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|[[Stadion Polonii Warszawa|Warszawa, Poland]]
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|{{fb|Poland}}
|{{fb|Bulgaria}} vs |{{fb|Poland}}
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|align=center|[[Exhibition game|Friendly]]
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Revision as of 03:47, 28 May 2012

Bulgaria Bulgaria
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)Лъвовете (The Lions)
Трикольорите
(The Tricolors)
AssociationBulgarian Football Union
ConfederationUEFA (Europe)
Head coachLyuboslav Penev
CaptainStiliyan Petrov
Most capsStiliyan Petrov (116)
Top scorerDimitar Berbatov (48)
FIFA codeBUL
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current55
Highest3 (June 1995)
Lowest58 (April 2012)
First international
 Austria 0–2 Bulgaria Bulgaria
(Vienna, Austria; 21 May 1924)
Biggest win
Bulgaria Bulgaria 10–0 Ghana 
(Leon, Mexico; 14 October 1968)
Biggest defeat
 Spain 9–1 Bulgaria Bulgaria
(Madrid, Spain; 21 May 1933)
World Cup
Appearances8 (first in 1930)
Best resultSemi-Finals, 1994
European Championship
Appearances2 (first in 1996)
Best resultGroup Stage; 1996 & 2004
Olympic medal record
Men’s Football
Silver medal – second place 1968 Mexico City Team
Bronze medal – third place 1956 Melbourne Team

The FIFA Bulgaria national football team (Template:Lang-bg) is an association football team fielded by the Bulgarian Football Union, a member association[clarification needed] 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. In recent times the team's strength has diminished greatly, failing to qualify for any major tournament since 2004.

History

The Bulgarian national football team was formed in 1920. The team's first match was held in Viena on 21 May 1924, a 2–0 defeat of Austria.

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.

1960s and 1970s

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.

World Cup 1986

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.

World Cup 1994

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 4-0 defeat 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.

Euro 1996

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.

World Cup 1998

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.

Euro 2000

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.

World Cup 2002

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 3–1 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.

Euro 2004

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.

World Cup 2006

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.

Euro 2008

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.

World Cup 2010

Bulgaria national football team, 17-11-2010.

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.

Euro 2012

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 barely beaten 4-3 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.

National team in March 2011.

Their misfortune ended in their second match when they defeated Montenegro in Sofia,.

On the official debut of Lothar Matthäus Bulgaria managed to win. 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 third 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 still had all theorical chances of qualifying for the tournament at 2 September 2011, after drawing 3-3 in Sofia against England, which was followed 4 days later by a 3-1 defeat of Switzerland. There final match was the main determiner of who would stay or go to Ukraine and Poland. The group was so tight that if Bulgaria lost, there dream of Euro 2012 would be broken. Sadly, they could not defeat slowly rising to power Wales like they had did the game before. The Bulgarian side would finish third in there group after the result of there final match.

Stadium

Main article: Vasil Levski National Stadium

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.

On November 4 2011 it was announced that Bulgaria's new national stadium is going to be built in the Sofia suburb of Vrazhdebna, the Minister of Youth and Sports, Svilen Neykov, has announced.

The new national stadium will be called "Arena of the Rose" and will be constructed near the International Airport where Vrazhdebna is located. It will have 40,000 seats and seen from above it will look like a rose.

Competition history

World Cup record

Year Result Position GP W D L GS GA
1930 Qualified but withdrew - - - - - - -
1934 to 1938 Did not qualify - - - - - - -
1950 Did not enter - - - - - - -
1954 to 1958 Did not qualify - - - - - - -
Chile 1962 Round 1 15 3 0 1 2 1 7
England 1966 Round 1 15 3 0 0 3 1 8
Mexico 1970 Round 1 13 3 0 1 2 5 9
West Germany 1974 Round 1 12 3 0 2 1 2 5
1978 to 1982 Did not qualify - - - - - - -
Mexico 1986 Round of 16 12 4 0 2 2 2 6
Italy 1990 Did not qualify - - - - - - -
United States 1994 Semifinals 3 7 6 0 1 10 11
France 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

European Championship record

UEFA European Championship record
Year Round Position GP W D* L GS GA
France 1960 Did Not Qualify
Spain 1964
Italy 1968
Belgium 1972
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1976
Italy 1980
France 1984
West Germany 1988
Sweden 1992
England 1996 Group Stage 11th 3 1 1 1 3 4
Belgium Netherlands 2000 Did Not Qualify
Portugal 2004 Group Stage 16th 3 0 0 3 1 9
Austria Switzerland 2008 Did Not Qualify
Poland Ukraine 2012
France 2016 To Be Determined
Total Group Stage 2/14 6 1 1 4 4 13

Honours

  • Balkan Cup
    • Winners (4): 1931, 1932, 1935, 1973/76
    • Runners-up (1): 1936

Players

Current squad

Squad for the friendly games against the Netherlands on 26 May 2012 and Turkey on 29 May 2012.

Caps and goals updated as of 26 May 2012, subsequent to the game against the Netherlands.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Plamen Iliev (1991-11-30) November 30, 1991 (age 33) 0 0 Bulgaria Levski Sofia
12 1GK Stoyan Kolev (1976-02-06) February 6, 1976 (age 48) 14 0 Bulgaria Chernomorets Burgas
27 1GK Ivan Čvorović (1985-09-21) September 21, 1985 (age 39) 1 0 Bulgaria Minyor Pernik
2 2DF Stanislav Manolev (1985-12-16) December 16, 1985 (age 39) 22 0 Netherlands PSV Eindhoven
3 2DF Valentin Iliev (1980-08-11) August 11, 1980 (age 44) 22 0 Romania Steaua Bucureşti
4 2DF Petar Zanev (1985-10-18) October 18, 1985 (age 39) 18 0 Bulgaria Litex Lovech
5 2DF Nikolay Bodurov (1986-05-30) May 30, 1986 (age 38) 10 0 Bulgaria Litex Lovech
6 2DF Yordan Minev (1980-10-14) October 14, 1980 (age 44) 2 0 Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad
11 2DF Ivan Bandalovski (1986-11-23) November 23, 1986 (age 38) 6 0 Bulgaria CSKA Sofia
14 2DF Veselin Minev (1980-10-14) October 14, 1980 (age 44) 10 0 Turkey Antalyaspor
15 2DF Ivan Ivanov (1988-02-25) February 25, 1988 (age 36) 24 1 Serbia Partizan
20 2DF Aleksandar Aleksandrov (1986-04-13) April 13, 1986 (age 38) 0 0 Bulgaria Cherno More Varna
17 3MF Georgi Milanov (1992-02-19) February 19, 1992 (age 32) 3 0 Bulgaria Litex Lovech
18 3MF Vladimir Gadzhev (1987-07-18) July 18, 1987 (age 37) 7 0 Bulgaria Levski Sofia
21 3MF Svetoslav Dyakov (1984-05-31) May 31, 1984 (age 40) 2 0 Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad
22 3MF Hristo Zlatinski (1985-11-22) November 22, 1985 (age 39) 3 0 Bulgaria Lokomotiv Plovdiv
23 3MF Emil Gargorov (1981-02-15) February 15, 1981 (age 43) 12 1 Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad
24 3MF Aleksandar Tonev (1990-02-03) February 3, 1990 (age 34) 3 0 Poland Lech Poznań
25 3MF Boris Galchev (1983-10-31) October 31, 1983 (age 41) 0 0 Bulgaria CSKA Sofia
26 3MF Stefan Velev (1989-05-02) May 2, 1989 (age 35) 0 0 Bulgaria Beroe Stara Zagora
7 4FW Ivan Stoyanov (1983-07-24) July 24, 1983 (age 41) 10 0 Bulgaria Ludogorets Razgrad
9 4FW Ivelin Popov (1987-10-26) October 26, 1987 (age 37) 30 6 Turkey Gaziantepspor
10 4FW Valeri Bojinov (1986-02-15) February 15, 1986 (age 38) 38 6 Italy Lecce
19 4FW Iliyan Mitsanski (1985-12-20) December 20, 1985 (age 39) 2 1 Germany FSV Frankfurt

Previous squads

FIFA World Cup squads
UEFA European Football Championship squads

Recent results

Main article: Bulgaria national football team results

2010

Date Location Opponent Score Competition
3 March 2010 Warszawa, Poland  Bulgaria vs | Poland 2 − 0W Friendly
19 May 2010 Brussels, Belgium  Belgium 2 − 1W Friendly
24 May 2010 Johannesburg, South Africa  South Africa 1 − 1D Friendly
11 August 2010 Saint Petersburg, Russia  Russia 1 − 0W Friendly
3 September 2010 London, England  England 3 − 4L UEFA Euro 2012 Q
7 September 2010 Sofia, Bulgaria  Montenegro 1 − 0W UEFA Euro 2012 Q
8 October 2010 Cardiff, Wales  Wales 1 − 0W UEFA Euro 2012 Q
12 October 2010 Istanbul, Turkey  Saudi Arabia 2 − 0W Friendly
17 November 2010 Sofia, Bulgaria  Serbia 1 − 0W Friendly

2011

Date Location Opponent Score Competition
9 February 2011 Antalya, Turkey  Estonia 2 − 2D Friendly
26 March 2011 Sofia, Bulgaria   Switzerland 0 − 0D UEFA Euro 2012 Q
29 March 2011 Larnaka, Cyprus  Cyprus 1 − 0W Friendly
4 June 2011 Podgorica, Montenegro  Montenegro 1 − 1D UEFA Euro 2012 Q
10 August 2011 Minsk, Belarus  Belarus 1 − 0W Friendly
2 September 2011 Sofia, Bulgaria  England 3 − 3D UEFA Euro 2012 Q
6 September 2011 Basel, Switzerland   Switzerland 3 − 1W UEFA Euro 2012 Q
7 October 2011 Kiev, Ukraine  Ukraine 3 − 0W Friendly
11 October 2011 Sofia, Bulgaria  Wales 0 − 1L UEFA Euro 2012 Q

2012

Date Location Opponent Score Competition
29 February 2012 Győr, Hungary  Hungary 1 − 1D Friendly
26 May 2012 Amsterdam, the Netherlands  Netherlands 2 − 1W Friendly
29 May 2012 Salzburg, Austria  Turkey Friendly
15 August 2012 Sofia, Bulgaria  Cyprus Friendly
7 September 2012 Sofia, Bulgaria  Italy 2014 FIFA World Cup Q
11 September 2012 Sofia, Bulgaria  Armenia 2014 FIFA World Cup Q
12 October 2012 Sofia, Bulgaria  Denmark 2014 FIFA World Cup Q
12 October 2012  Czech Republic 2014 FIFA World Cup Q

2013

Date Location Opponent Score Competition
22 March 2013 Sofia, Bulgaria  Malta 2014 FIFA World Cup Q
26 March 2013 Kopenhagen, Denmark  Denmark 2014 FIFA World Cup Q
6 September 2013  Italy 2014 FIFA World Cup Q
10 September 2013  Malta 2014 FIFA World Cup Q
11 October 2013  Armenia 2014 FIFA World Cup Q
15 October 2013 Sofia, Bulgaria  Czech Republic 2014 FIFA World Cup Q

Records

Player records

As of match played 11 October 2011. Players in bold are still currently playing for the national team.

Head coaches

See also

Sources


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