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The history of college football abroad goes back further than many realize. International games are almost as old as the sport itself. The first was a two-game series in . The teams played on Montreal Cricket Grounds. The first contest used a hybrid of soccer and rugby rules, with Harvard winning 3-0. McGill took a trip to Cambridge before returning for the second game in Quebec, played under McGill’s rugby-like rules and ended in 1-0 Harvard victory. This series was a pivotal moment in the evolution of American football. Harvard players were so impressed by McGill’s rugby-style running game that they later adopted similar rules, which helped shape the modern sport.

Beyond this early series, another unique chapter of international play was the Bacardi Bowl in Havana, Cuba. The first official Bacardi Bowl was in 1907 between LSU and the University of Havana, with LSU winning 56-0. Mississippi Southern beat Havana 55-0 in the last Bacardi Bowl in 1946 at La Tropical Stadium. These games were often major social events as part of a larger sports festival hosted in Cuba, though they sometimes came with drama. For instance, in 1937 Auburn participated in its first bowl game in program history against Villanova in Havana. The game was nearly canceled when then president of Cuba, Fulgencio Batista, .

Harvard Athletics

The Modern Era

The modern era of international play began in the late 1970s. The ��ݮ��վ���߿� now permits member schools to play one regular-season game in a foreign country every four years, and the 1976 Pioneer Bowl between Grambling State and Morgan State in Tokyo was the first postseason game played outside of the Americas. Fifty thousand fans watched Grambling State win 42-16 in Korakuen Stadium. This started a series of games in Japan known as the Mirage Bowl and later the Coca-Cola Classic. The games were a massive success, hosting most of the largest crowds for overseas games. A Pac-10 matchup between UCLA and Oregon State in 1980 drew the largest crowd of any overseas game with 86,000 in attendance. The bowl lasted until December of 1993. 

The 1988 Emerald Isle Classic in Dublin, Ireland, brought a new level of interest. Boston College beat Army 38-24 in the first I-A (FBS) regular-season college football game ever played in Europe. The game was continued on and off since then and is now named the Aer Lingus College Football Classic, becoming a Week Zero staple since 2022 with an average attendance north of 40,000. 

The biggest upset to happen overseas took place in Ireland in 2024, when unranked Georgia Teach beat then-No. 10 Florida State 24-21 in Aviva Stadium.

Outside of Europe, the Bahamas Bowl has become a postseason constant since its certification in 2014. The bowl game features teams from the MAC and C-USA. The inaugural game was the highest scoring in its history as Western Kentucky beat Central Michigan 49-48.  

Most attended games played outside the United States