The Eagles will be the host team for the first-ever NFL game in Brazil, the NFL announced Monday.

The game will be played Friday night, Sept. 6, in Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest city in population with about 12 million residents.

The Eagles will play an opponent to be determined. It will be the second-ever game played on a Friday. In 2023, the Jets played the Dolphins on "Black Friday" the day after Thanksgiving.

"The Eagles organization is honored to have been selected to play in the first-ever NFL game in South America," Eagles chairman and CEO Jeffrey Lurie said in a statement. "With the global growth of our sport being a top priority to our league, we embrace the opportunity to grow our fanbase around the world and bring Eagles football to the 38 million sports fans in Brazil.

"One of the world's most culturally diverse nations, Brazil is an international melting pot. We look forward to experiencing its warm, vibrant and welcoming environment later this year."

Eagles part of NFL's push for overseas games

The Eagles last played overseas in 2018, when they beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 24-18 in London. Last season, the NFL issued a directive that it wants its teams playing an overseas game at least once every four years.

The NFL is planning to have as many as eight overseas games beginning in 2025. The NFL can do this after going to a 17-game schedule in 2021. That enabled the AFC and NFC to alternate between having an extra home game each season.

It's the NFC's turn with the ninth home game in 2024. There will be five international games in 2024, with three in London (Jacksonville, Minnesota and Chicago are the host teams). Carolina will host a game in Munich, Germany.

Who will the Eagles play in Brazil?

The Eagles' opponent in the Brazil game, as well as the rest of the schedule, will be announced in May. The Eagles are slated to play home games against NFC East foes Dallas, Washington and the Giants as well as Carolina, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Green Bay and Jacksonville.

It's unlikely that the Eagles will face one of its NFC East rivals in Brazil. And Jacksonville, which hosts a game in London every season, is an unlikely candidate as well.

Because it's the NFL's opening weekend, coming one night after the Super Bowl champion kicks off the season, there's a good chance the NFL would like to showcase a marquee opponent steeped in history coming off a playoff season.

That could mean either the Pittsburgh Steelers or the Green Bay Packers. Those teams, along with the Eagles, made the playoffs last season. The Packers upset the Dallas Cowboys in the wild-card round before falling to the San Francisco 49ers.

The Steelers lost in the first round to Buffalo.

Some fun facts about Brazil and Sao Paulo

Brazil has hosted major sporting events in recent years. It hosted the Olympics in 2016, the first time it was in South America. It has also hosted a World Cup in soccer in 2014.

Rio de Janeiro was the host city for the Olympics in 2016, but Sao Paulo hosted some events at its stadium, Arena Corinthians, where the Eagles will play. The listed capacity of the stadium is 47,252, but it was expanded with temporary seating to 68,000 for the World Cup in 2014.

Those seats were then removed.

Sao Paulo ranks as the 12th most populous city in the world. Its LGBT Pride parade held each year ranks second in the world to only New York's. Sao Paulo is also home to the largest Arab, Italian and Japanese diasporas, according to Wikipedia.

Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on X @Mfranknfl.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Philadelphia Eagles chosen to play in Brazil's first NFL game