Falcons news: Candidates to play Atlanta in Madrid game

The Atlanta Falcons are no strangers to playing in international games. Atlanta played against Indianapolis in Berlin, Germany during the 2025 season. Now the team has finally revealed where they will play their next international game in 2026.

The Falcons announced on Tuesday that they will play a regular-season game in Madrid, Spain during the 2026 season. It will be played at Bernabéu Stadium, home of Real Madrid CF.

The NFL announced a multi-year partnership on February 2nd with the city of Madrid to host games. In 2025, the NFL played its first ever international game in Spain. The league sent the Commanders and Dolphins to Spain for that historic matchup.

Now the question becomes: who will the Falcons play against in Madrid?

This international game is considered a home game for the Falcons, per NFL Network's Mike Garafolo. That cuts the list of potential candidates almost in half.

Atlanta is scheduled to play home games against the following teams.

Carolina Panthers
New Orleans Saints
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Chicago Bears
Detroit Lions
Baltimore Ravens
Cincinnati Bengals
San Francisco 49ers
Kansas City Chiefs

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There are a few ways to narrow this list even further.

Garafolo notes that the Saints, 49ers, and Lions are all committed to play in separate international games. That makes it unlikely that they will be selecting for a second international game during the same season.

Two of the leading candidates should be the Bears and Chiefs. Garafolo added that both teams have marketing rights in Spain. The NFL may want to send those teams to Spain with the assumption of having a larger turnout.

Ultimately, Falcons fans may have to wait for the NFL's full 2026 schedule release to learn who their opponent in Spain will be.

Here is a complete list of the NFL's international games for the 2026 season.