possibility.

The Packers have not commented on the schedule.

The Packers played two regular-season international games after being the final NFL team to do so. They played the New York Giants in London in 2022 and the Philadelphia Eagles in São Paulo, Brazil, in 2024. They lost both games.

The NFL said each team’s opponent, along with game dates and kickoff times, will be announced when the full 2025 schedule is revealed in the spring. In 2024, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced the Eagles would host a game in Brazil in February during Super Bowl week, and revealed in April the Packers would be their opponent, although the full schedule was released in May. For the London game, the announcements were in February and May.

The Ireland game will take place at Croke Park, the largest sporting arena in the country and headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), in partnership with the government of Ireland and Dublin City Council.

The Berlin game will be played at Olympic Stadium as part of a multiyear commitment to playing games in the German capital. The Madrid game will take place at recently renovated Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, home to La Liga soccer club Real Madrid. Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London will host two games and Wembley Stadium, where the Jaguars have an ongoing relationship, one.

The NFL played five international games during the 2024 season, in addition to Brazil, teams played three times in London and once in Munich, Germany.

Contact Richard Ryman at rryman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @RichRymanPG, on Instagram at @rrymanPG or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RichardRymanPG.