Here’s Now Only International Game Chiefs Would Play in 2026

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The NFL’s 2026 international slate has crystallized, and for the Kansas City Chiefs that means one unmistakable destination: Madrid.

A Wednesday morning league announcement assigned all three London games to Jacksonville and Washington, removing every other European option from the board. With the Jaguars doubling their U.K. presence—one date at Wembley and a second at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium while EverBank Stadium undergoes renovation—and Washington occupying the remaining Tottenham slot, the British capital is officially off the Chiefs’ itinerary.

That leaves Santiago Bernabéu, home of Real Madrid, as the solitary overseas venue where Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and company could perform next season. League scheduling rules place the burden of surrendering a ninth home game on NFC clubs in even-numbered years; 2026 is an AFC-neutral cycle, so Kansas City cannot be forced to “host” abroad. Instead, the Chiefs must land on the road schedule of an NFC opponent designated to play a home game internationally.

Atlanta fits that bill. The Falcons teased in December they had been selected for an international home game without naming the city; Wednesday’s announcement funnels them toward Madrid, the only site left unclaimed among the league’s predetermined 2026 locations. Detroit will stage a home game in Munich, New Orleans in Paris, Dallas in Rio de Janeiro and San Francisco in Mexico City, while Jacksonville and Washington occupy London.

Kansas City’s 2026 road docket—Denver, Las Vegas, L.A. Chargers, Atlanta, Buffalo, Cincinnati, L.A. Rams, Miami and Seattle—offers no other path abroad. The Rams are already committed to a headline clash with the 49ers in Australia, and Seattle will not be asked to yield a home date after the London pairings were finalized.

Club chairman Clark Hunt and team president Mark Donovan are expected to petition the league office for the right to face the Falcons at the Bernabéu, a stage that welcomed Taylor Swift for back-to-back sell-outs in May 2024 and could do the same for global football icon Cristiano Ronaldo next autumn. Kelce, who greeted Neymar in São Paulo to open the 2025 campaign, would need to return for a 14th season—and strike a new contract—to make the Madrid trip, but the tight end’s presence alongside Mahomes would amplify the Chiefs’ continuing effort to grow their brand beyond U.S. borders.

For Chiefs Kingdom, the equation is simple: one opponent, one stadium, one chance to watch their team chase a fifth Lombardi Trophy on Spanish soil.