The San Francisco 49ers have two international games on the schedule next season. In Week 1, they'll take on the Los Angeles Rams in Australia, and in Week 11, they face off against the Minnesota Vikings in Mexico City.
While the Niners are understandably less than thrilled with all of the travel that will come along with this schedule, linebacker Fred Warner reminded fans at least one of the international games will be fun and something to look forward to.
Warner showed up to Mexico’s World Cup game against Ecuador in Mexico City on Tuesday. Mexico won 2-0, and Warner was pulling hard for the home team, which makes sense since he is of Mexican-American descent.
“Mexico City, DUUUB CITYYYY!”
— Coach Yac 🗣 (@Coach_Yac) July 1, 2026
— Fred Warner pic.twitter.com/qJNF9C950O
It was a nice preview of what should be a raucous affair between the 49ers and Vikings in November. The Niners have played in Mexico City twice before and got great support on both occasions, so they should absolutely have home-field advantage in that game.
Back in 2022, the 49ers beat the Arizona Cardinals 38-10 in Mexico, and it was obvious which team the crowd was pulling for. Warner was his usual dominant self in that game as he had six tackles including two for a loss and one sack.
Even if traveling there might be a little annoying the actual game itself should be a blast. The NFL has said the 49ers have the most fans of any team in Mexico, so hopefully the Faithful show up in full force.
Warner’s energy even for a different sport is palpable and makes one remember just how important he is to the Niners. They missed him so much last season after he went down with his ankle injury, which hurt because they lost their best player on defense and their leader. They cannot afford to have that happen again next season.
Thankfully, Warner seems to be pretty much fully recovered from that major injury, which is great to see. He nearly came back to play last season, which would have been remarkable, but it’s probably for the best that he sat out and waited to avoid re-injury.
While Week 1 will be a tough matchup because Australia is so far away and the time difference is so big, the Mexico game should be a lot of fun, especially if the Niners have settled into the season by then. One hopes Warner is healthy and can lead the Niners to another victory.
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