“I can’t believe cheerleaders are actually real,” exclaimed a fan who had come to Maracanã Stadium specifically to see the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. Minutes earlier, the squad delivered the high kicks and synchronized jump splits of its signature “Thunderstruck” routine, ushering in the NFL’s first-ever game in Rio de Janeiro. 

The NFL is staging a record nine international games this season, each with the trappings of a mini Super Bowl Some 5,200 miles from their base, the Dallas Cowboys were the designated home team against the Baltimore Ravens, and they brought the traditions, smoke machines, and rhinestones of a typical AT&T Stadium outing with them. 

The Cowboys built their brand as “America’s Team”—and they couldn’t do it without their cheerleaders. Netflix’s America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, filming its fourth season while in Brazil, has taken viewers inside the lives and grueling training regimes of these 36 women.

Over the speaker, a voice boomed: “Ladies and gentlemen, here they are…often imitated, never equaled. Internationally acclaimed, your Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders!” For fans who had watched the squad on screens and recreated the choreography on TikTok, here it was: all real. The seemingly impossible jump splits. The hair flips that appear to conjure their own wind machine. A uniform so iconic it has entered the Smithsonian’s collection.

For Charly Barby, whose comeback storyline featured prominently in the docuseries, Rio held particular meaning. Cut at the end of training camp the first year she auditioned, she spent the subsequent year preparing for her second chance. “I just wanted to be on this team so bad,” she said. “So hearing ‘never equaled’ along with the words ‘internationally acclaimed’ before performing at my first out-of-country game… I had full body chills. I was in tears by the jump split.”

Cheerleader Kylie Dickson agreed that Brazil delivered the loudest response to “Thunderstruck” they had ever heard. So loud, in fact, that they couldn’t hear the music cue for their routine to “Welcome to the Jungle.” Ask what sets Brazilian fans apart, and one word comes up repeatedly: passion. The city that has hosted the World Cup and the Olympics poured its Carioca hospitality into a game week that stretched far beyond Maracanã.

There was spectacle: a massive Cowboys-Ravens jersey sculpted from the sands of Copacabana and a helmet-shaped hot air balloon rising above Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas. There was heart: a summit explored sport’s role in advancing inclusion for women ahead of Brazil’s 2027 Women’s World Cup. Cheerleaders from both teams joined flag football clinics encouraging women and young people to try the sport ahead of its LA28 Olympic debut. The world premiere of After the Impact: The Story of the Coritiba Crocodiles chronicled an underdog Brazilian football team’s path to the national championship after losing three teammates in a bus accident on the way to a game.

And there were parties, from the U.S. Embassy’s Huddle Abroad Rio, which paired sports diplomacy with churrasco and bossa nova at Fogo de Chão, to an NFL soirée on the lagoon with caipirinhas, a samba band, and private hot air balloon rides. Above it all stood Christ the Redeemer, lit for the occasion in a gesture reserved for the country’s biggest cultural moments. At night, the statue wore a projected green-and-yellow jersey bearing a message that captured the spirit of the week: “O Rio também joga.” Rio plays, too.

The DCC paid their own visit to the monument at sunrise—and it was, said Sophia Brown, “absolutely worth the 4 a.m. wake-up call.” The visit grounded the team in reflection before a packed week of rehearsals; Rio marked the first time all 36 cheerleaders performed at a regular-season NFL International game, and for many, it was the longest flight of their lives. The squad also completed more than 10 full run-throughs at Maracanã with headliners Sampaio and Martin.

Sampaio proudly noted the performance is the first NFL halftime show headlined by two openly LGBTQ+ men. “The intensity of the crowd in Brazil when it comes to sports and music…it’s explosive,” Martin added. “Listen, I love Germany, I love Australia, I love everybody, everything’s beautiful. But I’m sorry, this is going to be the best. I’m unapologetic about that!”

To choreograph the show, Sampaio enlisted Parris Goebel, whose credits include Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, and Rihanna, as well as artistic direction for Vogue World: Paris in 2024. In her first collaboration with a Brazilian artist, Goebel blended the DCC’s crisp formations with funk, samba, hip-hop, twerking, and the voguing of Brazil’s ballroom scene.

On game day, the cheerleaders arrived five hours early for a full run-through of their routines. In Dallas, they perform on artificial turf in a climate-controlled stadium. In Rio, they’d need to shift their weight to their toes to dance on grass. The hot, humid, occasionally windy weather called for beauty adjustments, too. “Less lip gloss!” Charly said, while Kylie layered extra liquid foundation over her usual combination of liquid and powder.

Their rotating spots along the sidelines also give the cheerleaders a front-row view of game-day fashion, and they’re always watching for new trends. In Rio, they even spotted homemade DCC uniforms, Madie said.

For her first NFL game, influencer and entrepreneur Virginia Fonseca—who has more than 55 million followers on Instagram—wore a custom corset made from deconstructed Nike soccer cleats, with oversized jeans, a pink Hermès Kelly, mirrored wraparound sunglasses, and bracelets by Cartier and Jacob & Co. “I love seeing people move beyond simply following what’s popular and start developing their own identity,” she said of game-day style.

Watching their teammate Jenna Waller provide sign language interpretation for the U.S. national anthem, was another highlight for the DCC squad. By the time the lights dimmed for the halftime show, Sampaio and Martin made good on their promise. Their six-minute megamix included “Sequência Feiticeira,” “Livin’ La Vida Loca,” and the debut of their new duet, “Pikito Pikito.” Sampaio, sporting a glossy green jacket, even piloted a human jet ski assembled from his dancers as the beats of “JETSKI” rang out.