How Mahomes Is Shaping 2026 NFL Schedule, International Slate

The Chiefs’ quarterback underwent season-ending surgery Dec. 15 in Dallas to repair the ACL and LCL in his left knee. Mahomes sustained the injury the day before in a 16-13 loss to the Chargers. According to the Rick Burkholder, the team’s vice president of sports medicine and performance, the ballpark average return for an NFL player is nine months from surgery.

Mahomes said Jan. 15 that his rehab was progressing smoothly and he had set a personal goal of returning in time for the Chiefs’ Week 1 game, fortuitously pushed back to mid-September due to Labor Day falling on Sept. 7. The NFL prefers to begin the regular season after that fall holiday, not before.

Timing of injury also affecting international opponents

The timing of the quarterback’s injury and the NFL’s prior commitment to feature the Rams in the inaugural regular-season game in Australia leaves only six options for Seattle’s Week 1 kickoff game. That’s because the league last week announced that the 49ers would serve as the Rams’ historic opponent at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne.

That game, due to the significant round-trip travel, is likely a Week 1 game and could kick off ahead of the Seahawks’ opener.

However, one of those Lumen Field choices is a Super Bowl rematch with New England. The Seahawks also are scheduled to host Arizona, Chicago, Dallas, the L.A. Chargers and N.Y. Giants, in addition to the Rams, 49ers and Chiefs.

The 2026 season is a year in which NFC teams are provided nine home games, while the AFC clubs get only eight. AFC teams like Kansas City were given nine home games in 2025. That also means that several NFC teams will give up 2026 home games to play an international contest, as AFC teams will do in 2027.

Chiefs not likely to see international game in 2026

Prior to Mahomes’ injury, the Chiefs were thought to be a potential Australia opponent for the Rams because Kansas City prefers to play internationally once per season, should the league allow it.

If the Chiefs do get an international game this season, their most likely destination is London. But even that will be difficult for the league.

Last week, commissioner Roger Goodell announced that the league would return to Mexico City, increasing the number of international games in 2026 to nine. The Chiefs, however, played in Mexico only seven years ago, a win over the Chargers in 2019, so the league isn’t likely to return Kansas City there – especially because the country has hosted only two games in seven years (that Chiefs-Chargers contest and a 2022 game between the 49ers and Cardinals).

That international slate also features three games in London (two at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and a Jaguars home game at Wembley Stadium), and one each in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil (Maracanã Stadium), Munich, Germany (FC Bayern Munich Arena) and Madrid, Spain (Bernabéu Stadium, home of Real Madrid C.F.).

Additionally last week, the league confirmed another in Paris, France (Stade de France), pitting the New Orleans Saints as one of the participating teams. Unconfirmed reports have said the Saints’ Paris opponent would be the Cleveland Browns.

Because the Chiefs played in Germany as recently as 2023, a 21-14 win over Tyreek Hill and Miami. A Germany return is a extremely unlikely. Paris can’t happen, either, because the Chiefs aren’t a Saints opponent in 2026, even if New Orleans doesn’t play the Browns in France.

Kansas City doesn’t appear on the Jaguars’ list of opponents so Jacksonville’s annual home game at Wembley Stadium isn’t a possibility. So, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium seems like the only international choice for the Chiefs.

But even that will be a challenge because the only two opponents Kansas City could play in London are Seattle and Atlanta. Seattle and the Chiefs just played an international game three years ago. Atlanta, meanwhile, has played in London twice in the prior five seasons (2021 and 2023).

The best guess is that Kansas City will play all 17 games in the United States this season.

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