The San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys meet for the 42nd time Sunday at AT&T Stadium. San Francisco leads the all-time series, 21-19-1, and has won four straight against Dallas. Since their first meeting in 1960, the teams have faced off in games that brought heartbreak to one fan base and lasting memories to the other, with those roles shifting back and forth over the years.
The rivalry began on Nov. 20, 1960, during the Cowboys inaugural season. The 49ers, then in their 15th season, 11th in the NFL, beat the newest expansion team 26-14 at the Cotton Bowl, Dallas' first home stadium.
The 49ers won three of their first five meetings, with one tie, before facing the Cowboys in the first of six NFC Championship Games between the teams. Those postseason matchups helped define the rivalry.
NFC Championships
In the 1970 and 1971 seasons, Dallas beat San Francisco in back-to-back NFC Championship Games. In the 1972 season, the 49ers suffered another devastating postseason loss to Dallas, this time in the NFC Divisional Round, after blowing a 28-13 lead entering the fourth quarter.
It took nine seasons for the 49ers to get another chance to right that wrong. When it came, the game produced one of the most important plays in franchise history.
On Jan. 10, 1982, Dallas and San Francisco met again with the NFC title on the line. On a winter's day at Candlestick Park, the 49ers trailed 27-21 in the fourth quarter. QB Joe Montana led a drive that ended with a touchdown pass to WR Dwight Clark with 51 seconds left. The extra point put San Francisco ahead, 28-27. On Dallas' final drive, DE Jim Stuckey recovered a fumble to seal the win. The 49ers advanced to their first Super Bowl, where they beat the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl XVI.
January will mark the 45th anniversary of The Catch, the play that changed the course of the franchise.
The 49ers and Cowboys met in three consecutive NFC Championship Games in the 1990s. San Francisco lost the title games after the 1992 and 1993 seasons, then beat Dallas 38-28 on Jan. 15, 1995.
Common Players
Two players in that 1995 game with deep ties to Dallas were Ken Norton Jr., who had been a Cowboys starting linebacker from 1988 to 1993, and Deion Sanders, who played for San Francisco in 1994 before signing with Dallas the following year.
Pro Football Hall of Famer Charles Haley was selected by San Francisco in the fourth round of the 1986 draft. The outside linebacker played for the 49ers from 1986 to 1991, winning two Super Bowls. After being traded to Dallas, he won three more.
Haley announced his retirement following the 1996 season in a press conference at Texas Stadium, but returned to play two more seasons, back with San Francisco, in 1998 and 1999. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015 and became the 26th member of the Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. San Francisco 49ers Hall of Fame that same year.
Other notable players who wore both jerseys include Larry Allen, Trey Lance, and Terrell Owens.
Owens may be best remembered for his touchdown celebration against Dallas. On Sept. 24, 2000, he scored at Texas Stadium and celebrated on the midfield star. Cowboys S George Teague pushed him off it. Owens signed with Dallas six years later.
Recent Rivalries
One of the newest links between the teams is DL Osa Odighizuwa. Odighizuwa played five seasons for Dallas before the 49ers acquired him in a trade on March 11, 2026. Dallas selected him in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft.
Odighizuwa was a rookie when the teams met in the 2021 NFC Wild Card game on Jan. 16, 2022. WR Deebo Samuel Sr. scored on a 26-yard run to give San Francisco a 23-7 lead. Dallas cut the deficit with a 51-yard field goal by K Greg Zuerlein and a 5-yard touchdown run by QB Dak Prescott, making it 23-17.
With all three timeouts remaining and 14 seconds left, Prescott ran from the San Francisco 41-yard line to the 24. Dallas tried to spike the ball to stop the clock, but time expired before the snap.
The following season, the teams met again in the NFC Divisional Round, this time at Levi's® Stadium in Santa Clara. In his first postseason, rookie QB Brock Purdy helped lead the 49ers to a 19-12 win.
From their first meeting in 1960 to The Catch and six NFC Championship Games, 49ers-Cowboys matchups have rarely lacked drama. Sunday gives both teams a chance to add another memorable moment to that history.
