The NFL continues to gradually trickle out assignments for the league’s 2026 international games, and another one dropped on Tuesday morning. The league announced today that the Detroit Lions will be one of
the two teams participating in this fall’s NFL game in Munich, Germany, a game that will take place at Allianz Arena, the home of FC Bayern Munich.
Notably, the announcement does not confirm whether the Lions will be the home team or road team. However, with NFC teams having 9 home games against 8 road games in 2026, Detroit will likely be the home team; indeed, every team that has been announced as a home team for any of the other international games to this point has been an NFC squad.
Munich was a potential landing spot for the Green Bay Packers this fall, with the team holding NFL marketing rights to Germany. However, the NFL has historically avoided sending divisional matchups overseas, making a matchup with the Lions in Germany highly unlikely. This year there will be one exception to that rule, however, as the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers are scheduled to play each other in Melbourne, Australia.
The Packers also have marketing rights in the UK and Ireland, and none of the three games scheduled to be played in London have had participating teams announced. Being the home team for one of those three games appears to be the most likely scenario for the Packers playing an international game in 2026.
As a reminder, the opponents for the Packers’ 9 home games in 2026 are as follows:
- Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings, Atlanta Falcons, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, Dallas Cowboys, Houston Texans, Miami Dolphins
The NFL has played five games in Germany over the past four seasons, with Munich receiving the games in even-numbered years. The first regular season game played there was in 2022, when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Seattle Seahawks 21-16. In 2024, the Carolina Panthers beat the New York Giants 20-17 in overtime. In addition to 2026, the NFL’s deal with the city of Munich also includes a game in 2028, with Berlin set to host games in 2027 and 2029.
