Hello Europe, Austria is gearing up in full steam to welcome the Eurovision bandwagon along with its glam, glitz and glitter for the third time in ESC history. The country has kicked off preparations for the upcoming 2026 Eurovision Song Contest. How many countries will compete in the contest next year? Will there be any new countries joining the club? Will we see any returning nations? Will there be any withdrawals? Let’s check out who’s heading to Austria next year….
Circa 40 countries are expected to partake in the competition next year in the Austria. The maximum number of countries permitted to compete in next year’s contest is 44, whilst the Grand Final will feature a maximum of 26 nations battling for the coveted Eurovision trophy. A maximum of 38 countries will battle in one of the two semi-finals.
10 countries from each semifinal will proceed to the Grand Final, thus 20 nations will join the 2025 Eurovision winning country, Austria and the Big Five (Spain, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and France).
A total of 19 countries have so far confirmed their participation at the upcoming 2026 Eurovision Song Contest in Austria.
The deadline for broadcasters to apply for participation concludes on mid September 2025 whilst the grace period for applicant countries to withdraw their application without facing a financial penalty concludes on mid October 2025.
This article will be updated constantly in the lead up to the EBU’s official announcement of the 2026 Eurovision list of participating countries.
Will we see any debuts in 2026?
It is highly unlikely that we will see any new countries debuting in Austria. Both Kosovo and Kazakhstan are keen to enter the competition but do not comply with the EBU’s rules and regulations in order participate in the contest.
Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein‘s national broadcaster 1FL TV is not an EBU member therefore it is not eligible to take part in the contest. 1 FL TV will not debut at Eurovision 2026.
Kosovo
Kosovo is not a member of the ITU (International Television Union), one of the key requirements to become an active EBU member. Thus RTK is not an EBU member and is currently ineligible to join the contest. The country is neither a member of the United Nations or the Council of Europe. The Eurovision Song Contest has been broadcast live in the Balkan country in recent years. In 2025 RTK broadcast the Eurovision Song Contest live from Basel.
Kazakhstan
Kazakh broadcaster Khabar Agency is an associate EBU member since 2016 and thus NOT ELIGIBLE to participate at the Eurovision Song Contest, Kazakhstan has to be formally invited by the EBU to join the competition. It is entirely up to the EBU’s discretion to extend an invite to the country very much like in the case of Australia. The Kazakh broadcaster has been airing the contest for the past years.
Kazakhstan debuted at the 2018 Junior Eurovision Song Contest in Minsk and has competed in the competition five times.
Will we see Australia at Eurovision 2026?
The ultimate Aussie Eurovision dream saw the day of light back in 2015 when our neighbours down under were invited to partake in Europe’s favourite television show in Vienna. 2019 saw Australia holding a full fledged national final in order to determine its Eurovision hopeful, thus celebrating its fifth consecutive Eurovision participation. The Aussies continued with their national final in 2020 and 2022.
Until 2019 SBS had to wait for an invite from the EBU and host broadcaster in order to participate in our beloved song contest, on a year to year basis. This was no longer be necessary until 2023 as SBS Australia and the EBU sealed a five year deal enabling the country to compete in the song contest for five years. This deal concluded in 2023, in 2024 and 2025 Australia was invited by the EBU and the ESC 2024 and ESC 2025 host broadcasters SVT and SRG-SSR to partake in the competition in Malmo and Basel, respectively.
The Eurovision Song Contest’s Reference Group (the governing body of the competition on behalf of the competing broadcasters) approved the decision to grant Australia and SBS the right to participate at the Eurovision Song Contest for five years, thus securing participation in the competition until 2023.
Australia was invited to participate at the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna as a one off occasion, but our neighbours down under embraced the contest with such enthusiasm they were invited back again in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.
The Aussies have won the hearts of Eurovision fans near and far, achieving 5 Top 10 placings in their ten year Eurovision history.
It is more than likely that the EBU and ORF extend an invite to Australia to compete at the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest in Austria.
Will there be any returning countries?
Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Monaco, Turkey, Hungary and Moldova are yet to decide on their potential Eurovision return in 2026.
It is early days yet to know if there will be any returning countries to the competition next year. Both Moldova and North Macedonia broadcast the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 this year and their chances of a return to the competition are highly likely.
- Belarus-Belarusian national broadcaster, BTRC, has been expelled from the EBU and is thus ineligible to join the competition next year. Hence we will not see Belarus compete at Eurovision 2026.
- Morocco debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1980 and has not competed since, we don’t expect the Northern African country to compete in the contest next year either.
- Russia was set to compete at the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest in Turin but was excluded from partaking in the competion by the EBU in the wake of the latest events in Ukraine. The Russian broadcasters have been suspended from the EBU. Hence we will not see the country returning to the competition next year either.
- Bosnia & Herzegovina will not return to the competition next year either, BHRT confirmed the sad news to ESCToday. The Balkan country last graced the competition in 2016 and has not competed since due to a financial embargo implemented by the EBU due to its debt and the country’s host broadcaster has been afflicted with hefty financial contraints.
- Andorra will not return to the competition in 2026 either. The landlocked nation withdrew from the competition in 2010 and has not returned since. The Andorran national broadcaster, RTVA, confirmed to ESCToday that the country will not participate at the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest.
Who will withdraw?
So far none of the competing countries which competed at the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest in Basel have showcased any indication of withdrawing from the competition next year.
Confirmed countries
- Austria
- Spain
- United Kingdom
- Denmark
- Sweden
- Norway
- Finland
- Greece
- Cyprus
- Israel
- Lithuania
- Latvia
- Netherlands
- Luxembourg
- Switzerland
- Germany
- Albania
- Malta
- Serbia
Pending
Yet to confirm
- Estonia
- Czechia
- Poland
- San Marino
- Portugal
- Georgia
- Armenia
- Azerbaijan
- Australia
- France
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Slovenia
- Croatia
- Montenegro
- Ukraine
- Italy
Will there be any returning countries?
- Moldova
- North Macedonia
- Romania
- Bulgaria
- Monaco
- Hungary
- Slovakia
- Turkey
Will not return
- Russia
- Belarus
- Andorra
- Bosnia & Herzegovina
- Morocco
Will not debut
- Liechtenstein
Will there be any debuts?
- Kazakhstan
- Kosovo
The 2026 Eurovision Song Contest is scheduled to be held either on 12, 14, and 16 May or on 19, 21 and 23 May in Austria.
