It’s been a while since the Pittsburgh Steelers have played an international game, but 2025 is probably going to change that. Every team will be playing internationally over the next couple years as the league seeks to expand its global presence. The leading two candidates for the Steelers seem to be Mexico and Ireland. According to ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter, that Ireland game could be coming as soon as this year, and he even named the potential matchup that he’s heard through the grapevine.
“I don’t know when Ireland’s coming, but it’s coming,” Schefter said via The Pat McAfee Show on ESPN. “I don’t know whether it’s ’25 or ’26, but it’s coming. I think it might be next season, and they still have some more international announcements to make. They do it in layers and in a progression, and so Ireland still may be coming.”
The NFL just announced its first-ever game in Madrid, Spain, with the Miami Dolphins the host team for that contest abroad. The Steelers do play the Dolphins next season, but they will be the home team for that one, so we can cross Madrid off the list of possibilities. The league also recently announced the Indianapolis Colts as the host team for the first-ever game in Berlin. Like the Dolphins, the Steelers will host the Colts, so we can scratch off Berlin from the list of possibilities.
London is technically possible with the New York Jets, Cleveland Browns, and Jacksonville Jaguars set to host games there. The Steelers have away games against both the Browns and Jets in 2025.
That being said, most of the buzz for the Steelers has included Ireland and Mexico, and they certainly wouldn’t be playing two international games in 2025.
“We’ve even heard that it’ll be the Steelers and Packers, which I totally believe,” Schefter said. “That’s totally plausible. It’s coming. I’m not sure the exact year.”
The NFL has been working through the UK & Ireland office to work out the logistics of Dublin hosting a game. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has said Ireland will “no doubt” host a game in the near future, and Steelers team president Art Rooney II has reportedly reached out to the league office almost weekly about making it happen. It seems like a certainty that the Steelers will host that first game, whenever it may be. The Rooney family has deep ties to Ireland, and the late Dan Rooney was even the U.S. ambassador to the country from 2009 to 2012.
P-G insider Gerry Dulac said that the team expects that to come in 2025. With the Steelers set to host the Packers, Schefter’s rumored matchup is within the realm of possibility for next season. I would imagine that announcement will be coming soon if so.
