Bulgaria national football team

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Bulgaria
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s) The Lions (Лъвовете),

The Tricolours (Трикольорите)

Association Bulgarian Football Union
Confederation UEFA (Europe)
Head coach Flag of Bulgaria Plamen Markov
Captain Dimitar Berbatov
Most caps Borislav Mikhailov (102)
Top scorer Hristo Bonev (47)
Home stadium Vasil Levski National Stadium
FIFA code BUL
FIFA ranking 18
Highest FIFA ranking 4 (July 1994)
Lowest FIFA ranking 58 (August 2002)
Elo ranking 23
Highest Elo ranking 7 (August 1969)
Lowest Elo ranking 63 (Oct 1953, Aug 1954)
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
 
First kit
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
 
Second kit
First international
Flag of Austria Austria 6 - 0 Bulgaria Flag of Bulgaria
(Vienna, Austria; 21 May 1924)
Biggest win
Flag of Bulgaria Bulgaria 7 - 0 Norway Flag of Norway
(Sofia, Bulgaria, 1957)
Flag of Bulgaria Bulgaria 7 - 0 Thailand Flag of Thailand
(Mexico City, Mexico October, 1968
Flag of Bulgaria Bulgaria 7 - 0 Malta Flag of Malta
(Sofia, Bulgaria 14 October 1982)
Biggest defeat
Flag of Spain Spain 13 - 0 Bulgaria Flag of Bulgaria
(Madrid, Spain; 21 May 1933)
World Cup
Appearances 7 (First in 1962)
Best result Fourth place, 1994
European Championship
Appearances 2 (First in 1996)
Best result Round 1, 1996 and 2004
Olympic medal record
Men’s Football
Bronze 1956 Melbourne Team
Silver 1968 Mexico City Team
Bulgarian FIFA Rank history
Bulgarian FIFA Rank history

The Bulgaria national football team is the national football team of Bulgaria and is controlled by the Bulgarian Football Union. Bulgaria's best World Cup performance was in the 1994 World Cup in USA, where they beat Germany to reach the semi-finals, losing to Italy, and finishing in fourth place after a 4-0 defeat to Sweden in the third place play-off.

Contents

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[edit] History

Bulgaria's first appearance in a World Cup was the 1962 World Cup in Chile, but failed to progress to the knockout stages. The same happened in England in 1966, Mexico in 1970, and West Germany in 1974. They progressed from the first round in Mexico 1986 but were beaten by the hosts in the round of 16.

Certainly one of the most important dates in Bulgarian football history is November 17, 1993, when Emil Kostadinov scored two goals against France in Paris, allowing Bulgaria to qualify for the World Cup in the USA in 1994. Under the management of Dimitar Penev, the Bulgarians, led by stars like Hristo Stoitchkov, Iordan Letchkov and Krassimir Balakov (along with a multitude of other talented players remembered in Bulgaria as "The Golden Generation"), made a strong impression, sensationally eliminating the then defending world champions, Germany in the quarter-finals, with a 2-1 win. Millions of Bulgarians celebrated this win in Sofia and other Bulgarian cities. Having reached the semi-finals, Bulgaria played Italy, but they were knocked out in a controversial match. Hristo Stoitchkov won the Golden Boot as top scorer in the tournament with six goals. Bulgaria also has won the Balkan Cup four times.

[edit] Post-1994 history

In 1996, the team qualified for the European Football Championship for the first time, although they did not manage to progress beyond the group stage. It was believed the 1996 squad was stronger than the one in 1994, and that they did not progress to the quarter-finals due to misfortune. The Bulgarians, after a 1-1 draw against Spain (a fantastic Stoitchkov goal was controversially cancelled) and a 1-0 victory against Romania, played well but lost the third and decisive match to a very strong France (the future world champion), 1-3. At the same time Spain defeated a weak and already eliminated Romania 2-1 with the winner coming in the 84th minute.

The Bulgarians did not progress to the quarter-finals in the 1998 World Cup, despite the good form they were in. However, The "Golden Generation" was history. They earned a goalless draw against Paraguay and lost to both Nigeria and Spain.

Bulgaria failed to qualify for the Euro 2000 and for the 2002 World Cup, but did reach the Euro 2004. However, they disappointingly lost all their group matches and were once again sent home without reaching the knockout round.

[edit] World Cup record

  • 1930 - Did not enter
  • 1934 - Withdrew during qualifying
  • 1938 - Did not qualify
  • 1950 - Did not enter
  • 1954 - Did not qualify
  • 1958 - Did not qualify
  • 1962 - Round 1
  • 1966 - Round 1
  • 1970 - Round 1
  • 1974 - Round 1
  • 1978 - Did not qualify
  • 1982 - Did not qualify
  • 1986 - Round 2
  • 1990 - Did not qualify
  • 1994 - Fourth place
  • 1998 - Round 1
  • 2002 - Did not qualify
  • 2006 - Did not qualify
  • 2010 - TBD

[edit] European Championship record

  • 1960 to 1992 - Did not qualify or Did not enter
  • 1996 - Round 1
  • 2000 - Did not qualify
  • 2004 - Round 1
  • 2008 - Did not qualify

[edit] 2010 FIFA World Cup

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Flag of Italy Italy 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Flag of Bulgaria Bulgaria 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Flag of Ireland Republic of Ireland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Flag of Cyprus Cyprus 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Flag of Georgia (country) Georgia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Flag of Montenegro Montenegro 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
  Flag of Bulgaria Flag of Cyprus Flag of Georgia (country) Flag of Italy Flag of Montenegro Flag of Ireland
Flag of Bulgaria 1 Apr '09 14 Oct '09 11 Oct '08 5 Sep '09 6 Jun '09
Flag of Cyprus 10 Oct '09 28 Mar '09 6 Sep '08 6 Jun '09 5 Sep '09
Flag of Georgia (country) 15 Oct '08 11 Oct '08 5 Sep '09 1 Apr '09 6 Sep '08
Flag of Italy 9 Sep '09 14 Oct '09 10 Sep '08 15 Oct '08 1 Apr '09
Flag of Montenegro 6 Sep '08 9 Sep '09 10 Oct '09 28 Mar '09 10 Sep '08
Flag of Ireland 28 Mar '09 15 Oct '08 11 Feb '09 10 Oct '09 14 Oct '09


[edit] Squad

[edit] The Bulgarian national squad

As of 26 March 2008

[edit] Goalkeepers

No. Pos. Player DoB (Age) Caps Goals Club
1 GK Georgi Petkov 14 April 1976 11 0 Flag of Bulgaria Levski Sofia
27 GK Dimitar Ivankov 30 October 1975 47 0 Flag of Turkey Bursaspor


[edit] Defenders

No. Pos. Player DoB (Age) Caps Goals Club
2 DF Mihail Venkov 28 July 1983 3 0 Flag of Bulgaria Litex Lovech
3 DF Aleksandar Tunchev 3 February 1981 14 1 Flag of Bulgaria CSKA Sofia
4 DF Igor Tomašić 14 December 1976 8 0 Flag of Israel Maccabi Tel-Aviv
5 DF Valentin Iliev 11 July 1980 11 0 Flag of Russia Terek Grozny
16 DF Zhivko Milanov 15 July 1984 4 0 Flag of Bulgaria Levski Sofia


[edit] Midfielders

No. Pos. Player DoB (Age) Caps Goals Club
6 MF Stanislav Angelov 12 April 1978 16 1 Flag of Germany Energie Cottbus
7 MF Velizar Dimitrov 13 April 1979 21 2 Flag of Ukraine FC Metalurh Donetsk
14 MF Stanislav Genchev 2 March 1981 1 1 Flag of Bulgaria Litex Lovech
15 MF Blagoy Georgiev 21 December 1981 24 2 Flag of Germany MSV Duisburg
18 MF Georgi Sarmov 7 September 1985 1 0 Flag of Bulgaria Levski Sofia
19 MF Stiliyan Petrov 5 July 1979 72 7 Flag of England Aston Villa


[edit] Strikers

No. Pos. Player DoB (Age) Caps Goals Club
9 FW Dimitar Berbatov (C) 30 January 1981 63 39 Flag of England Tottenham Hotspur
11 FW Zdravko Lazarov 20 February 1976 31 3 Flag of Russia Shinnik Yaroslavl
17 FW Martin Petrov 15 January 1979 68 16 Flag of England Manchester City
20 FW Georgi Kakalov 18 July 1984 1 0 Flag of Bulgaria Botev Plovdiv




[edit] Recent callups

No. Pos. Player DoB (Age) Caps Goals Club
GK Ivaylo Petrov 3 May 1973 0 0 Flag of Bulgaria CSKA Sofia
GK Stoyan Kolev 3 February 1976 11 0 Flag of Romania Oţelul Galaţi
DF Petar Zanev 18 October 1985 4 0 Flag of Spain Racing de Ferrol
DF Elin Topuzakov 5 February 1977 28 0 Flag of Israel Hapoel Tel-Aviv
DF Asen Karaslavov 8 June 1980 10 0 Flag of Germany SpVgg Greuther Fürth
DF Lucio Wagner 15 June 1976 10 0 Flag of Bulgaria Levski Sofia
DF Yordan Todorov 27 July 1981 1 0 Flag of Bulgaria CSKA Sofia
MF Aleksandar Aleksandrov 13 April 1986 0 0 Flag of Bulgaria Cherno More Varna
MF Georgi Peev 11 March 1979 40 0 Flag of Russia Amkar Perm
MF Marcho Dafchev 12 May 1978 1 0 Flag of Bulgaria Lokomotiv Sofia
MF Dimitar Telkiyski 5 May 1977 12 1 Flag of Israel Hapoel Tel-Aviv
MF Chavdar Yankov 30 January 1984 17 3 Flag of Germany Hannover 96
FW Ivelin Popov 26 October 1987 3 0 Flag of Bulgaria Litex Lovech
MF Todor Yanchev 19 May 1976 1 0 Flag of Bulgaria CSKA Sofia
MF Aleksandar Aleksandrov 19 January 1975 9 1 Flag of Bulgaria Cherno More Varna
MF Hristo Yovov 4 November 1977 24 5 Flag of Cyprus Apollon Limassol
FW Martin Kushev 25 August 1973 1 0 Flag of Russia Amkar Perm
FW Georgi Chilikov 23 August 1978 1 0 Flag of the People's Republic of China Dalian Shide
FW Valeri Bojinov 15 February 1986 21 5 Flag of England Manchester City
FW Valeri Domovchiyski 23 April 1986 2 0 Flag of Germany Hertha BSC Berlin
FW Nikolay Dimitrov 15 October 1987 1 0 Flag of Bulgaria Levski Sofia


[edit] Players with most caps

# Name Career Caps Goals
1 Borislav Mikhailov 1983-1998 102 0
2 Hristo Bonev 1967-1979 96 47
3 Krasimir Balakov 1988-2003 92 16
4 Dimitar Penev 1965-1974 90 2
5 Hristo Stoichkov 1986-1999 83 37
6 Nasko Sirakov 1983-1996 81 23
7 Anyo Sadkov 1981-1991 80 9
7 Radostin Kishishev 1996-2007 80 0
9 Zlatko Yankov 1989-1999 79 4
10 Georgi Dimitrov 1978-1987 77 6

[edit] Players with most goals

# Player Career Goals Caps
1 Hristo Bonev 1967-1979 47 96
2 Dimitar Berbatov 1999- 39 63
3 Hristo Stoichkov 1987-1999 37 83
4 Emil Kostadinov 1988-1998 26 70
5 Petar Zhekov 1963-1972 25 44
6 Ivan Kolev 1950-1963 25 75
7 Nasko Sirakov 1983-1997 23 81
8 Dimitar Milanov 1948-1959 20 39
9 Georgi Asparuhov 1962-1970 19 50
10 Dinko Dermendzhiev 1966-1977 19 58

[edit] Stadium

Normally, the Bulgarian national football team's home stadium is the "Vasil Levski". It has a capacity of 43 634. Vasil Levski National Stadium was officially opened in 1953 and reconstructed in 1966 and 2002. It is currently eligible to host UEFA Cup final matches. During the 2006/2007 UEFA Champions League the stadium was used for the games of FC Levski Sofia with FC Barcelona , Chelsea F.C. and Werder Bremen. The Bulgaria national football team's home matches and the Bulgarian Cup finals are held at the venue, as well as athletics competitions.

The stadium also offers judo, artistic gymnastics, basketball, boxing, aerobics, fencing and table tennis halls, as well as a general physical training hall, two conference halls and three restaurants.

[edit] Coaches

[edit] Famous players

The Golden Bulgarian Football Generation:

Current Players

[edit] External links