If you thought the Atlanta Falcons were dealing with enough changes this offseason, you might have another thing coming. The Falcons are already ushering in a new era with the Kevin Stefanski as their new head coach, but beyond an overdue regime change, there's more to be excited about in Atlanta.
And that starts and ends with our first glimpse of the Falcons' 2026 schedule. As a part of the NFL's mandate that all 32 teams will partake in an international game in 2026, we have been waiting to see where the Dirty Birds will end up, and now we have our answer, and it surely will not disappoint you.
The Falcons are confirmed to be the home team in the NFL's Madrid game, which the team themselves confirmed on social media. This means that if you were a little bit rusty on your Spanish-speaking skills, you might need to freshen those up in order to watch this team go to battle in Spain.
¡Vamos a Madrid!
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) March 3, 2026
See you in Spain, Dirty Birds 🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/3IkGdOgYV6
The Falcons are headed to Madrid in 2026 to participate in an international game
Their opponent has not been confirmed just yet, so stay on the lookout for that across the next couple of weeks. But by the looks if it, it's a fair assumption that they will be hosting one of the Bears, Chiefs,, Ravens, or Bengals, since the Lions and 49ers already have overseas games scheduled.
The Falcons also played an international game in 2025, as they faced the Indianapolis Colts in Berlin. Atlanta lost this game 31-24 in overtime because of a monster game from Jonathan Taylor, so hopefully the 2026 chapter of international escapdes doesn't end in the same type of heartache.
As a part of the NFL's initiative to continue spreading the league (and American football) to other parts of the world, they have branched out beyond games in London in recent years. There were games in Munich, Berlin, Madrid, and Dublin in 2025, which is a pretty major international takeover.
The league's first Madrid game took place in Week 11 of the 2025 season between the Washington Commanders and Miami Dolphins, in which the Dolphins prevailed 16-13 in overtime. So hopefully the Falcons are able to prevail this time around, especially after what happened against the Colts.
Falcons fans have been waiting to see what a second consecutive overseas game would look like for Stefanski's squad, and it has the anticipation for the new era bubbling more than it was before.