Padres Will Play International Game Against NL West Rival in 2026

The San Diego Padres will reportedly play a two-game series against the Arizona Diamonbacks in Mexico City in 2026.

The two teams were scheduled to play the first MLB regular season game in Mexico City in April 2020. However, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the history-making series to be cancelled.

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Despite the cancellation of the first two-game series in Mexico City, the Padres were still part of making history when they played against the San Francisco Giants in a two-game series in Mexico City in 2023. San Diego swept San Francisco in that series.

The following year the Houston Astros and Colorado Rockies played a two-game series, with Houston winning both games against Colorado.

Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú was the venue for both the 2023 and 2024 series and will be the venue for the upcoming 2026 series between the Padres and Diamondbacks. The stadium’s name honors Padres part-owner Alfredo Harp Helú, who is also a successful Mexican businessman.

The 2026 series will be the Padres’ sixth international regular season series in franchise history. Last season, San Diego played a season opening series against the Los Angeles Dodgers in South Korea.

The Padres lost the first game of the South Korea series, 5-2, against the Dodgers. But San Diego bounced back to defeat Los Angeles, 15-11, in the next game.

Unlike the Padres, the Diamondbacks have less experience competing internationally. Arizona has only played an international series once in club history. The Diamondbacks' only international games were played in Sydney, Australia against the Dodgers in 2014.

In an effort to expand MLB's global presence and engagement with international fans, the MLB World Tour sends teams to compete outside of the United States.

In addition to the South Korea and Mexico City series, the MLB World Tour hit stops in London and the Dominican Republic. The New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies faced off in London in June, while the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays played in the Dominican Republic during spring training.

So far this season, the MLB World Tour has only visited Japan for the Dodgers and Chicago Cubs' series.

The Mexico City series will be the Padres' third regular season international series since 2022, which is the maximum number of games the 2022-26 collective bargaining agreement permits MLB teams to participate in.

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