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International ACC Game Taking Place in 2026

Originally posted on Gridiron Heroics
By Vincent Pensabene | Last updated Nov 18, 2025 10:13 PM ET

The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) has been getting bigger over the last few years as they have seen the likes of Bill Belichick and James Franklin join the coaching ranks of the league. With the popularity of the conference continuing to grow, there have been opportunities to arise, including playing a game internationally.

Commissioner Jim Phillips has been able to grow the conference out of the shadows of the Southeastern Conference and has helped it create a new location to play a conference game next season. Let’s take a closer look at the report and discuss what is happening.

ACC Game Between NC State and Virginia Happening in Brazil

According to R. Cory Smith of Pack Pride, the Atlantic Coast Conference is going to be heading to Brazil for the first time in 2026 as the NC State Wolfpack and the Virginia Cavaliers will play overseas. According to the report for 247Sports, the two sides were initially scheduled to play a nonconference game in Charlottesville, Virginia next season as part of their home-and-home series, but will be playing on Labor Day weekend in Brazil.

This will be the first game that either program has played outside of the United States and is the first ACC game to take place overseas snce the 2024 college football season opener between the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and Florida State Seminoles in Dublin, Ireland.

The ACC has not been a stranger to playing international games, as this will be the fifth time they will have a game outside of the United States. This has not been confirmed by the conference at the time of posting, so it will be interesting to see how they officially announce this.

This article first appeared on Gridiron Heroics and was syndicated with permission.

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