What an evening that was watching the Eurovision 2026 final where 25 performers all took to the stage to try their luck at becoming the next champion, including the United Kingdom.
The UK hasn’t always had the best track record in recent years when it comes to the Eurovision scoreboard, but things did seem to looking up with Sam Ryder in 2022 who came in second place, only beaten by Ukraine.
This year, the UK was represented by Sam Battle under his stage name Look Mum No Computer and he had the Viennese audience singing along to his catchy song Eins, Zwei, Drei.
With the Eurovision 2026 winner now crowned and all results in and counted – where did the United Kingdom place? Read on to find out.
Where did the UK come in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026?
It wasn’t the ending that fans had hoped for, as the United Kingdom finished in last place with only 1 point. Uh oh.
It was off to a bad start with the UK only receiving a singular vote from the jury. Yep, just one, from Ukraine – thanks Ukraine!
Unfortunately it didn’t get any better with the public vote either as Sam Battle picked up the dreaded nul points, leaving him at the very bottom of the leaderboard.
It meant the UK came 17 places lower than last year’s entry, Remember Monday, who finished in 18th place with 88 points.
Ahead of his performance, Sam Battle spoke to Radio Times about the prospect of winning, saying: “It would be nice to win, of course. I won’t be horrified if I don’t win – there are a lot of very good acts that we’re playing with. I’m going for the experience, and regardless of the outcome, I’m going to try my hardest, be myself and have a lot of fun.”
The Eurovision Song Contest has faced significant criticism over its decision to allow Israel to take part in the event due to the ongoing war in Gaza.
This year, a number of countries will boycott the contest following the European Broadcasting Union’s decision not to expel Israel from the competition.
At the EBU general assembly in December 2025, a vote was held to introduce new rules that would stop governments and third parties from disproportionately promoting songs to influence voters. No vote was held on Israel’s participation.
The EBU said in a statement: “A large majority of members agreed that there was no need for a further vote on participation and that the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 should proceed as planned, with the additional safeguards in place.”
Following this, Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Iceland confirmed they would not participate in this year’s Eurovision.
Irish broadcaster RTÉ said: “RTÉ feels that Ireland’s participation remains unconscionable given the appalling loss of lives in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis there, which continues to put the lives of so many civilians at risk.”
The BBC, which broadcasts the competition in the UK, has said it supports the decision made by the EBU. “This is about enforcing the rules of the EBU and being inclusive,” it said in a statement.
You can check out the full list of Eurovision winners and how many times the UK has won Eurovision.
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