The Dallas Cowboys are reportedly set to play an NFL international game sooner rather than later

The Dallas Cowboys are known as America's Team but in a much bigger sense, they could be considered the world's team with how popular the brand has become across the globe as the perennial most valuable sports franchise in the world. 

But specifically, the Cowboys are quite popular in Mexico, which is why it's been very notable that the team hasn't been to Estadio Azteca since the NFL revamped its international plans and started heading south again. 

"Pittsburgh will be headed to Dublin, Ireland, next season," insider John Sutcliffe reported on ESPN Mexico's broadcast of Saturday's Bengals-Steelers matchup. "I've heard the Houston Texans want to go to (Estadio) Azteca as the home team (in 2025), the Cowboys would go in 2026." 

Sutcliffe added the games would be in November. The NFL has played four games in Mexico City since 2016, most recently in 2022. With renovations taking place ahead of the upcoming World Cup, the league hasn't confirmed it's headed back to Estadio Azteca just yet. 

A Cowboys game would mean much more for Mexico as it's still one of the most popular NFL franchises in the country as its games were nationally televised since 1960. If you wanted to watch the NFL, you mostly got the Cowboys or the Pittsburgh Steelers.

In fact, Mexico owns the NFL record for highest attendance in a game ever. And it was a preseason game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Houston Oilers in 1994! Imagine that. No regular-season or playoff game has ever seen more fans in the stadium than that preseason match that drew 112,736 fans to Estadio Azteca.

Jerry Jones has often expressed interest in getting the Cowboys back to Mexico City but there's always the question of whether or not the team is interested in giving up a home game. With the league on an 18-game schedule, it should be happening sooner rather than later.