Patriots announced as Lions' opponent for 2026 NFL Munich game

TL;DR

The New England Patriots will face the Detroit Lions in the 2026 NFL game in Munich, marking the Lions' first trip to Germany. The NFL continues its international expansion with multiple games planned for 2026, including matches in Australia and France.

Key points

Patriots announced as Lions' opponent for 2026 NFL Munich game
Lions will play in Germany for the first time
NFL has hosted games in Germany annually since 2022
Other international games planned for 2026 include Australia and France
Munich will host NFL games in 2028

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The New England Patriots have been announced as the Detroit Lions' opponent for this year's NFL game in Munich, the US league said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Lions, featuring German wider receiver Amon-Ra St Brown, had been announced as a participating team in February.

Since 2022, Germany has hosted at least one NFL regular season match every year and games are also confirmed to be played in Berlin in 2027 and 2029, and Munich in 2028.

The Lions will be coming to Germany for the first time, while the Patriots played against the Indianapolis Colts in Frankfurt in 2023.

The NFL will play nine international games in 2026, including its first-ever game in Australia - San Francisco 49ers v Los Angeles Rams in Melbourne - and a debut in France with the New Orleans Saints hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers in Paris.

The 2026 series of international games is being labelled by the league as "its most ambitious and lengthy globe-trotting journey to date."

There will be three games in London (Colts v Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles v Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans v Jaguars), one in Madrid (Cincinnati Bengals v Atlanta Falcons), one in Mexico City (Minnesota Vikings v 49ers) and one in Rio de Janeiro ( v ).

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