FEI League of Nations - the participants of the first leg in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi is the first of four stages on the way to the grand finale in Barcelona at the beginning of October. After Abu Dhabi, it’s across the Atlantic to Ocala in Florida and back to Europe, where Rotterdam and St. Tropez-Gassin will host the last two stages. 700,000 euros will be distributed at each stop. At the final in Barcelona, there is even 1.6 million.

New name, new mode

The renaming from “Nations Cup Series” to “League of Nations” was part of a complete restructuring of the concept for the show jumping Nations Cups, which also included changing the previously familiar and proven mode. The new concept was ridden for the first time in 2024. This stipulates that the teams ride an identical course twice as usual. While four riders still compete in the first round and the worst result is eliminated, under the new concept there are only three pairs per nation in the second round.

How the qualification works

Qualification for the series has also been adjusted. Ten nations are allowed to take part each season. The best eight qualifiers compete in the final.

One starting place for the season belongs to the previous year’s winners of the final – i.e. Great Britain in 2026. The other nine places will be allocated according to the world rankings, taking into account the results up to and including October 31.

Every international show jumping rider receives points for their results. The better the results and the higher the level of the competitions, the more points. The points of the best six riders of each nation (including the best U25 rider) are added together to determine the ranking of the nations. The points generated determine the ranking of the nation and thus whether or not they are in the top nine.

The fact that not just ten, but eleven teams are competing in Abu Dhabi is due to the fact that the United Arab Emirates are also admitted as hosts. The British defending champions, the USA, Belgium, Ireland, Switzerland, France, the Netherlands, Italy and Brazil will also be riding in the desert. And Germany.

The team line-ups

Which team will compete with which riders has already been decided. Here is an overview:

Germany

Marco Kutscher will be taking part for the first time since the series was reinvented. Daniel Deußer, Sophie Hinners and Jörne Sprehe complete the team of team boss Otto Becker.

USA

Robert Ridland sends a strong team of amazons with Natalie Dean, Callie Schott, Sarah Segal and Skylar Wireman.

Belgium

Belgium’s Head of Equestrian Peter Weinberg relies on Rik Hemeryck, Jos Verlooy, Wilm Vermeir and Annelies Vorsselmans.

Ireland

The Irish were victorious in Abu Dhabi last year. Now they will be led for the first time by Jessica Kürten, who has opted for the following line-up: Trevor Breen and Michael Pender, who were already there last year, together with Shane Breen and Niamh McEvoy, for whom it will be their first start in the League of Nations.

France

Simon Delestre, Olivier Perreau and Jeanne Sadran will be competing under the French colors. In addition to the experienced trio, there will also be a new face in the form of Nicolas Sers. The 26-year-old finished second in the 2025 Grand Prix of St. Gallen and ninth in the King George V Gold Cup at Hickstead.

Netherlands

Wout-Jan van der Schans is also leaving nothing to chance and is relying on Kim Emmen, Frank Schuttert, Leopold van Asten and Jur Vrieling.

Italy

Piergiorgio Bucci, Giacomo Casadei, Paolo Paini and Clara Pezzoli ride for Italy.

Switzerland

This time Switzerland is not relying on stars like Guerdat, Fuchs & Co. but on a number of newcomers and comeback riders: Jason Smith, Romain Duguet, Gaëtan Joliat and Barbara Schnieper.

Brazil

Pedro Paulo Lacerda, as Brazilian Chef d’Equipe, has decided to field the two newcomers João Victor Castro Aguiar Gomes de Lima and Luiz Felipe Neto de Azevedo, together with the experienced Nations Cup riders Luciana Diniz and Pedro Junqueira Muylaert.

Great Britain

The British are Olympic champions, won silver at last year’s European Championship and the League of Nations final. For step one of their title defense mission, the brilliant Di Lampard has named a young team: Tim Gredley, Joseph Stockdale, Jack Whitaker and debutant Jodie Hall McAteer.

UAE

Last but not least, the host nation, which finished a superb second behind the Irish last year, is a force to be reckoned with. True to the motto “Never change a winning team”, the four players who delivered last year will be competing again this year: Abdullah Mohd Al Marri, Omar Abdul Aziz Al Marzooqi, Abdullah Humaid Al Muhairi and Humaid Abdulla Khalifa Al Muhairi.