Cardinals and 49ers return to Estadio Azteca after 17 years
The National Football League announced that the franchises of Arizona and San Francisco will play at Estadio Azteca on 21 November.
The Covid-19 pandemic wiped out all international games in the National Football League in the past two seasons but that is over now. The NFL announced on Wednesday that the international regular season games are back, including a game in Mexico City at Estadio Azteca.
The NFL confirmed that the Arizona Cardinals will play the San Francisco 49ers in Mexico City for the 2022 regular season and the game is scheduled for 21 November. This is the second time in history that both franchises play at Estadio Azteca having met there in the 2005 regular season.
Mexico hosted the NFL’s first international game
In the 2005 season the Cardinals defeated the 49ers 31-14 and 103,467 fans witnessed the victory of the Arizona-based team, a record crowd attendance at that time. What’s more this was the first time in the history of the NFL a regular season game was played outside of the United States. This game will be the fifth one at Estadio Azteca since 2005.
The Cardinals, 49ers and Raiders are the only teams in the National Football League to have played various regular season games in Mexico City. The Arizona-based franchise played in the first NFL game outside of North America when in 1976 they played the Chargers in Japan.