The NFL will be holding a total of nine international games in 2026 which is the most the league has ever held in a single-season.
During his annual press conference before the Super Bowl, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell revealed that the league’s eventual goal is to hold a total of 16 international games per year so that all 32 teams end up playing one game outside of the country each season.
“That’s an important mark to shoot for and I think we’re on our way.” Goodell stated.
Although 16 is the target, we’re not quite there yet. For the upcoming season, there will be nine games and we’ll be tracking which teams are expected to play in those games. The 2026 slate will include three cities that will be hosting a game for the first time in Rio De Janeiro, Paris and Melbourne, Australia. The league will also be returning to both Mexico City and Munich, two cites that didn’t host a game last year, but have hosted in the past.
The NFL revealed on Feb. 24 that Detroit will be playing in Munich. The Lions haven’t played an international game since 2015, which is the second-longest drought in the NFL behind only the Cowboys, who haven’t been sent out of the country since 2014. However, both of those streaks will be ending this year with both teams heading out of the United States for a game.
For the fourth straight year, the NFL will also be scheduling one team to play back-to-back international games and this year, that team will be Jacksonville. The Jaguars will play at both Wembley Stadium and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in 2026. The Jags’ had to play back-to-back games in London in both 2023 and 2024 and they went 3-1 in those games.
The Commanders will also be hosting a game in London, the league unveiled on Feb. 25.
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With nine international games this year, that means there will be 18 slots to fill, and the NFL has slowly been filling those slots over the past few weeks.
Here’s what we know about the international schedule so far:
- Melbourne — Rams vs. 49ers (Expected to be played in Week 1)
- Rio de Janeiro — Cowboys vs. TBA (Likely to be played in Week 3, per SBJ)
- Paris — Saints vs. TBA (Likely to be played in Week 7, per French media)
- Mexico City — 49ers vs. TBA (Will be played in Week 13 or 14)
- London — Jaguars vs. TBA (Played at Wembley Stadium)
- London — Jaguars vs. TBA (Played at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium)
- London — Commanders vs. TBA (Played at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium)
- Munich — Lions vs. TBA
- Madrid — TBA vs. TBA
You may have noticed that the 49ers are on their twice and that’s because they’re set to become the first NFL team ever to play two international games in the same season that won’t be played in back-to-back weeks.
When it comes to the game in Germany, the NFL unveiled that the Lions will be “one of the participating teams,” so it’s currently unclear if Detroit will be the home team or the visiting team.
Although there are nine spots still up in the air, we do know of at least one other team that will be playing abroad this year.
- Falcons. The Falcons unveiled in December that they would be playing an international game this year and that they would be serving as the home team in that game, so it looks like they’ll either be the host team in Madrid or serve as the home team against the Lions in Munich. The Falcons were the visiting team against the Colts for the NFL’s first game ever in Berlin last season.
There are also some international rumors swirling around, so let’s check those out.
International rumors
It’s not guaranteed that these teams will be playing abroad, but there are some rumors floating around involving at least two different teams.
- Giants. There’s a report that Giants will be playing an international game this year, so that will fill one more slot. It’s not clear if that’s a home game or an away game for New York. The Giants are scheduled to play the Commanders, Cowboys and Lions on the road, so they could certainly be the road team in an international game. The Giants could also end up being the home team for the Jaguars’ game at Tottenham Hotspur.
- Browns. One French media outlet has unveiled that the the Browns will be facing the Saints in France. This is the outlet that originally broke the news of the Paris game back in January, so it’s certainly possible that the Browns could be headed to France, but you probably shouldn’t go booking any flights for this game until the NFL makes an official announcement.
The NFL’s international series started in 2007 with just one game in London. Now, nearly 20 years later, the league will be holding nine games that will be played all around the world. The NFL has truly turned into a global game.
The full international schedule will be unveiled in May when the NFL releases the 2026 schedule.
