Croatia is set to be represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 with the song "", written by Filip LackoviÃÂ, Lazar PajiÃÂ, Tomislav Roso and Zorica PajiÃÂ, and performed by the band Lelek. The Croatian participating broadcaster, Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT), organised the national final Dora 2026 in order to select its entry for the contest.
Prior to the 2026 contest, Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Croatia 30 times since its first entry in . Its best result in the contest was second, achieved in with the song "Rim Tim Tagi Dim" performed by Baby Lasagna. This was also its first top-five finish since "Marija Magdalena" by Doris Dragoviàin . Following the introduction of semi-finals in 2004, Croatia had thus far featured in nine finals. In , Croatia failed to qualify to the final with Marko Boà ¡njak and the song "Poison Cake".
As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, HRT organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. HRT confirmed its participation in the 2026 contest on 22 September 2025. Between 1993 and 2011, HRT organised the national final ' in order to select its entry. In 2012 and 2013, the broadcaster opted to internally select its entry and continued the internal selection procedure from 2016 to 2018 after missing the contest in 2014 and 2015. Since 2019, it returned to use ' to select its entry, a method that was continued for its 2026 participation.
2026 was the twenty-seventh edition of the national selection , organised by HRT to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2026. The competition took place at the HRT studios in Zagreb, and consisted of two semi-finals and a final in February 2026.
On 22 September 2025, HRT opened a submission period where artists and composers were able to submit their entries to the broadcaster with the deadline on 23 November 2025. 251 entries were received by the broadcaster during the submission period, a new record since was relaunched in . A seven-member expert committee consisting of Tihomir Preradovià(composer and music producer), Denis Mujadà ¾ià(composer and music producer), Ivana Kindl (singer), Mia Negovetià(singer, composer, voice actress), Monika Lelas Halambek (radio host and editor), Jelena Balent (music editor and singer) and Davor Medakovià(music editor) reviewed the received submissions and selected twenty-four artists and songs as well as four backup entries for the competition. HRT announced the competing entries on 3 December 2025. On 10 December 2025, HRT announced that Karolina Iliàwas disqualified from the competition due to not being a Croatian citizen, and that she would be replaced by Gabrijel IviÃÂ.
Entry disqualified Replacement entry
The two semi-finals took place on 12 and 13 February 2026 respectively. Twelve acts competed in each semi-final, with the top eight entries qualifying for the final.
The final took place on 15 February 2026 and featured the 16 qualifiers from the preceding two semi-finals. The winner, "Andromeda" performed by Lelek, was decided by a combination of votes from a professional jury and the Croatian public via televoting.
The Eurovision Song Contest 2026 will take place at the in Vienna, Austria, and consist of two semi-finals held on the respective dates of 12 and 14 May and the final on 16 May 2026. All nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Four" (France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final will progress to the final. On 12 January 2026, an allocation draw was held to determine which of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show, each country will perform in; the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. Croatia was scheduled for the first half of the first semi-final.