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

Throughout the Eurovision Song Contest's 68-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 14 countries who are yet to win the trophy. We will also look at their best-placed entries at Eurovision.

There are of course a few other countries that are sitting out the competition this year, and they too are yet to have their first win. They include:

• Bulgaria (best result: 2nd)

• Romania (best result: 3rd)

• North Macedonia (best result: 7th)

• Montenegro (best result: 13th).

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 2024 Contest will be Malta's 36th 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’ finishing behind Netta's 'Toy' in Lisbon in 2018 - their best ever result of 2nd place. The previous two years has seen Cyprus tap into Australian talent sending Andrew Lambrou (2023) and this year Cyprus is sending Silia Kapsis.

Iceland

Debut year: 1986

Best result: 2nd place (1999 and 2009)

The country with the third longest drought since their debut is Iceland. They debuted in 1986, but actually had been wanting to participate for several years prior but had to wait until a satellite connection to Iceland could be established. Unfortunately for Iceland, they didn’t do very well in their inaugural contest in Bergen, with Icy and their song ‘Gleðibankinn’ only finishing in 16th place. Just like Malta and Cyprus, Iceland’s best result is 2nd place, with Iceland achieving that result in 1999 with Selma's 'All Out of Luck' and again in 2009 with Yohanna's 'Is It True?' Sadly, Iceland was the bookies and fan favourite to win the Contest in 2020 with Daði & Gagnamagnið 's 'Think About Things' and we all know what happened in 2020...

Croatia

Debut year: 1993

Best result: 4th (1996 and 1999)

Ex–Yugoslav country Croatia made its debut in the 1993 contest. Their best results to date are 4th in 1996 with Maja Blagdan's 'Sveta ljubav' (along with her impressive high note) and 4th in 1999 with Doris Dragović's 'Marija Magdalena'. This year is looking like Croatia's best chance yet with Baby Lasagna's 'Rim Tim Tagi Dim' becoming a clear fan favourite and is currently sitting at the top of the odds... Can Baby Lasagna bring home Croatia's first win?

Slovenia

Debut year: 1993

Best result: 7th place (1995 and 2001)

Along with Croatia, Slovenia also made its debut at Eurovision in 1993. They finished in 22nd place in their first contest and Slovenia have managed 7th place on two occasions - in 1995 with Darja Švajger's 'Prisluhni mi' and 2001 with Nuša Derenda's 'Energy'. This year they are being represented by Raiven with 'Veronika'.

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!’ finishing in 2nd place in Dublin. This song is iconic and very much loved in the fandom to this day. This year Luna will perform 'The Tower' for Poland.

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. In the past few years, Lithuania has a very solid run of good results including one top 10 and two just outside the top 10. This year is looking like another successful year with Silvester Belt's 'Luktelk'.

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 remains Albania's best result to date.

Moldova

Best year: 2005

Best result: (3rd) 2017

Moldova also joined the Eurovision family in 2005, debuting in Kyiv. Zdob si Zdub was Moldova’s debut artist, and their song ‘Boonika Bate Toba’ finished 6th in the Grand Final. Moldova achieved their best result at the 2017 contest, with fan favourite Sunstroke Project's 'Hey Mamma!' finishing 3rd in Kyiv. For a little country, Moldova sure packs some punch and are a much-adored nation in the Eurovision fan community.

Armenia

Debut year: 2006

Best result: 4th place (2008 and 2014)

Armenia made its debut at Eurovision in 2006 and it didnt 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 are also responsible for giving us the world-wide hit of 2022 with Rosa Linn's 'Snap'. This year, French-Armenian folk duo Ladaniva will fly the flag for Armenia in Malmo.

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, but since then they’ve qualified every year but two. Their best result came in 2018, with Mikolas Josef and his very catchy song ‘Lie To Me’ finishing 6th in the Grand Final in Lisbon. Last year, Czechia landed another good result with 10th place with Vesna and 'My Sister's Crown'.

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'.

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).. is Australia! Since our 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 last year with 'Promise'.

With a few of these countries being some of the favourites in this years contest, we might not have to wait too long until we see a non-winning country take out the Eurovision Song Contest again! We will have to wait till May to see.

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