Text © World of Showjumping

Eight teams have qualified for the second edition of the Longines League of Nations™ Final that takes place this week in Barcelona, Spain.

The nine best ranked teams in the Longines League of Nations™ Ranking – Ireland, France, USA, Great Britain, Belgium, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Sweden, Italy as well as Germany as the winner of last year’s LLN Final – competed in four qualifying legs across three continents. Abu Dhabi (UAE), Ocala (USA), Rotterdam (NED) and St. Tropez- Gassin (FRA) hosted the four Longines League of Nations™ series qualifiers that determined the eight teams qualified for the final.

France topped the season’s standings with 300 points just ahead of Great Britain in second on 295, Germany in third on 290 and Belgium in fourth on 280. Ireland finished fifth on 260, ahead of Italy and USA in joint sixth position on 255 points. The Netherlands took the final qualifying spot, finishing eighth on 225 points, while Sweden and Switzerland did not make the cut and were left out of the 2025 LLN Final.

LLN Final, taking place on Sunday as per the LLN Rules, is run over two rounds, with identical courses. Judged as Table A against the clock, both rounds have a maximum height of 1.60 m and a speed of 400 m/minute, while the course must include a water jump. The courses at this year’s Final will be designed by Spain’s very own Santiago Varela.

The starting order of the LLN Final is the reverse order of the LLN season’s standings. In case of a tie, a draw will be held between the countries in question. The home nation has a right to compete at the final, and will go first in the starting order.

Four horse-and-rider combinations per team take part in the first round of the LLN Final, where the combined penalties and times of each team’s three best pairs determines their placement. All teams – unless eliminated, disqualified, retired or withdrawn in the first round – take part in the second round with three pairs each. The starting order in the second round is the reverse order of the classification after round one, and in the second round, there is no dropscore.

After two rounds, the winner of the LLN Final will be the team with the smallest number of penalties. In case there is a tie on penalties for first place after the second round,  a jump-off against the clock with one horse-and-rider combination per team will take place. In case there is a tie for any other placing, the time of the teams’ three pairs in the second round will be used to decide the team classification.

If two or more horse-and-rider combinations from a team are eliminated, retire or are disqualified in the first round, the whole team is eliminated. If one pair from a team is eliminated, retires or is disqualified in the second round, the whole team is eliminated from the second round. If a team is qualified to take part in the second round, a horse-and-rider combination that was eliminated or retired in the first round may start in the second round and/or the jump-off.

The prize money of the LLN Final is 1.600.000€, with a bonus of 200.000€ awarded for the best individual performance according to the result in both rounds based on penalties only. In case of a tie on penalties, the bonus is divided equally.

Special bonuses will be awarded as well. The Best Athlete – based on most clear rounds – of the season receives 40.000 €, while the Best Groom – judged as the groom of the rider with the most clear rounds – gets 15.000 €. The Best Chef d’Equipe – as the chef d’equipe of the winning team in the LLN Final – receives a bonus of 15.000 €, while each of the grooms in the winning team gets a bonus of 5000 €. The owner of the Best Horse – the horse with the most clear rounds after the four qualifiers – gets a trophy and one CSI5* Wild Card.