The NFL announced the full schedule for the 2026 season on Thursday night, following on from Wednesday’s announcement of the entire international slate for the coming campaign.

The Vikings were slated to face three teams who had previously been announced as hosting international contests this year, but it was the San Francisco 49ers’ game in Mexico City in week 11 for which the boys in purple were selected to serve as the road team.

The season begins with divisional games at home to the Green Bay Packers and away to the Chicago Bears, with the reverse fixture against the latter serving as the season finale on the second weekend in January.

Who are the Vikings scheduled to play in 2026?

In 2026, the Minnesota Vikings will play a 17-game schedule over the course of 18 weeks, comprising nine home games and eight road games. The numbers of home and road games alternate every year. This is to accommodate the potential loss of a home game if a team is selected to host an international game.

In addition to their annual home-and-away clashes with their NFC North rivals (Chicago, Detroit and Green Bay), the Vikings will also face each team from the NFC South and each team from the AFC East either home or away, as well as the teams from the NFC East, NFC West and AFC South who finished in the same division position as the Vikings in 2025.

Every team in the league also has a bye week that can be taken at any time between week 5 and week 14. Teams who play international games mostly take their bye in the week immediately after they play abroad, but this isn’t always the case. The Vikings’ bye week will be confirmed along with the rest of the schedule.

Are the Vikings playing an international game in 2026?

When the designated home teams for the 2026 international games were announced, there were three on the list who the Vikings were scheduled to play on the road: the Detroit Lions, New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers.

The Lions were viewed as unlikely opponents as they’re our divisional rivals, and we played the Saints in London in 2022, making them an unlikely choice to face again in Paris. In fact, the Vikings appearing in an international game at all in 2026 was considered unlikely, having played overseas four times in the last four seasons.

Nevertheless, after rumours started to emerge overnight on Tuesday, the Vikings were confirmed as the road team to face the San Francisco 49ers at Estadio Banorte (previously known as Estadio Azteca) in Mexico City. The game will be played at 7:20pm Central Time on Sunday, 22 November (1:20am on Friday here in the UK).

This will be the NFL’s sixth regular season game played in Mexico City (fifth under the International Series banner). San Francisco have appeared in two of the previous five, including the first regular season game at the Azteca in 2005, when they lost 31-14 to the Arizona Cardinals. However, they got one back on their division rivals with a 38-10 victory in the league’s most recent Mexico game in 2022.

2026 Vikings schedule in full

The Vikings will begin their season at home to the Green Bay Packers before another divisional game away to the Bears in week 2. They’ll then travel to Tampa Bay to face the Buccaneers, before games at home to the Miami Dolphins and away to the New Orleans Saints see them into a week 6 bye.

Sufficiently rested, they’ll then alternate home and road games for the four weeks leading into the Mexico City trip. They’ll start at home to the Indianapolis Colts before taking on the Lions in Detroit, the Buffalo Bills at U.S. Bank Stadium and finally the Packers at Lambeau Field.

The final stretch of the season will see Minnesota host five of their remaining seven games, and home field advantage could be vital with a potential return to the playoffs on the line. The Vikings will first face the Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers at home before a trip to Foxboro to take on the New England Patriots.

They’ll then host the Lions before a festive contest against the Washington Commanders, before entering the new year with a visit to the New York Jets and a final home game against the Bears.