The 79th running of the Monster Energy Motocross of Nations (MXoN) delivered an epic at France’s Ernee circuit, with Team Belgium snapping a 13-year winless streak to claim the top step of the podium. With a range of talking points emerging from the event, MotoOnline details those topics from the 2026 edition in Countdown.

Image: Postmoto.

8. Winning hopes dashed for Team France:
It was a story of what could’ve been for France on home soil, with what was arguably the strongest team on paper featuring two-time world champions Romain Febvre and Tom Vialle alongside emerging talent Mathis Valin. Valin crashed out of race one, setting the tone for the weekend and leaving France with no margin for error after using its joker. Then came Vialle – a spectacular crash from the lead on lap one after a scrub went wrong proved to be the nail in the coffin, with the nation ultimately winding up 10th overall at Ernee.

7. Jonass and Reisulis brothers deliver in Latvia P4:
Latvia was always going to be solid, although they arrived somewhat under the radar with the headlines positioned elsewhere. The Reisulis brothers – who make up Monster Energy Yamaha’s presence in the MX2 world championship – are seriously talented, as is former MX2 world champion Pauls Jonass, particularly in recent rounds. So fourth overall was no real surprise given the talent in the line-up, and there’s every chance this trio could challenge for a podium in the future. For a country of just 1.85 million people, Latvia continues to punch well above its weight in motocross.

6. Defending two-time champions Team Australia claim ninth:
Team Australia was comprised of an all-domestic line-up in 2026, with Jed Beaton, Alex Larwood and Aaron Tanti inheriting the numbers one, two and three from the Lawrence brothers and Kyle Webster. What was interesting to watch here was how the level solely in Australia stacks up against the rest of the world, with Beaton leading the charge via 10-11 scores. It was never going to match what the green and gold had accomplished over the previous four years, however ninth overall was a respectable outcome.

Image: Postmoto.

5. Vintage Cooper Webb leads the USA to top-five:
Captain America’s Cooper Webb answered the call when no one else would for Team USA, arriving aboard an all-new Husqvarna FC 450 Factory Edition and delivering a memorable performance under the circumstances. A final race battle with Vialle – and some choice moves from the Frenchman – yielded vintage Webb, who wasn’t about to let that slide. It was P5 for Team USA, and you can’t say that Webb, Levi Kitchen and Julien Beaumer didn’t put their best foot forward.

4. Wild atmosphere characterizes Ernee:
The crowd was electric at Ernee! Even watching the broadcast back, at times it was hard to hear anything but the cheering, especially during the thrilling final MXGP/Open moto. It’s a strong venue for a race of this caliber to come to, with the circuit throwing up a challenge in its own right with a tricky, undulating hard-pack surface. But back to the crowd – that was insane, which a lot of the imagery from the event reflects.

3. Close for maiden Spanish victory:
Spain has never won the MXoN, but you feel like that is destined to shift at one of the coming years’ events. The world championship-winning pedigree is there with Jorge Prado and Guillem Farres, while 2026 EMX250 champion Francisco Garcia strapped up for a heroic effort on the 450 machine. They entered as the second-best team, slightly behind France, and don’t forget that they also have Ruben Fernandez in their back pocket, who was injured for this year’s edition. Don’t sleep on Spain – their time is coming.

Image: Postmoto.

2. Herlings versus the world:
It goes without saying, but Jeffrey Herlings is a bad dude on a motorcycle. Making it all the more epic is that he wanted all the smoke – explaining that he had been waiting in anticipation for the final moto of the afternoon, presumably to lay his claim as the fastest 450 rider in the world once the checkered flag waved. Look, were we without the Lawrence brothers and Haiden Deegan? Sure, and it’s impossible to know how it would’ve played out with them in attendance. But Herlings fell in that final race, then ate away at a 12-second margin to Prado to claim the top spot. So, purely taking Ernee as our reference point, he has to be the fastest in the world at the moment.

1. Belgium breaks 13-year drought:
Amongst all the chaos, it was Team Belgium that reigned supreme, with a standout performance from Liam Everts really dragging them across the line. If we had a full-powered Lucas Coenen, it’d likely have been a different story, but we didn’t, with the 19-year-old still limping heavily post-race. Nevertheless, the team of Everts, Lucas, and Sacha Coenen were the consistent ones [Coenes’ and consistency?!], breaking a 13-year drought dating back to when Clement Desalle, Ken De Dycker, and Jeremy Van Horebeek got the job done in Germany. Well deserved!