MADRID (AP) — The Atlanta Falcons will play this season in the NFL’s second regular-season game staged in Madrid.
The Falcons’ opponent will be confirmed later in the year when the full season schedule is released. It is expected that the Falcons will serve as the home team at Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.
The Madrid event is part of a record nine international games in 2026, including new hosts in France, Australia, and Brazil.
The Washington Commanders faced the Miami Dolphins in last year’s season opener in the Spanish capital at the Bernabéu. The Dolphins won 16-13 in overtime before a crowd of 78,610 fans.
This summer, Spain’s national soccer team will play two World Cup matches at the Falcons’ Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“We are incredibly proud to be part of an NFL regular-season game in Madrid, at the iconic Bernabéu,” Falcons president and CEO Greg Beadles said in a league-issued release on Tuesday. “Atlanta and Madrid fit perfectly, as we will host two Spain group-stage matches in the upcoming World Cup at the Mercedes-Benz.”
It will be the Falcons’ fifth trip to Europe and the fourth in six seasons. Atlanta played in Toronto in 2013, in London in 2014, 2021 and 2023, and in Berlin in 2025.
The NFL announced in February that it had reached a multi-year agreement to continue staging regular-season games at the Bernabéu. The league noted that Spain is “an important global market,” with 11 million fans. It also said it would focus on expanding the league’s flag football initiatives nationwide.
The Dolphins, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Chicago Bears hold marketing rights in Spain as part of the league’s Global Markets program, which grants NFL teams rights outside the United States to “boost brand recognition and fan engagement through fan participation, events and business opportunities.”
The NFL has said it intends to increase the number of international games to a point where every team could play one overseas game per season.
A total of 62 regular-season games have been played outside the United States, with London, Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Madrid, Dublin, São Paulo, Mexico City and Toronto serving as venues.
The league will stage its first game in Rio de Janeiro, at the legendary Maracanã Stadium, and will also return to Mexico City at Banorte Stadium, the new name for Azteca Stadium.
