The Eurovision Song Contest, a vibrant spectacle of music and national pride, has captivated audiences for over 60 years. Since its inception in 1956, only 27 countries have emerged victorious from the competition. This leaves a significant number who have yet to take home the coveted Eurovision trophy.
As of 2025, a total of 52 countries have participated in Eurovision at least once. This list includes nations geographically outside of Europe, such as Israel, Morocco and Australia. However, despite their enthusiastic entries, 24 countries haven’t been able to secure the top spot.
Here’s a table outlining these countries and the year they first entered the competition:
- Andorra (debuted in 2004)
- Australia (debuted in 2015)
- Bosnia & Herzegovina (debuted in 1993)
- North Macedonia (debuted in 1998)
- Croatia (debuted in 1993)
- Montenegro (debuted in 2007)
- Slovenia (debuted in 1993)
- Georgia (debuted in 2007)
- Lithuania (debuted in 1994)
- Moldova (debuted in 2005)
- Armenia (debuted in 2006)
- Belarus (debuted in 2004)
- Malta (debuted in 1971)
- Cyprus (debuted in 1981)
- Iceland (debuted in 1986)
- Czechia (debuted in 2007)
- Bulgaria (debuted in 2005)
- Romania (debuted in 1994)
- Slovakia (debuted in 1994)
- Hungary (debuted in 1994)
- Albania (debured in 2004)
- Poland (debuted in 1994)
- Morocco (debuted in 1980/ has only participated once)
- San Marino (debuted in 2008)
While some of these countries haven’t participated consistently throughout the years, their dedication to the competition remains strong. Several have come heartbreakingly close to victory, achieving second-place finishes. Out of the above listed countries Australia (2016), Poland (1994), Iceland (1999, 2009), Malta (2002, 2005), Croatia (2024) Cyprus (2018) and Bulgaria (2017) have nearly won the competition and have placed 2nd in the contest. Whilst Bosnia & Herzegovina (2006) and Moldova (2017) have placed 3rd.
The ever-evolving musical landscape of Eurovision keeps the competition exciting. Every year, new contenders emerge, hoping to break the cycle and become the next Eurovision champion. With captivating performances and dedicated fan bases, these countries who haven’t yet won continue to be a force to be reckoned with in the contest.
A total of 27 countries have won the coveted Eurovision trophy with Ireland and Sweden retaining the crown with a record 7 victories, followed by Luxembourg, France , Netherlands and the United Kingdom with 5 victories.
Here’s a list of the countries which have the Eurovision Song Contest and the times they have won the contest:
- Ireland (7)
- Sweden (7)
- Luxembourg (5)
- France (5)
- United Kingdom (5)
- Netherlands (5)
- Israel (4)
- Norway (3)
- Denmark (3)
- Italy (3)
- Ukraine (3)
- Switzerland (3)
- Spain (2)
- Germany (2)
- Austria (2)
- Monaco (1)
- Belgium (1)
- Yugoslavia (1)
- Estonia (1)
- Latvia(1)
- Turkey (1)
- Greece (1)
- Finland (1)
- Serbia (1)
- Russia (1)
- Azerbaijan (1)
- Portugal (1)
We have to wait and see if this year a country that has never won the contest before will walk away with the coveted trophy, the last time this happened was back in 2017 when Portugal won the Eurovsion Song Contest in Kyiv. The 00’s saw a surge of new countries winning the contest, from 2001-2008 we saw 8 new nations making their mark on the Eurovision winner’s list.
- 2001- Estonia
- 2002- Latvia
- 2003- Turkey
- 2004- Ukraine
- 2005- Greece
- 2006- Finland
- 2007- Serbia
- 2008- Russia
The 2010’s only saw two new countries clinching the Grand Prix for the very first time: Azerbaijan (2011), Portugal (2017). This year we have 37 countries competing in the Eurovision Song Contest out of which only 15 countries have never won the competition before. In the 2020’s no new country has won the competition yet.
Last year Croatia narrowly missed out on winning the competition for the very first time with Baby Lasagna, despite being one of the hot favourites to belt the ESC Grand Prix. Croatia topped the televoting but came 2nd after the combined juyr/ televoting results in Malmo.
According to the latest betting odds for Eurovision 2025, Albania, is the only country in the Top 10 of the current bettings (at the time of writing this article) that is yet to win the competition. It is currently sitting at #9 in the betting odds, whilst the the other 8 countries leading the betting odds have already won the competition.
Source: ESCToday
Photo credit: Sarah Louise Bennett/ EBU
