Who will the Falcons face in their 2026 international game in Spain?

When the NFL drops the 2026 regular season schedule on Thursday night, we will find out who the Atlanta Falcons will be playing for their international game in December, which will take place in Spain.

Even though they will be playing thousands of miles from Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta will technically be the home team for this matchup.

According to Bryan DeArdo at CBS Sports, the Falcons should be hoping that their opponent that week is not one of their NFC South rivals.

"The NFL already announced that the Falcons to host a December game in Spain. The Falcons play in one of the NFL's most competitive divisions and would surely prefer to play their divisional home games at Mercedes-Benz Stadium rather than on a neutral site."

We will have to agree to disagree on this point. While there's something to be said for not losing a home game against a division rival, the other teams the Falcons will host this year are much tougher than their NFC South opponents.

If it isn't the Saints, Bucs or Panthers, then the Falcons will be "hosting" either the Detroit Lions, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, San Francisco 49ers or the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Ravens, Bengals, Chiefs and 49ers were all hit hard by injuries last season, but when healthy these are all potentially very tough playoff teams. Meanwhile, the Saints finished last year with a 6-11 record, which was the worst mark for any of their slated NFC home opponents. So, based on toughness of opponent facing New Orleans would be best - the lack of competition making up for the lost home game at least a little bit.

If it needs to be one of the other visitors, you can make a case for the 49ers based on the fact that they'd need to fly an additional 3,000 miles further than the Falcons to get to Spain. They'd also likely be kicking off at 6:00 am local time. However, the Niners won 12 games last season and Atlanta doesn't matchup well with them on paper. That's the kind of game where you'd prefer to have your full home advantage.

So, if it were our choice we'd prefer to face the Saints, who the Falcons swept last season. Treating an international audience to one of the NFL's most-bitter rivalries is the kind of thing that may actually grow the game, too.

This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: Atlanta Falcons to play "home" game in Spain this season