It’ll only be a few more days until the Pittsburgh Steelers know their Dublin opponent. The NFL will release its complete 2025 schedule on Wednesday, May 14 but noted the International Games, including the Steelers’ Ireland contest, will be announced earlier.
“The NFL will also announce its International Games on Tuesday, May 13 on the Emmy-nominated Good Morning Football on NFL Network,” the league wrote in a press release.
Pittsburgh is the home team for the league’s first-ever regular-season game in Ireland. It’ll be the second NFL contest held in the country after the Steelers and Chicago Bears played a preseason game in 1997. Like the ’97 contest, this year’s matchup will be held in historic Croke Park.
The Green Bay Packers have long been speculated as the Steelers’ opponent. But the league may prefer to hold that spot for a primetime matchup stateside. Packers president Mark Murphy also suggested Pittsburgh wants to keep that game at Acrisure Stadium, likely recognizing the appeal the game has should Aaron Rodgers face the team that drafted him. The game is likely to take place earlier in the season, potentially during the final weekend of September. Pittsburgh will have the choice of having its bye week immediately after.
It will be the Steelers’ first international game since a London loss to the Minnesota Vikings in 2013. Players panned Pittsburgh’s planning, believing the team arrived too close to gameday and wasn’t properly rested.
Players like TE Pat Freiermuth and DL Cam Heyward have spent parts of their offseason visiting the country. Pittsburgh was selected largely due to the franchise’s Irish roots from the Rooney family. The late Dan Rooney served as US Ambassador to Ireland from 2009-2012.
In addition to the Steelers’ game in Ireland, the NFL will hold six other international games this season. Three will be held in London, one in Berlin, another in Madrid, and a contest in São Paulo for the second-ever game in Brazil. Global expansion has been a defining element of Roger Goodell’s tenure. Plans for 2026 include branching out for the league’s first-ever game in Australia.
The entire NFL schedule will be released May 14 at 8 PM/EST. Select games will be announced on the 12th, 13th, and morning of the 14th, and the schedule often leaks out ahead of the official announcement. The event also serves as a Super Bowl for social media teams, creatively finding ways to share their team’s schedule.
