A college football game will be played in Brazil in 2026, according to a report from 247Sports. The game would mark the first-ever college football contest to be played in that country.
Per the report, the matchup will feature the NC State Wolfpack taking on the Virginia Cavaliers and the game will be played on Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026, which is Week Zero that season. Under current NCAA rules, college football games played in foreign countries are eligible to be contested in Week Zero, which is the unofficial name for the Saturday that is one week prior to Labor Day weekend.
The NC State-Virginia matchup next season is the second of a non-conference home-and-home series between the two ACC schools. The first game of the series was played earlier this season on Sept. 6 at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, N.C. The Wolfpack won that contest, 35-31.
The 2026 matchup was originally scheduled to be played at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, Va. An exact date for that game was not assigned when the contract was executed back in May 2024. The two schools scheduled the series for their respective non-conference slates due to not meeting in ACC action in 2025 and 2026.
If finalized, the NC State-Virginia game in Brazil would mark the first international ACC football game since Georgia Tech defeated Florida State, 24-21, in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Dublin, Ireland, to kickoff the 2024 season.
Last month, it was officially announced that the Arizona State Sun Devils and Kansas Jayhawks of the Big 12 will meet in the inaugural Union Jack Classic in London, England, on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026. The matchup will mark only the second college football game to be played in England following Richmond vs. Boston on Oct. 16, 1988.
College football will also return to Ireland next season in the form of a Big 12-ACC matchup, as the TCU Horned Frogs will face the North Carolina Tar Heels in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Dublin. The game is slated for Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026 (Week Zero).
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Does the college game have to copy everything the NFL does?
It’s more that the schools want any way to make money.
It .Just be a significant amount for the tea.s to make this trip!!!
Playing a neutral site game is copying the NFL?
If NFL can do it so can CFB.
Non-Virginia students pay $60K a year to attend UVA. For that, they get a 2026 home schedule of Norfolk State, Delaware, Cal, Duke, UNC, and Syracuse. That is shameful. Keep the games on campus!!!
???
Gerry, how is any more “shameful” than the 2024 UVa home slate of Richmond, UMD, BC, Louisville, UNC, and SMU?
Are you faulting UVa for the ACC not having a ton of glamor programs?
Gerry, I agree. The average student will never be able to afford to travel to Brazil to attend the game. Seems like the sport of football is nothing more than a traveling circus anymore.
It’s “shameful” in that they are whoring out arguably their most attractive home game. What is the purpose of this? Do people in Brazil even know who NC State or UVA are? It’s one thing to export NFL games overseas as the NFL is known worldwide (though I don’t agree with that either. Does Europe play EPL games in the US?). To pull a September or October game against a traditional rival and play it in late August in a sketchy country 5,000 miles away is unfair to students who want to enjoy the social experience that football games provide.
NCSU is a traditional rival of UVa? Look, you’re clearly not a UVa guy. Not sure why you’re trying your panties in knots about something that isn’t really your business.
And those OOS students who can manage to pay full-tuition to attend UVa, I’m thinking, come from families rich enough to afford a trip to Brazil.
Bison Jim,
Yes, playing a game in Brazil is copying the NFL. Not hard to see.
My “panties aren’t in a bunch.” There are more important things going on in the world. That doesn’t preclude me from.having an opinion on this matter.
NCSU and UVA have played 59 times. It might not be Michigan-Ohio State, but that is a pretty good rivalry even if “I am clearly not a UVA guy.” I don’t understand how playing a regular season game of 18-23 olds in a 5,000 miles away in a dangerous country is good. College sports is supposed to be about school pride and camaraderie and waking up hungover and trudging down to the stadium to cheer your friends on against your rival. I get it’s now a money sport now. That doesn’t mean I have to like it. It’s more disturbing that fans now support this nonsense.
Please stop with these international games. Especially regional games like this.
Regional conference games belong at campus stadiums.
Sao Paulo would make an excellent neutral site games like BYU vs Ohio State or Michigan vs Alabama in Montreal.
Well, college football in a foreign country. Lets us stop wringing our hands that football is getting too commercial. That aircraft has its wheels up already.
The reason I think we will see more of this is the declining birth rate in America. Read that as declining college applications. Read that as colleges have been teaching WOKE nonsense for years and many of our smarter students do not feel the need to pay 60K per year to be indoctrinated. Especially when they can be plumbers, electricians, or foreign car mechanics and out earn nearly all of those in their age bracket.
Candidly, when my sons left for college this was not a problem, but they would have to make an iron clad argument for college today.
Dude, you’ve been ingesting too much slop from cable news and/or the Internet. It’s infested your brain.
Pretty sad that you find a way to turn this matter into a political and racial issue in your own mind.