| Nickname(s) | Лъвовете (The Lions) Трикольорите (The Tricolors) |
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|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Bulgarian Football Union | ||
| Confederation | UEFA (Europe) | ||
| Head coach | Lyuboslav Penev | ||
| Captain | Stiliyan Petrov | ||
| Most caps | Stiliyan Petrov (105) | ||
| Top scorer | Dimitar Berbatov (48) | ||
| FIFA code | BUL | ||
| FIFA ranking | 84 | ||
| Highest FIFA ranking | 8 (June 1995) | ||
| Lowest FIFA ranking | 85 (November 2011) | ||
| Elo ranking | 50 | ||
| Highest Elo ranking | 3 (August 1969) | ||
| Lowest Elo ranking | 58 (Oct 1953, Aug 1954) | ||
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| First international | |||
| Austria 0–2 Bulgaria (Vienna, Austria; 21 May 1924) |
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| Biggest win | |||
| Bulgaria 10–0 Ghana (Leon, Mexico; 14 October 1968) |
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| Biggest defeat | |||
| Spain 13–0 Bulgaria (Madrid, Spain; 21 May 1933) |
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| World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 7 (First in 1962) | ||
| Best result | Semi-Finals, 1994 | ||
| European Championship | |||
| Appearances | 2 (First in 1996) | ||
| Best result | Group Stage; 1996 & 2004 | ||
| Olympic medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men’s Football | ||
| Silver | 1968 Mexico City | Team |
| Bronze | 1956 Melbourne | Team |
The FIFA Bulgaria national football team (Bulgarian: Национален отбор по футбол на България, Natsionalen otbor po futbol na Bulgaria) is an association football team fielded by the Bulgarian Football Union, a member association of UEFA. The team's home ground is Vasil Levski in Sofia and Lyuboslav Penev is national manager. Their best World Cup performance was in the 1994 World Cup in the United States, where they beat defending champions Germany to reach the semi-finals, losing to Italy, and finishing in fourth place after being defeated by Sweden in the third place play-off.
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The Bulgarian National football team was started in 1920. 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.
In the 1960s and '70s, Bulgaria qualified for four straight World Cup tournaments, in 1962 (their first time), 1966, 1970, and 1974, but without any successful performances. They also won the Balkan Cup in 1976 by beating Romania in the two legged final 1–0, 3–2. In the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico, they won a silver medal. They finished first in Group D by beating Thailand 7–0, Guatemala 2–1, and a 2–2 draw against Czechoslovakia. They passed the quarter-finals by beating Israel and the semi-finals by beating Olympic hosts Mexico. In the final, they lost 4–1 to Hungary, giving the Bulgarians the silver Olympic medals.
Bulgaria qualified for the World Cup in Mexico by finishing second in Group Four, behind France with 11 points, but worse goal difference, ahead of the teams of Yugoslavia, East Germany, and Luxembourg. This was their fifth World Cup appearance. They were drawn in Group A with Italy, Argentina, and South Korea. In the opening match of the World Cup, the Bulgarians held the defending champions Italy to a 1–1 draw. Alessandro Altobelli gave the Italians the lead, but a 85th minute equalizer by Nasko Sirakov gave the Bulgarians the point. The next match was another 1–1 draw against South Korea with the goal for Bulgaria coming from Plamen Getov in the 11th minute. They lost the final match of the group 2–0 against Argentina, who ended up winning the tournament. Despite not recording a win, the Bulgarians advanced to the knockout stage by being the third-best third placed team. That way, Bulgaria and also Uruguay became the first nations to qualify for the knockout stage without winning a game in the first round. In the Round of 16, they faced World Cup hosts Mexico and lost the match 2–0. Ivan Vutsov was the manager of the team.
Certainly one of the most important dates in Bulgarian football history is 17 November 1993, a date where Emil Kostadinov scored two goals to beat France in Paris, allowing Bulgaria to qualify for the World Cup in the United States in 1994. Under the management of Dimitar Penev, the Bulgarians, led by players such as Hristo Stoichkov, Yordan Lechkov, and Krasimir Balakov — along with a multitude of other talented players remembered in Bulgaria as the "Golden Generation" — made a strong impression by reaching the semi-finals. They entered Group D with Argentina, Nigeria, and Greece. Before that, the Bulgarians hadn't won a single match in five World Cup finals appearances. The first match ended with a 3–0 defeat by Nigeria. Despite the bad start, the team won 4–0 against World Cup-debuting featherweights Greece and 2–0 against Argentina. Argentina had actually been winning the group going into injury-time. A 91st minute strike from Nasko Sirakov, however, meant that they dropped two places and finished third. Bulgaria continued to the next round, where they faced Mexico. The match ended 1–1 and after no goals were scored in extra time, penalties would decide which team would go through. Team captain Borislav Mihaylov made a good performance saving the first three penalty kicks. Bulgaria won 3–1 on penalties with Mihaylov becoming the hero for the Bulgarian team. In the quarter-finals, Bulgaria faced the then-defending World Cup champions Germany. Lothar Matthäus scored from a penalty. The Bulgarians, however, managed to turn the game over with two goals by Hristo Stoichkov and Yordan Lechkov, giving them a 2–1 win and recording one of the most memorable wins for the team. Millions of Bulgarians celebrated this win in the Bulgarian capital city of Sofia and other Bulgarian cities. Having reached the semi-finals, this was the best Bulgarian performance in the World Cup. In the semi-finals, they lost 2–1 to Italy and lost 4–0 against Sweden in the third place match. Hristo Stoichkov was awarded the Golden Boot as a joint top scorer in the tournament with six goals, along with Russia's Oleg Salenko. Krasimir Balakov was named in the all-star team along with Stoichkov. Starting 11: GK-Mihaylov(c); RB-Kiryakov/Kremenliev, CB/SW-Hubchev, CB-Ivanov, LB-Tsvetanov; DM-Yankov, CM-Lechkov, CM-Balakov, AM/CF-Sirakov/Borimirov; CF/RW-Kostadinov, CF/LW-Stoichkov.
In 1996, the team qualified for the European Football Championship for the first time, after some good results in the qualifying group, including a stunning 3–2 turnaround win against future Euro 1996 champions Germany. They were drawn in Group B with France, Spain, and Romania. Bulgaria started with a 1–1 draw against Spain, followed by a 1–0 win against Romania. In the final group match, they lost 3–1 against France. At the same time, Spain defeated Romania 2–1 with the winner coming in the 84th minute, and the Bulgarians subsequently failed to qualify to the quarter-finals.
Bulgaria qualified for the World Cup in France by finishing first in the Group 5, followed by Russia. They entered the competition with a new manager Hristo Bonev, since Dimitar Penev was sacked after Euro 1996. Bulgaria drew Spain, Nigeria, and Paraguay in Group D. The first match ended in a 0–0 goalless draw against Paraguay. In the second match, the Bulgarians lost 1–0 for a second-straight World Cup to Nigeria. The final match ended with a disappointing 6–1 defeat to Spain. Following the bad results, Bulgaria finished fourth in the group, with only one point, and didn't go through the next round. This was the last major appearance at World Cup level for Bulgaria.
Bulgaria was drawn in a tough qualifying group with teams like England, Sweden, and Poland. The campaign started bad with two defeats by Poland and Sweden. The most memorable match for Bulgaria in the group was the 1–1 draw against England, which was also the last one for Bulgarian legend Hristo Stoichkov before his international retirement. Bulgaria finished fourth with eight points and failed to make the final stages of Euro 2000.
nained Bulgaria, Denmark, and Czech Republic amongst the main contenders for the qualifying spots. Bulgaria won the matches against the weaker teams, but lost 2–0 to Denmark and both matches with Czech Republic, including a disappointing 6–0 defeat. That way, Bulgaria finished third with 17 points and three points behind second-placed Czech Republic, thus failing to make the World Cup in South Korea and Japan.
Bulgaria managed to qualify for the Euro 2004 in Portugal by finishing first in the group ahead of teams like Croatia and Belgium with 17 points and just one defeat. They drew Sweden, Italy, and Denmark in Group C. They started very disappointing with an embarrassing 5–0 defeat by Sweden, followed by a 2–0 defeat by Denmark. The last match against Italy was a reasonable 2–1 defeat. The match was looking to end 1–1 after goals from Bulgarian winger Martin Petrov and Simone Perrotta, but a last minute goal by Antonio Cassano gave the Italians the win. They finished fourth with zero points and were sent home without reaching the knockout round. After the disappointing performance, the manager Plamen Markov was sacked.
Bulgaria failed to qualify for the World Cup in Germany after a run of poor results, finishing third in Group Eight, behind Sweden and Croatia with 15 points.
Group G had Netherlands, Romania, and Bulgaria as the main contestants for a qualifying spot for the Euro 2008 in Switzerland and Austria. Bulgaria performed well after a run of good results from Romania that gave them the first place. The Bulgarians finished third with 25 points, after Romania and Netherlands, with only one lost match against the Dutch.
Bulgaria were drawn against Italy and Ireland in qualifying Group Eight. Bulgaria started the campaign with a series of draws in the 2010 qualifiers. After the unconvincing start, the manager Plamen Markov was sacked and replaced by Stanimir Stoilov in January 2009. The Bulgarians then recorded their first win in the group against Cyprus, and also won against Montenegro and Georgia. They finished in third place in the group with 14 points, therefore failing to qualify directly or for a play-off place.
Bulgaria were drawn in Group G along with England, Switzerland, Wales, and Montenegro. For the second time in a row, Bulgaria and Montenegro will be playing in the same qualification group.
In their first qualifying game on the 3rd Sep 2010, Bulgaria were crushed 4-0 away to England at The Wembley Stadium thanks to a hat-trick from Spurs Striker Jermain Defoe and a goal from Manchester City winger Adam Johnson.
Their misfortune continued in their second match when they lost to Montenegro in Sofia, one of the best results of the newly established guest team so far. For the first time in 5 years Bulgaria lost a home match in Sofia. After the loss Stanimir Stoilov resigned from the position of manager. With only one match remaining for 2010, Bulgaria still cannot aford a win. Before the start of the qualifications Bulgaria recorded 3 losses and 1 draw in 4 friendly matches with only two scored goals. The last victory for Bulgaria was against Malta played in Ta' Qali on the 18th November 2009. The final score was 4-1.
On the 21st September 2010 Lothar Matthäus was announced as the new head coach of Bulgaria. Matthäus became only just the second foreigner in history to lead the national team of Bulgaria. His contact will be for 1+2 years and his official debut will be on 11 October against Wales in Cardiff. His assistants will be Tsanko Tsvetanov and Mihail Madanski.
On the official debut of Lothar Matthäus Bulgaria finally managed to win a match in 2010. In Cardiff at Cardiff City Stadium the Bulgarians won the game 1-0. The goal was scored by Ivelin Popov in the 48th minute. These were the first gained points in the UEFA Euro 2012 qualification campaign. In the following two games Bulgaria drew against Switzerland (0:0 at home) and Montenegro (1:1 away). Bulgaria lost all theorical chances of qualifying for the tournament at 2 September 2011, after losing 0-3 in Sofia against England, which was followed 4 days later by a 1-3 defeat in Switzerland. Consequently Matthäus was relieved of his duties as national coach and replaced by Michail Madanski.[1]
Normally, the Bulgarian national football team's home stadium is the Vasil Levski National Stadium with a capacity of 43,632. Vasil Levski was officially opened in 1953 and reconstructed in 1966 and 2002. It is currently eligible to host UEFA Europa League final matches. During the 2006–07 UEFA Champions League, the stadium was used for the games of Levski Sofia with Barcelona, Chelsea, and Werder Bremen. The Bulgarian 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.
| Year | Result | Position | GP | W | D | L | GS | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1930 | Did not enter | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1934 to 1938 | Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1950 | Did not enter | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1954 to 1958 | Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1962 | Round 1 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| 1966 | Round 1 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 8 |
| 1970 | Round 1 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 9 |
| 1974 | Round 1 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| 1978 to 1982 | Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1986 | Round of 16 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 1990 | Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1994 | Fourth place | 4 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 11 |
| 1998 | Round 1 | 29 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| 2002 to 2010 | Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Total | 7/19 | 26 | 4 | 7 | 15 | 22 | 53 |
| UEFA European Championship record | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | GP | W | D* | L | GS | GA |
| 1960 | Did Not Qualify | |||||||
| 1964 | ||||||||
| 1968 | ||||||||
| 1972 | ||||||||
| 1976 | ||||||||
| 1980 | ||||||||
| 1984 | ||||||||
| 1988 | ||||||||
| 1992 | ||||||||
| 1996 | Group Stage | 11th | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 2000 | Did Not Qualify | |||||||
| 2004 | Group Stage | 16th | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 9 |
| 2008 | Did Not Qualify | |||||||
| 2012 | ||||||||
| 2016 | To Be Determined | |||||||
| Total | Group Stage | 2/14 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 13 |
Bulgaria is placed in Group G.
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A meeting was held in Zürich, Switzerland, on 15 March to determine the Group G fixture schedule.[2][3] After that meeting proved inconclusive, the fixture list was determined by a random draw at the XXXIV Ordinary UEFA Congress in Tel Aviv, Israel, on 25 March.[4]
| 3 September 2010 20:00 UTC+1 |
England | 4 – 0 | Bulgaria | Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 73,246 Referee: Viktor Kassai (Hungary) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defoe 3', 61', 86' A. Johnson 83' |
Report |
| 7 September 2010 20:30 UTC+3 |
Bulgaria | 0 – 1 | Montenegro | Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia Attendance: 9,742 Referee: Vladislav Bezborodov (Russia) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Zverotić 35' |
| 8 October 2010 19:30 UTC+1 |
Wales | 0 – 1 | Bulgaria | Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff Attendance: 14,061 Referee: Jonas Eriksson (Sweden) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | I. Popov 48' |
| 26 March 2011 18:45 UTC+2 |
Bulgaria | 0 – 0 | Switzerland | Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia Attendance: 17,000 Referee: William Collum (Scotland) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report |
| 4 June 2011 20:30 UTC+2 |
Montenegro | 1 – 1 | Bulgaria | Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica Attendance: 12,000 Referee: Alon Yefet (Israel) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Đalović 53' | Report | I. Popov 66' |
| 2 September 2011 21:15 UTC+3 |
Bulgaria | 0 – 3 | England | Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia Attendance: 27,230 Referee: Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Cahill 13' Rooney 21', 45+1' |
| 6 September 2011 20:30 UTC+2 |
Switzerland | 3 – 1 | Bulgaria | St. Jakob Park, Basel Attendance: 16,880 Referee: Pavel Královec (Czech Republic) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shaqiri 45+2', 62', 90' | Report | I. Ivanov 9' |
| 11 October 2011 21:05 UTC+3 |
Bulgaria | 0 – 1 | Wales | Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia Attendance: 1,200 Referee: Pawel Gil (Poland) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Bale 45' |
Squad for the friendly game against Ukraine on 7 October and the qualification match with Wales on 11 October.[5]
Caps and goals updated as of 11 October 2011, subsequent to the game against Wales. Ivan Bandalovski, Kostadin Stoyanov, Plamen Krachunov, Georgi Sarmov and Hristo Zlatinski withdrew from the squad due to injuries and will not be available for selection against Wales. Blagoy Georgiev will also not play in the match vs. Wales, as he decided to leave the team camp for personal reasons. Yordan Miliev, Yordan Minev and Stanislav Genchev were called up as replacements for the last Euro 2012 qualifier.
The following players have also been called up to the Bulgarian squad within last 12 months and are still available for selection.
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INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury.
| Date | Location | Opponent | Score | Competition | Bulgaria scorers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 March 2010 | Warszawa, Poland | Poland | 2 - 0 | Friendly | |
| 19 May 2010 | Brussels, Belgium | Belgium | 2 - 1 | Friendly | Popov 31' |
| 24 May 2010 | Johannesburg, South Africa | South Africa | 1 - 1 | Friendly | Bojinov 31' |
| 11 August 2010 | Saint Petersburg, Russia | Russia | 1 - 0 | Friendly | |
| 3 September 2010 | London, England | England | 0 -4 | UEFA Euro 2012 Q | |
| 7 September 2010 | Sofia, Bulgaria | Montenegro | 1 - 1 | UEFA Euro 2012 Q | |
| 8 October 2010 | Cardiff, Wales | Wales | 1 - 0 | UEFA Euro 2012 Q | Popov 48' |
| 12 October 2010 | Istanbul, Turkey | Saudi Arabia | 2 - 0 | Friendly | Rangelov 39', Domovchiyski 45' |
| 17 November 2010 | Sofia, Bulgaria | Serbia | 1 - 0 | Friendly |
| Date | Location | Opponent | Score | Competition | Bulgaria scorers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 February 2011 | Antalya, Turkey | Estonia | 2 - 2 | Friendly | Popov 40' (pen) 83' (pen) |
| 26 March 2011 | Sofia, Bulgaria | Switzerland | 0 - 0 | UEFA Euro 2012 Q | |
| 29 March 2011 | Larnaka, Cyprus | Cyprus | 1 - 0 | Friendly | Petrov 34' |
| 4 June 2011 | Podgorica, Montenegro | Montenegro | 1 - 1 | UEFA Euro 2012 Q | Popov 66' |
| 10 August 2011 | Minsk, Belarus | Belarus | 1 - 0 | Friendly | |
| 2 September 2011 | Sofia, Bulgaria | England | 3 - 0 | UEFA Euro 2012 Q | |
| 6 September 2011 | Basel, Switzerland | Switzerland | 3 - 1 | UEFA Euro 2012 Q | I.Ivanov 9' |
| 7 October 2011 | Kiev, Ukraine | Ukraine | 3 - 0 | Friendly | |
| 11 October 2011 | Sofia, Bulgaria | Wales | 1 - 0 | UEFA Euro 2012 Q |
| Date | Location | Opponent | Score | Competition | Bulgaria scorers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 February 2012 | Győr, Hungary | Hungary | Friendly | ||
| 26 May 2012 | Sofia, Bulgaria | Netherlands | Friendly | ||
| 15 August 2012 | Kiev, Ukraine | Ukraine | Friendly |
As of match played 11 October 2011. Players in bold are still currently playing for the national team.
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