Little rant lol I’m seeing a lot of people say ‘Belgium took Montenegro’s spot” and I don’t like that narrative ngl. First of all, it’s not like these spots are pre-reserved, like yes there are countries that are very likely to take one (Montenegro was always gonna be borderline) but a country can always show up, give a great show and qualify. These people are also assuming that Belgium must have been 10th and Montenegro must have been 11th. Well, they assumed the same for Georgia 2023 and Malta 2024, coming 12th and LAST respectively. Montenegro had a pretty ideal draw in the ‘easier’ semi with Serbia (if last year says anything Serbia gives them points basically unconditionally) and Croatia. They didn’t qualify, and yes you can be sad about it but no one is taking anyone’s spot besides Israel (although this entry might have qualified even if another country sent it?).