There will be five international games on the 2024 NFL schedule and we now know who will be the host in four of those games after the league revealed the teams on Thursday.
The Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings, Jacksonville Jaguars and Carolina Panthers will all be heading abroad next season to host an international game.
The Bears and Vikings will each host a game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London while the Jaguars will host a game at Wembley Stadium. As for the Panthers, Carolina will get to be the home team for the NFL's second game ever in Munich, Germany. This will be the fourth game overall in Germany with Munich hosting the initial game 2022 followed by Frankfurt hosting two games in 2023.
If you're wondering whether your favorite team will be heading across the pond as the road team in one of these games, it's certainly possible.
With that in mind, let's take a look at who each team could end up playing in their international game (One thing to keep in mind is that the NFL rarely puts a divisional game on the international schedule -- it hasn't happened since 2019 -- so that seems unlikely. Also, each team is allowed to protect two home games from being moved).
Bears' home schedule: Lions, Packers, Vikings, Panthers, Rams, Seahawks, Jaguars, Titans, Patriots
Best guess: Last season, the Jaguars became the first team in NFL history to play back-to-back games in London and the NFL could do that again this season since Jacksonville is on Chicago's home schedule. The Patriots and Titans both played abroad in 2023, so they both feel like a long shot. If the Jags thing doesn't happen, I'd say the Bears end up playing the Seahawks or Rams.
Vikings' home schedule: Bears, Lions, Packers, Cardinals, 49ers, Falcons, Texans, Colts, Jets
Best guess: The Cardinals seem like the most logical opponent here. The Vikings likely won't want to lose a home game against the 49ers or a home game against CJ Stroud (Texans) or Aaron Rodgers (Jets). The Colts and Falcons both played abroad in 2023, which leaves Arizona, a team that hasn't played in Europe since 2017.
Jaguars' homes schedule: Texans, Colts, Titans, Patriots, Jets, Packers, Vikings, Browns
Best guess: The Browns have only played one-game ever in Europe and that came in 2017. This would be the perfect season to give them another game.
Panthers' home schedule: Falcons, Saints, Buccaneers, Cowboys, Giants, Cardinals, Chiefs, Chargers, Bengals
Best guess: If the NFL wants to make a big splash, they could send the Cowboys over, but Carolina would likely want to protect that game, so Dallas seems like a a long shot. If the Cardinals don't get sent over to play Minnesota, that'd make sense for the Panthers. If the Cards play the Vikings though, then the Chargers or Bengals would be a solid bet here.
The NFL will also be holding an international game in Brazil this year, but the league didn't announce the home team for that game (The NFL did say that the home team will be announced in the "Coming months" before the release of the schedule). The visiting teams in the European games will be announced when the 2024 schedule is released later this spring.
