Nations Cup Eventing: France Claims Home Victory in Lignières; Boekelo Field Complete

This weekend in Lignières, the final qualifying spots for the Eventing Nations Cup Final were awarded. In this final qualifying round of the “FEI Eventing Nations Cup,” France took the win with 106.70 penalty points—ahead of Great Britain (170.40) and Italy (194.40). With this result, the Italians have secured a spot in the final in Boekelo (NED) from October 1–4.

A start-to-finish victory for the experienced Equipe France

Under bright sunshine and in front of a home crowd, the French team didn’t miss a beat. The experienced team also included the Benjamin Massie, the unlucky one at the World Championships, who had crashed early in the race in Aachen while riding Figaro Fonroy. This time, he not only finished the race but also placed third in the Individual ranking. This made him the second-best French rider, as the victory went to Karim Florent Laghouag and Dream de Vieve. Third place in the competition went to Stéphane Landois on Hermès du Gévaudan. Thomas Carlile and Golden de Beliard AA were the team’s discard. “We are very pleased with the French team this weekend. We were in the lead after the dressage—that was a good start—the cross-country went well, and the show jumping secured our lead—a truly gratifying result,” summarized Chef d’Équipe Jean-Luc Force.

France Is the Favorite in Boekelo

France competed in four of the five stages of the 2026 season in the Nations Cup series; no other nation competed more often. The Marseillaise rang out twice to celebrate French victories—not only in Lignières but also in June at the third stage in Strzegom (POL). As a result, France leads the 2026 overall standings and heads to Boekelo as the favorite. However, there is a new scoring format: All teams start from zero. Only their performance at the classic event on the German-Dutch border counts.

Nations Cup Debutants Lead Great Britain to the Podium

With a largely inexperienced team, Great Britain took second place: Lizzie Baugh on Piltown Concorde, Kate Rowe on Hableur, Andrew Downes on Cooley Foxtrot, and Tristram Owers on GRS Carina—all had something in common: For all four, it was their very first Nations Cup appearance. It also marks Great Britain’s 59th podium finish in the history of the FEI Eventing Nations Cup, surpassed in the all-time standings only by Germany (61). “We had some inexperience on the team, and on our third visit to Lignières, we were very happy to make it onto the podium behind a strong French team,” said Chef d’Équipe Philip Surl. He also expressly praised the work of course designer Pierre Le Goupil—who also designed the 2024 Olympic course—and his team regarding the ground conditions of the cross-country course: “The effort put into preparing the ground was enormous—and is greatly appreciated by all the teams.”

Italy Back on the Podium

For the first time since Avenches (SUI) in June 2024, Italy was back on the podium in a Nations Cup competition. It was the first time this season. Beatrice Maggi on Charlotte 238, Alessio Proia on Gatto Salta D’o, Pietro Majolino on Dubi Du, and Matteo Arrighi on Clark Del Rilate not only secured third place but also qualified for Boekelo.

Norway and Switzerland round out the Boekelo lineup

Fourth place went to Norway with Yasmin Olsson Payne and Cos Me Will, Ellen Kristina Hynne on ML Dirty Harry, and Heidi Bratlie Larsen riding SC Mr. Chrichton. Switzerland took fifth place with Robin Godel on Ilario des Tours, Patrick Rüegg on Tabaro, and Camille Guyot on Sunny For Game. These two nations also secured their spots in the final with their performances in Lignières.

The lineup for Boekelo has been finalized

Five other nations will join the teams from Lignières in Boekelo on Thursday: Germany, Austria, Poland, Belgium, and the U.S. The host country, the Netherlands, secured the tenth and final spot in a three-way tie with New Zealand and Sweden—the decision went in favor of the Dutch because they had the lowest team qualifying score among the three nations this season, achieved in Avenches in June 2026.