Michigan will reportedly open up its 2026 season against Western Michigan in Germany. The report comes from On3's Brett McMurphy, who broke the news on X on Friday.The festivities will take place in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany, inside the 55,000-seat Deutsche Bank Park. The retractable-roof soccer stadium has hosted five NFL games thus far.Fans on X reacted to the news of Michigan playing in Germany to open up the season."Very dumb. I hope Ohio State never does this," a fan said."This might be a controversial opinion, but I think fans want to see their team play at home. Neutral site games that take away a home game suck," a fan said.Fans continued to bash the choice, citing it as pointless to travel so far for a game whose result is likely predictable."Traveling 4,000 miles to see a 45-7 game is the sports equivalent of 'this could have been an email,'" another fan said."It's a f***ing 3 hour drive and y'all are going to fly around the world to play. Way to give the fans what they want!" mentioned another fan."Michigan flying thousands of miles just to lose to an instate mac team would be hilarious," another posted.This will be the first international college football game since Notre Dame played Navy in Dublin, Ireland, as part of the Aer Lingus College Football Classic in August 2023.Michigan program praises ability to play internationally in 2026NCAA Football: Big Ten Media Days - Source: ImagnMichigan coach Sherrone Moore discussed the opportunity during Big Ten media days on Friday.“I am excited about the football and educational experience this game could provide for our players,” Moore said in a statement. “We are always looking for unique opportunities to expose our student-athletes to other cultures. In the last 10 years, our program has been to Italy, France and South Africa, and this game would provide another chance to grow our international fanbase.”Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel seems especially excited about the potential to spread the "Go Blue" brand around internationally.“The University of Michigan is one of the few worldwide brands in college athletics and the interest in playing an international game would be unique,” Manuel said. “This would be a great opportunity to teach ‘Go Blue’ to a new group of fans in Germany.”The game will be Michigan's first international game in its 145-year history. The game will also be college football's fifth in Germany and its first between FBS programs.Next year, TCU and North Carolina will open their seasons in Europe as well, going head-to-head from Dublin, Ireland on Aug. 29, 2026.