Ravens Beat Cowboys 34-31 in NFL’s First Rio Game

BRAZIL · SPORT

Updated 1 time · Latest: 27 September 2026

The Baltimore Ravens beat the Dallas Cowboys 34-31 in the NFL’s first regular-season game in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday 27 September 2026. Tyler Loop’s 56-yard field goal as time expired settled it at the Maracanã. Here is how it unfolded, and what it cost to be there.

How the Game Was Won

The first NFL regular-season game in Rio de Janeiro was settled at the buzzer. Brandon Aubrey’s 23-yard field goal tied it 31-31 with seven seconds left. Baltimore’s Tyler Loop then hit a 56-yard field goal as time expired to win it at the Maracanã.

The decisive fourth quarter swung three ways. KaVontae Turpin’s 9-yard touchdown run put Dallas up 28-24 with 9:42 left. Lamar Jackson answered with a 2-yard scoring pass to Matthew Hibner at 1:30. After Aubrey’s equaliser, Loop hit the walk-off winner.

Jackson threw two touchdown passes, to Chris Moore and Hibner. Derrick Henry ran in two scores, and Dak Prescott found Jake Ferguson for Dallas.

Baltimore improves to 2-1 and Dallas falls to 1-2. Both teams were due back in action on Sunday 4 October.

What Was Confirmed Before Kick-off

The National Football League played its first regular-season game in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday 27 September 2026. The Dallas Cowboys were the designated home team against the Baltimore Ravens at the Maracanã, Brazil’s best-known stadium.

Kick-off was at 5:25 p.m. Brasília time, in Week 3 of the NFL regular season. The league published the date, the venue and the broadcast arrangements itself.

The designated home team was Dallas, even though the game was played abroad. That is standard practice for the league’s international fixtures. It decides which side gives up a home date, and here that side was the Cowboys.

The Maracanã normally hosts football, in the sense the rest of the world uses the word. For this fixture the pitch was re-marked to American football dimensions. The stadium seats about 78,000 for football, and the conversion trims that figure.

Where This Sits in the League’s Long Push South

This is not the league’s first game in Brazil. The NFL has staged regular-season fixtures in São Paulo in recent seasons. Rio is the next step rather than a departure.

The pattern is familiar from other sports. A league tests a market with one fixture, measures the response, and then decides whether to return.

For Rio the question is repeat business rather than novelty. A single sold-out game proves curiosity. A second and a third prove a market.

The same logic shaped the league’s expansion into London and Mexico City over two decades. Neither happened in one season. Neither was decided by the first crowd.

Brazil also tests something the league cannot buy, which is habit. Football in the Brazilian sense already owns the weekend. The NFL is asking for a share of that weekend rather than a replacement.

Tickets, Times and Coverage

Listed ticket prices ran from R$427 to R$6,187. At 5.14 reais to the dollar, published by open.er-api.com on 18 September 2026, that is roughly US$83 to US$1,205.

The spread is wide because the upper tiers include hospitality. The entry price is the figure most residents will care about.

Brazilian broadcast coverage ran on sportv, ge tv and ge.globo. TV Globo carried the game as well, including the halftime show.

The halftime performers were the Brazilian DJ Pedro Sampaio and the Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin. Both were confirmed by the league and reported in the United States and in Brazil.

Kick-off at 5:25 p.m. in Rio was early evening locally. For viewers in Europe it fell late at night. On the United States east coast it was mid-afternoon.

What It Meant If You Live Here

For foreign residents in Brazil, the practical value was access. A fixture of this kind normally requires a long flight and a hotel. This one did not.

The Maracanã sits in the north of the city and is served by rail and metro connections. Match-day crowds at that stadium are routine, and the transport pattern is well established.

The wider point is about what Rio was being sold. A one-off international fixture tests the city’s event capacity as much as local appetite for the sport.

What Is Not Yet Settled

The league has not said whether Rio will host again. That decision usually follows the season rather than the game.

The league’s full 2027 international schedule has not been published either. Whether Rio appears on it will be known later in the cycle.

For residents the sensible approach is to treat the fixture as what it was. It was one evening at a stadium with a long history, settled by a last-second kick, not a verdict on anything larger.

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Sources

• NFL.com — Onde assistir ao NFL Rio Game
• The Dallas Morning News — Ricky Martin and Pedro Sampaio on the halftime show
• ESPN — Ravens 34, Cowboys 31 final box score
• CBS Sports / AP — game report, 27 September 2026

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Frequently Asked Questions

Who won the NFL Rio Game?

The Baltimore Ravens beat the Dallas Cowboys 34-31 at the Maracanã on Sunday 27 September 2026. Tyler Loop kicked a 56-yard field goal as time expired.

Where was the NFL Rio Game played?

At the Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro. The Dallas Cowboys were the designated home team and the Baltimore Ravens were the visitors.

Who performed at halftime?

The Brazilian DJ Pedro Sampaio and the Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin performed the halftime show.

How much did tickets cost and where could I watch?

Listed prices ran from R$427 to R$6,187, about US$83 to US$1,205. Brazilian coverage ran on sportv, ge tv, ge.globo and TV Globo.

What happens next for both teams?

Baltimore improves to 2-1 and Dallas falls to 1-2. Both teams were due back in action on Sunday 4 October.