when is the national championship football game

The next College Football Playoff national championship game is scheduled for Monday, January 19, 2026, at 7:30 p.m. ET, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

Quick Scoop

• Date: Monday, January 19, 2026.

• Kickoff time: 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time.

• Location: Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida.

• TV: ESPN (with streaming on ESPN platforms such as the ESPN app/ESPN+).

This matchup is the College Football Playoff National Championship game for the 2025 season, deciding the FBS national champion.

A bit more context

• The game caps the expanded College Football Playoff schedule that now runs into mid-to-late January, with semifinals played earlier that month.

• Hard Rock Stadium is a familiar big-game venue, having previously hosted national championships and Super Bowls, which keeps it in the rotation for major college football events.

Fans on forums and social media are already treating January 19 as the unofficial “last holiday of football season,” circling the date for watch parties, travel plans, and plenty of debate about who will actually make it to Miami.

TL;DR: When people ask “when is the national championship football game” right now, they are almost always referring to the College Football Playoff National Championship on January 19, 2026, 7:30 p.m. ET, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, on ESPN.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.