Countries that haven't yet won Eurovision and their best results

Throughout the Eurovision Song Contest's 70-year history, 27 countries have won the contest.

Today we take a look at the countries who are competing at this year's Contest and the 15 who are yet to win the trophy. We will also look at their best-placed entries at Eurovision.

There is of course a few countries that are sitting out the competition this year, with two of those countries yet to have their first win:

• Slovenia best result: 7th place (1995 and 2001)

• Iceland best result: 2nd place (1999 and 2009).

  
  

The list below is in order of the year they debuted and therefore the longest amount of time without a win.

Malta

Debut year: 1971

Best result: 2nd (2002 and 2005)

Malta debuted all the way back in 1971 with Joe Grech and the song Marija L-maltija. They’ve gotten very close to a win on two occasions but have ultimately come up just short.

In both 2002 (Ira Losco with 7th Wonder) and 2005 (Chiara with Angel) Malta has finished as runner-up. Despite competing for over 50 years, the 2026 Contest will be Malta's 38th attempt to take the crown as they have taken a number of breaks from the Contest over the years.

Cyprus

Debut year: 1981

Best result: 2nd (2018)

In 1981 Cyprus made their debut, with Island and their song Monika finishing in 6th place. Cyprus has also fallen just short of claiming the Eurovision trophy, with the high tempo and epic hair choreography from Eleni Foureira and her song Fuego.

The song finishing behind Netta's Toy in Lisbon in 2018 which gave Cyprus their best ever result of 2nd place. More recently, Cyprus tapped into Australian talent sending Andrew Lambrou (2023) and Silia Kapsis (2024). This year, Cyprus will send Antigoni who will be singing Jalla.

Croatia

Debut year: 1993

Best result: 2nd (2024)

Ex–Yugoslav country Croatia made its debut in the 1993 contest and until 2024's incredible result, their best was 4th in 1999 with Doris Dragović's Marija Magdalena.

One of the bookies favourites in 2024, Baby Lasagna's Rim Tim Tagi Dim only just missed out on taking out the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest which would have landed Croatia their first win - and what a win it would have been!

Romania

Deputy year: 1994

Best result: 3rd place (2005 and 2010)

Romania debuted at Eurovision in 1994 and since then they have finished in the Top 10 an impressive six times. Their best results have been two 3rd places in 2005 (Luminita Anghel & Sistem - Let me try, and in 2010 (Paula Seling & Ovi - Playing with fire).

While Romania have had a two year hiatus from the Contest, they will be back at Eurovision 2026 in Vienna.

Poland

Debut year: 1994

Best result: 2nd place (1994)

In 1994, Poland made their debut at the Eurovision Song Contest. Their first ever entry was also their best result to date, with Edyta Górniak and her song To Nie Ja! which finished in 2nd place in Dublin. This song is iconic and very much loved in the fandom to this day.

Lithuania

Debut year: 1994

Best result: 2006 (6th)

Fellow 1994 debutants Lithuania are the only Baltic nation yet to win Eurovision. From a 25th place result upon debut in Dublin, Lithuania’s best result to date was in 2006, when LT United finished 6th with the song We Are The Winners in Athens.

Over the past few years, Lithuania has a very solid run of good results including three Top 10s.

Albania

Debut year: 2004

Best result: 5th (2012)

Albania made their debut in the contest in 2004 where they finished in 7th place in the Grand Final with the song The Image of You by Anjeza Shahini. They’d have to wait until 2012 to better that result, with Rona Nishliu finishing 5th in the Grand Final in Baku with Suus.

This year Albania is sending Alis who will perform Nân.

Moldova

Debut year: 2005

Best result: 3rd place (2017)

Moldova made its debut at Eurovision 2025 with Zdob și Zdub who finished 6th with Boonika bate doba. Moldova have finished in the Top 10 on five occasions, most recently 2022 with Zdob și Zdub again. In 2017, Moldova had their best placing of 3rd with the Sunstroke Project's Hey Mamma (which Australia gave 12 points to in the televote and 10 points to in the jury!)

We are very happy to have Moldova back this year after they sat last year out. This year Satoshi will be flying the flag for Moldova with Viva Moldova.

Bulgaria

Debut year: 2005

Best result: 2nd place (2017)

Bulgaria started competing at Eurovision in 2005 and it did not take long for Bulgaria to reach the Top 10. In 2007 they scored a 5th place (Elitsa Todorova & Stoyan Yankulov – Water) and then in 2016 they did one better with a 4th place (Poli Genova – If Love Was a Crime). It was just one year later they jumped two spots to give Bulgaria its best ever result where Kristian Kostov finished in 2nd place with Beautiful Mess.

Bulgaria has had a number of short breaks from the Contest, most recently between 2023 - 2025. This year marks their return to the contest where DARA will represent Bulgaria.

Armenia

Debut year: 2006

Best result: 4th place (2008 and 2014)

Armenia made its debut at Eurovision in 2006 and it didn't take long for a good result. In 2008, Sirusho gave Armenia a 4th place with Qélé, Qélé, and then in 2014, Aram Mp3 gave Armenia another 4th place with Not Alone. Armenia is also responsible for giving us the world-wide hit of 2022 with Rosa Linn's Snap.

In 2024, Armenia scored another Top 10 in 8th place with Ladaniva's Jako.

Montenegro

Debut year: 2007

Best result: 13th place (2015)

Montenegro made its debut as an independent country in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2007, and since then, the country has participated multiple times but has faced challenges in making it to the Grand Final.

Montenegro’s best result came in 2015, when Knez performed the song Adio, written by Željko Joksimović. A song much loved by the Eurovision fandom, Adio finished in 13th place. The 2025 contest saw Montenegro make a return after a year's absence and in 2026 the country is sending Tamara Živković who will perform Nova zora. 

Czechia

Debut year: 2007

Best result: 6th place (2018)

Czechia (formerly known as the Czech Republic) had to wait until 2007 to make their debut, with Kabát finishing dead last in the semi-final. It took them until 2016 to qualify for the Grand Final. Czechia's best result came in 2018, with Mikolas Josef and his very catchy song Lie to Me finishing 6th in the Grand Final in Lisbon.

Georgia

Debut year: 2007 Best place: 9th (2010 and 2011)

Georgia also debuted in 2007, and unfortunately since their debut, this Junior Eurovision powerhouse is yet to win the adult version of the Contest. Georgia's best result at Eurovision has been 9th place on two occasions: in 2010 with Sopho Nizharadze's Shine and in 2011 with Eldrine's One More Day.

This year, Georgia is being represented by Junior Eurovision winners (2008) Bzikebi. Could they bring home Georgia's first win in the Eurovision Song Contest?

San Marino

Debut year: 2008 Best result: 19th (2019)

In 2008, San Marino debuted with Miodio finishing 19th in its semi-final. Unfortunately, for San Marino, it took them until 2014 to finally qualify for the Grand Final, and it was their second qualification in 2019 that saw their best result ever, with Serhat and his fun song Say Na Na Na which finished in 19th place.

Australia

Debut year: 2015

Best result: 2nd (2016)

Finally, the only other country competing this year that hasn’t won the competition yet is... (drum roll please) .... Australia! Since a great start at Eurovision with a 5th place finish in our debut year back in 2015, we came oh so close to winning the whole thing the following year with Dami Im's Sound of Silence which won the jury vote and was the overall runner-up.

Australia has reached the Top 10 on five occasions, including Voyager in 2023 with Promise. We are yet to find out who our 2026 representative will be... watch this space!

So, we have two countries from this list, in the current Top 10 odds to win Eurovision... Could Bulgaria or Malta be having their first win this year?

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