The NFL’s 2026 International Games: Which Ones Are Actually Worth a Trip
The NFL is playing nine games outside the US in 2026 — the most it’s ever done in one season. Three cities are getting a game for the first time ever: Melbourne, Rio, and Paris. The rest are repeat stops the league has down to a routine by now: London, Madrid, Munich, Mexico City.
Most of what you’ll read about these games stops at who’s playing and what time it kicks off. That’s not much help if you’re actually thinking about flying somewhere for one. A game in Rio isn’t a game you drive to on Sunday. It’s a flight, a week of hotel nights, a passport, and a real decision about what the rest of the trip is. The ticket is the easy part. The hard part is figuring out which of these nine is worth the airfare, and how to build the trip so the game is the reason you went, not the only thing you did.
So here’s the straight version on all nine, grouped by the kind of trip each one really is.
Melbourne — the big bucket-list one
Los Angeles Rams vs. San Francisco 49ers · Week 1 · Thursday, September 10 · Melbourne Cricket Ground
This is the headliner and it deserves to be. First NFL regular-season game ever in Australia, in the MCG — a 100,000-seat stadium that’s hosted Olympic finals and cricket Tests and now gets its first NFL crowd. The 49ers–Rams rivalry is a nice bonus. The building and the “first ever” part are the real draw.
This is also the toughest trip on the list. Melbourne is about a 15-hour flight from the West Coast and a full travel day from the East. Nobody flies to Australia for a long weekend. This is a 7-to-10-day trip or you shouldn’t bother — and honestly that’s the good news, not the bad news. September is early spring down there: cool mornings, mild afternoons, great coffee everywhere, and wine country on the Great Ocean Road and Yarra Valley both an easy day trip. The game turns into the anchor of an Australia trip instead of the whole reason for it.
One thing that matters for planning: the US kickoff time means the game lands at a weird hour locally. Check the actual Melbourne date and start time before you book anything, because it changes which day you need to be at the stadium.
Best for: anyone who’s always wanted to do Australia and just needed a reason to finally pull the trigger. Book the whole trip — the game pays for the flight you were never quite going to book otherwise.
Skip it if: you can’t take a full week. A rushed Melbourne trip is just jet lag with a football game in the middle.
Rio de Janeiro — the one you’ll talk about for years
Baltimore Ravens vs. Dallas Cowboys · Week 3 · Sunday, September 27 · Maracanã Stadium
If Melbourne is the headliner, Rio is the photo you’ll keep. First NFL game ever in Brazil, in the Maracanã — the stadium that held a World Cup final, in a city built around mountains and beaches. And the Cowboys travel better than anyone, so the crowd will be loud.
Late September in Rio is early spring: warm, long days, Copacabana and Ipanema busy but not packed like peak summer. Three to five days is about right — the game, Christ the Redeemer, Sugarloaf, a beach day, and one night that makes the whole trip worth it on its own. This is a once-and-tell-everyone kind of trip.
Fair warning, and it’s logistics not vibe: Rio goes a lot smoother if you plan ahead. Sort out your neighborhoods, airport rides, and your gameday plan before you go instead of winging it when you land, and it’s a great trip.
Best for: the fan who cares more about the story than the matchup. The game’s fine. The setting is the whole point, and almost no NFL fan will ever stand in that stadium.
Skip it if: you only want the game. The game alone doesn’t justify flying to South America. The trip around it does.
London — the easy first one
Three games over three weeks:
- Indianapolis Colts vs. Washington Commanders · Week 4 · Sunday, October 4 · Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
- Philadelphia Eagles vs. Jacksonville Jaguars · Week 5 · Sunday, October 11 · Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
- Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Houston Texans · Week 6 · Sunday, October 18 · Wembley Stadium
London is where you go for your first NFL trip abroad, and it’s because nothing about it is hard. The league has been playing here for over a decade. Tottenham’s stadium has actual NFL setup built in under the soccer pitch, the whole gameday operation runs like clockwork, and you don’t have to deal with a language barrier or anything unfamiliar. Three games on three straight Sundays means you can pick your weekend by the matchup, the flight price, or whatever else you want to do — you’re not stuck with one date.
The Sunday games kick around early afternoon UK time, so the rest of the day is yours and a long weekend actually works — fly out Friday, game Sunday, home midweek. October in London is cool and a bit unpredictable but nowhere near winter, and the summer tourist crowds are gone. Tottenham and Wembley are different — Tottenham is the modern NFL-ready one, Wembley is bigger and more old-school. Pick the weekend by the trip you want, then the game.
Best for: anyone doing their first international NFL trip, and anyone who wants a long weekend instead of a big expedition. Easiest one on the list, not close.
Skip it if: you’ve already done London. The game’s great but the city won’t be new, and three of the nine games being one city is a lot of repeats if you’ve been.
Paris — the novelty trip
New Orleans Saints vs. Pittsburgh Steelers · Week 7 · Sunday, October 25 · Stade de France
First NFL game ever in France, at the Stade de France just north of Paris — their national stadium, a World Cup and Olympics venue. The novelty is the pull. There’s never going to be another “first NFL game in Paris,” and Saints–Steelers is a fun watch. Paris in late October is proper fall — grey, moody, fewer tourists, and a lot of people think that’s Paris at its best.
This one’s the opposite of Melbourne. You’re not flying to Paris for football — you’re going to Paris for Paris, and the game is why you’re going this week. Build it as a Paris trip with a Sunday at the stadium dropped in. Four to six days, the usual Paris stuff, plus one afternoon no other NFL season will ever give you again.
Best for: anyone who’d take a Paris trip anyway and wants a reason to make it this October. The game’s the excuse. The city’s the trip.
Skip it if: you’re picking on football alone. Saints–Steelers is solid, not huge, and the stadium’s fine but not special. Paris carries this one — which is great, if Paris is what you wanted.
Madrid — go for the city
Atlanta Falcons vs. Cincinnati Bengals · Week 9 · Sunday, November 8 · Santiago Bernabéu Stadium
The league’s second year in a row in Madrid, and the venue is the reason: the Bernabéu, Real Madrid’s rebuilt stadium, one of the most famous in the world. An NFL game inside it is a weird and very cool thing to see. Early November in Madrid is crisp and clear — probably the city’s best weather, dry and easy to walk, none of the summer heat.
This is a city-first trip. Madrid gives you world-class museums, a food scene that runs late, and day trips to Toledo and Segovia. Four or five days with the game as the centerpiece is the move. Falcons–Bengals is the weakest part of the package — the Bernabéu and Madrid in November do the heavy lifting.
Best for: anyone who wants a European city break with an unusual football centerpiece, or anyone who’d fly a long way just to see inside that stadium.
Skip it if: the matchup is what matters to you. On paper this is the weakest game of the nine. You’re buying Madrid and the Bernabéu, not the football.
Munich — the one to think hardest about
New England Patriots vs. Detroit Lions · Week 10 · Sunday, November 15 · FC Bayern Munich Stadium
Munich has had the loudest crowds of any international NFL stop so far, and the Bayern stadium is the real deal. Patriots–Lions is a decent game. The catch is the timing: this is mid-November, so it’s cold, dark early, and — saying this plainly because everyone assumes it — there’s no Oktoberfest. That’s over in early October, more than a month before this game. The Christmas markets, Munich’s other big thing, usually open in the days after this game, so depending on the exact date you might catch the very start of them or miss them completely.
That doesn’t ruin the trip, it just changes what it is. Mid-November Munich is a cold-weather city trip — Bavarian food and beer halls at their coziest, the Alps and Salzburg a day trip away, a great stadium crowd — but it’s not the festival trip the calendar might trick you into thinking. Go in knowing that and it’s a strong four-day trip. Go in expecting October Munich and you’ll be let down by something that was never on the table.
Best for: anyone who wants the best stadium atmosphere of the nine and is happy with a cold-weather Bavaria trip on its own terms.
Skip it if: you were picturing Oktoberfest or guaranteed Christmas markets. Check the exact date against when the markets open before you commit, and set your expectations accordingly.
Mexico City — the easy big one
San Francisco 49ers vs. Minnesota Vikings · Week 11 · Sunday night · Estadio Banorte
First NFL game in Mexico City since 2022, and the only international game in the Sunday-night primetime slot — so it’s the most-watched of the nine on TV, and a night game means your whole day is free beforehand. For North American fans this is by far the easiest international game to get to. Short flight, friendly time zone, a long weekend totally works.
Two things to plan around. The stadium’s at high altitude — about 7,300 feet — which matters for how you pace your day, not a reason to skip it. And November is Mexico City’s dry season and one of its best stretches: mild, clear, with the city’s incredible food and museum scene going full tilt. Three or four days covers the game, the historic center, Teotihuacán, and a serious amount of eating.
Best for: anyone who wants a real international NFL trip without a long-haul flight, and anyone who already knows Mexico City is a great destination — because it is.
Skip it if: honestly, nothing. This is the easy one: closest, cheapest to get to, good matchup, primetime, great city. If you want to test whether an international NFL trip is your thing, test it with this one.
How to pick, quick version
Never done one and want a sure thing? London — easiest, pick your weekend. Want the trip you’ll be telling people about in ten years? Rio or Melbourne, and it comes down to how many days you can take. Want a great city with football as the excuse? Paris or Madrid. Want the loudest crowd? Munich — just go in with the right expectations. Want the most trip for the least hassle? Mexico City, and it’s not close.
The ticket is never the hard part of these. The flight and the week off are. Pick the trip first and the game second, and any one of these works.