Bulgaria national football team
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| Nickname(s) | Лъвовете (The Lions) Трикольорите (The Tricolours) |
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|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Bulgarian Football Union | ||
| Confederation | UEFA (Europe) | ||
| Head coach | |||
| Captain | Dimitar Berbatov | ||
| Most caps | Borislav Mikhailov (102) | ||
| Top scorer | Hristo Bonev (48) | ||
| Home stadium | Vasil Levski National Stadium | ||
| FIFA code | BUL | ||
| FIFA ranking | 23 | ||
| Highest FIFA ranking | 8 (June 1995) | ||
| Lowest FIFA ranking | 58 (August 2002) | ||
| Elo ranking | 23 | ||
| Highest Elo ranking | 7 (August 1969) | ||
| Lowest Elo ranking | 63 (Oct 1953, Aug 1954) | ||
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| First international | |||
(Vienna, Austria; 21 May 1924) |
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| Biggest win | |||
(Leon, Mexico; 2 October, 1968 (friendly) |
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| Biggest defeat | |||
(Madrid, Spain; 21 May 1933) |
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| 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 |
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 defending champions Germany to reach the semi-finals, losing to Italy, and finishing in fourth place after a defeat to Sweden in the third place play-off.
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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.
[edit] 1994
Certainly one of the most important dates in Bulgarian football history is November 17, 1993, when Emil Kostadinov scored two goals to beat 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 players 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, 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. Hristo Stoitchkov won the Golden Boot as a joint top scorer in the tournament with six goals (Russia's Oleg Salenko was the other winner).
[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. The Bulgarians, after a 1-1 draw against Spain (a Stoitchkov goal was disallowed) and a 1-0 victory against Romania, lost the third match to France 1-3. At the same time Spain defeated 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[citation needed]. However, The "Golden Generation" was history. They drew 0-0 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 lost all their group matches and were once again sent home without reaching the knockout round.
Bulgaria failed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup after finfshing 3rd in the group after a run of poor results. The team performed impressively in the 2008 Euro qualifiers. However, after a run of good results from Romania, Bulgaria finished 3rd in their group. After 4 draws in the 2010 qualifiers, Bulgaria finally got a 2-0 win against Cyprus.
[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] Competitive record
[edit] World Cup record
| Year | Result | Position | GP | W | D* | L | GS | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Did not enter | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Did not enter | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Round 1 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | |
| Round 1 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 8 | |
| Round 1 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 9 | |
| Round 1 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | |
| Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Round 2 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |
| Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Semi-Finals | 4 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 12 | |
| Round 1 | 29 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | |
| Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Total | 8/18 | 26 | 4 | 7 | 15 | 25 | 54 |
[edit] European Championship record
| Year | Result | Position | GP | W | D* | L | GS | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960-1992 | Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Round 1 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Round 1 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 9 | |
| Did not qualify | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Total | 2/13 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 13 |
[edit] 2010 FIFA World Cup
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[edit] Fixtures and results
The representatives of the six federations met in Sofia on 15 January 2008 to decide on a fixture calendar.
| 2008-09-06 2:00 UTC+2 |
Montenegro |
2 – 2 | Pod Goricom, Podgorica Attendance: 9,000 Referee: Oleh Oriekhov (Ukraine) |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vučinić Jovetić |
Report | S.Petrov Georgiev |
| 2008-10-11 21:15 UTC+3 |
Bulgaria |
0 – 0 | Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia Attendance: 45,000 Referee: Stephane Lannoy (France) |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report |
| 2008-10-15 20:30 UTC+4 |
Georgia |
0 – 0 | Boris Paichadze Stadium, Tbilisi Referee: Bjorn Kuipers (Netherlands) |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report |
| 2009-03-28 19:45 UTC+0 |
Republic of Ireland |
1 – 1 | Croke Park, Dublin Attendance: 59,000 Referee: Ivan Bebek (Croatia) |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dunne |
Report | St.Petrov |
| 2009-04-01 18:00 UTC+3 |
Bulgaria |
2 – 0 | Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia Attendance: 21,000 Referee: Martin Ingvarsson (Sweden) |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Popov Makriev |
Report |
| 2009-06-06 20:00 UTC+3 |
Bulgaria |
1 – 1 | Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia Attendance: 40,000 Referee: Claus Bo Larsen (Denmark |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Telkiyski |
Dunne |
| 2009-09-05 |
Bulgaria |
v | Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-09-09 |
Italy |
v | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-10-10 |
Cyprus |
v | GSP Stadium, Nicosia |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-10-14 |
Bulgaria |
v | Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
[edit] Squad
As of 6 June, for the World Cup qualifying match against Republic of Ireland national football team.
[edit] Goalkeepers
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[edit] Defenders
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[edit] Midfielders
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[edit] Strikers
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[edit] Recent callups
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[edit] Player records
As of match played 6 June 2009. Players in bold are still currently playing for the national team.
[edit] Most appearances
| # | Name | Career | Caps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Borislav Mikhailov | 1983–1998 | 102 | 0 |
| 2 | Hristo Bonev | 1967–1979 | 96 | 48 |
| 3 | Krasimir Balakov | 1988–2003 | 92 | 16 |
| 4 | Dimitar Penev | 1965–1974 | 90 | 2 |
| 5 | Stiliyan Petrov | 1998– | 87 | 8 |
| 6 | Radostin Kishishev | 1996– | 86 | 0 |
| 7 | Hristo Stoichkov | 1986–1999 | 83 | 37 |
| 8 | Nasko Sirakov | 1983–1996 | 81 | 23 |
| 9 | Zlatko Yankov | 1989–1999 | 80 | 4 |
| 10 | Ayan Sadakov | 1981–1991 | 79 | 9 |
[edit] Most goals
| # | Player | Career | Goals | Caps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hristo Bonev | 1967–1979 | 48 | 96 |
| 2 | Dimitar Berbatov | 1999– | 41 | 68 |
| 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] Coaches
Krasimir Borisov ????–1992
Dimitar Penev 1992–1996
Hristo Bonev 1996–1998
Dimitar Dimitrov 1998–2000
Stoycho Mladenov 2000–2002
Plamen Markov 2002–2004
Hristo Stoichkov 2004–2007
Stanimir Stoilov 2007
Dimitar Penev 2007
Plamen Markov 2008
Stanimir Stoilov 2009–
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Bulgarian football - history, teams, stadiums, fan clubs
- RSSSF archive of results 1924-
- RSSSF archive of most capped players and highest goalscorers
- Bulgarian football legends
- Planet World Cup archive of results in the World Cup
- Planet World Cup archive of squads in the World Cup
- Planet World Cup archive of results in the World Cup qualifiers
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