Bulgaria national under-21 football team

Bulgaria U-21
Nickname(s)	Лъвчетата / Lavchetata; (The Young Lions)
Association	Bulgarian Football Union (BFU)
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Aleksandar Dimitrov
Captain	Dominik Yankov
Most caps	Petar Mihtarski (51)
Top scorer	Atanas Mihaylov (31)
Home stadium	Stadion Aleksandar Shalamanov
FIFA code	BUL
First colours	Second colours

The Bulgaria national under-21 football team (Bulgarian: Mладежки национален отбор на България по футбол)^[1] is considered to be the feeder team for the Bulgaria national football team. This team is for Bulgarian players aged under 21 at the start of the calendar year in which a two-year UEFA European Under-21 Championship campaign begins, so some players can remain with the squad until the age of 23.

Competition results

Champions Runners-Up Semi-Finals Other Top Results

Balkan Youth Championship

Year	Rank
1968	Champions
1970	Champions
1973	Champions

UEFA U-21 European Championship

Year	Rank
1972	Semi-Finals
1974	Quarter-Finals
1976	Quarter-Finals
1978	Semi-Finals
1990	Quarter-Finals

UEFA Euro 2023 Qualifier

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Netherlands	10	8	2	0	32	3	+29	26	Final tournament	—	2–0	3–0	5–0	3–1	6–0
2	Switzerland	10	7	2	1	22	6	+16	23	Final tournament	2–2	—	3–0	5–1	1–0	4–0
3	Moldova	10	3	3	4	7	12	−5	12		0–3	1–1	—	1–0	0–2	1–0
4	Wales	10	3	2	5	15	14	+1	11		0–1	0–1	0–0	—	1–1	2–0
5	Bulgaria	10	2	4	4	10	11	−1	10		0–0	0–1	0–0	0–4	—	5–0
6	Gibraltar	10	0	1	9	1	41	−40	1		0–7	0–4	0–4	0–7	1–1	—

Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Recent fixtures

Win Draw Loss

24 March 2021 (2021-03-24) Friendly tournament	Ukraine	1–2	Bulgaria	Antalya, Turkey
16:00 (UTC+03:00)	Nazarenko 8'	Report	Yankov 20' F. Krastev 53'	Stadium: Bellis Sports Center

26 March 2021 (2021-03-26) Friendly tournament	Bulgaria	3–1	Kazakhstan	Antalya, Turkey
15:00 (UTC+03:00)	Nikolov 51' Tonev 58', 60'	Report	Sagnayev 81' (pen.)	Stadium: Bellis Sports Center

29 March 2021 (2021-03-29) Friendly tournament	North Macedonia	5–1	Bulgaria	Antalya, Turkey
16:30 (UTC+03:00)	Ilievski 10' Grozdanovski 30' Maksimov 58', 76' Kalkan 79'	Report	Yankov 51'	Stadium: Bellis Sports Center

3 June 2021 (2021-06-03) Friendly	Bulgaria	0–1	Russia	Sofia, Bulgaria
17:30 (UTC+03:00)		Report	Ignatov 12'	Stadium: Stadion Slavia

8 June 2021 (2021-06-08) Friendly	Bulgaria	4–0	Albania	Sofia, Bulgaria
17:30 (UTC+03:00)	Shopov 2' S. Petrov 5' Gruev 12' Nikolov 68' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: Stadion Slavia

3 September 2021 (2021-09-03) UEFA Euro 2023 qualification	Moldova	0–2	Bulgaria	Chișinău, Moldova
20:00 (UTC+03:00)		Report	Minchev 52' Mitkov 75'	Stadium: Zimbru Stadium Attendance: 350 Referee: Enea Jorgji (Albania)

7 September 2021 (2021-09-07) UEFA Euro 2023 qualification	Bulgaria	0–4	Wales	Sofia, Bulgaria
18:30 (UTC+03:00)		Report	Vale 27', 50', 73' Sass-Davies 42'	Stadium: Stadion Slavia Attendance: 400 Referee: Visar Kastrati (Kosovo)

8 October 2021 (2021-10-08) UEFA Euro 2023 qualification	Bulgaria	5–0	Gibraltar	Sofia, Bulgaria
17:30 (18:30 EEST)	Nikolov 6', 25' (pen.), 26' M. D. Petkov 35' Stoyanov 63'	Report		Stadium: Stadion Slavia Attendance: 45 Referee: Aleksei Matyunin (Russia)

12 October 2021 (2021-10-12) UEFA Euro 2023 qualification	Bulgaria	0–1	Switzerland	Sofia, Bulgaria
17:00 (18:00 EEST)		Report	Imeri 45'	Stadium: Stadion Slavia Attendance: 93 Referee: Lazar Lukić (Serbia)

12 November 2021 (2021-11-12) UEFA Euro 2023 qualification	Netherlands	3–1	Bulgaria	Almere, Netherlands
19:45 (EET)	Maatsen 38' Zirkzee 46', 90+1' (pen.)	Report	Minchev 19'	Stadium: Yanmar Stadion Attendance: 2,200 Referee: Sascha Stegemann (Germany)

16 November 2021 (2021-11-16) UEFA Euro 2023 qualification	Bulgaria	0–0	Moldova	Sofia, Bulgaria
18:30 (EET)		Report		Stadium: Stadion Aleksandar Shalamanov Attendance: 42 Referee: Petri Viljanen (Finland)

25 March 2022 (2022-03-25) UEFA Euro 2023 qualification	Bulgaria	0–0	Netherlands	Sofia, Bulgaria
19:45 (EET)		Report		Stadium: Stadion Aleksandar Shalamanov Attendance: 332 Referee: Sandi Putros (Denmark)

29 March 2022 (2022-03-29) UEFA Euro 2023 qualification	Wales	1–1	Bulgaria	Newport, Wales
17:00 (EET)	Pearson 63'	Report	Nikolov 61'	Stadium: Rodney Parade Attendance: 210 Referee: Pavel Orel (Czech Republic)

4 June 2022 (2022-06-04) UEFA Euro 2023 qualification	Switzerland	1–0	Bulgaria	Lugano, Switzerland
19:00	Rieder 56'	Report		Stadium: Cornaredo Stadium Attendance: 1,125 Referee: Gustavo Fernandes Correia (Portugal)

11 June 2022 (2022-06-11) UEFA Euro 2023 qualification	Gibraltar	1–1	Bulgaria	Gibraltar
20:00	Peacock 83' (pen.)	Report	Nikolov 57'	Stadium: Victoria Stadium Attendance: 480 Referee: Alessandro Dudic (Switzerland)

23 September 2022 (2022-09-23) Friendly	Hungary	1–0	Bulgaria	Szombathely, Hungary
19:00	Kocsis 1'	Report		Stadium: Haladás Sportkomplexum

27 September 2022 (2022-09-27) Friendly	Bulgaria	1–1	Serbia	Sofia, Bulgaria
17:00	Tsenov 37'	Report	Ratkov 8'	Stadium: Stadion Aleksandar Shalamanov
Note: The game was abandoned at half-time due to a thunderstorm.

21 November 2022 (2022-11-21) Friendly	Slovenia	0–0	Bulgaria	Murska Sobota, Slovenia
18:30		Report		Stadium: Fazanerija City Stadium

25 November 2022 (2022-11-25) Friendly	Bulgaria	0−3	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria
18:00		Report	Bašić 20' (pen.) Bristrić 33' Šošić 57'	Stadium: Stadion Hristo Botev

Coaching staff

Current coaching staff

Position	Staff
Manager	Aleksandar Dimitrov
Assistant manager	Ivaylo Yordanov Yavor Valchinov

Last updated: 20 December 2018
Source: https://bfunion.bg/news/45742/0

Manager history

Tenure	Head Coach
2000–2001	Dimitar Aleksiev
2002	Ivan Kolev
2003–2006	Petar Miladinov
2006–2007	Aleksandar Stankov
2008–2009	Ivan Kolev
2010–2013	Mihail Madanski
2014–2018	Antoni Zdravkov
2018–	Aleksandar Dimitrov

Current squad

Players

The following players were called up for the friendly matches against Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina on 21 and 25 November 2022.^[2]
All caps and goals as of 25 November 2022 after match against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Players in bold have been called up or have played at least one full international match with national senior team.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
12	1GK	Damyan Hristov	(2002-11-10) 10 November 2002 (age 21)	9	0	Ludogorets Razgrad II
1	1GK	Hristiyan Slavkov	(2003-02-26) 26 February 2003 (age 21)	2	0	Botev Plovdiv II
23	1GK	Plamen Andreev	(2004-12-15) 15 December 2004 (age 19)	1	0	Levski Sofia

18	2DF	Atanas Chernev	(2002-03-25) 25 March 2002 (age 22)	10	0	Botev Plovdiv
13	2DF	Hristiyan Petrov	(2002-06-24) 24 June 2002 (age 22)	8	0	CSKA Sofia
3	2DF	Martin Hristov	(2003-10-02) 2 October 2003 (age 20)	3	0	Botev Plovdiv II
2	2DF	Velislav Boev	(2003-12-19) 19 December 2003 (age 20)	2	0	Spartak Varna
4	2DF	Rosen Stefanov	(2002-11-27) 27 November 2002 (age 21)	2	0	Cherno More
14	2DF	Bozhidar Penchev	(2002-03-13) 13 March 2002 (age 22)	2	0	Beroe Stara Zagora
2	2DF	Martin Georgiev	(2005-09-24) 24 September 2005 (age 18)	1	0	Barcelona
17	2DF	Bogomil Bozhurkin	(2002-09-02) 2 September 2002 (age 21)	1	0	Hebar Pazardzhik
13	2DF	Todor Pavlov	(2004-07-31) 31 July 2004 (age 20)	0	0	Lokomotiv Plovdiv

20	3MF	Kristiyan Stoyanov	(2003-04-29) 29 April 2003 (age 21)	4	0	Slavia Sofia
6	3MF	Emil Tsenov	(2002-04-26) 26 April 2002 (age 22)	4	0	Minyor Pernik
21	3MF	Stoyan Stoichkov	(2003-01-01) 1 January 2003 (age 21)	3	0	CSKA 1948
11	3MF	Martin Smolenski	(2003-03-08) 8 March 2003 (age 21)	2	0	Pirin Blagoevgrad
10	3MF	Krasian Kolev	(2004-01-18) 18 January 2004 (age 20)	2	0	Septemvri Sofia

9	4FW	Borislav Stankov	(2002-05-05) 5 May 2002 (age 22)	4	0	Real Valladolid
7	4FW	Simeon Aleksandrov	(2003-09-24) 24 September 2003 (age 20)	4	0	CSKA Sofia
16	4FW	Valentin Nikolov	(2003-10-15) 15 October 2003 (age 20)	3	0	Lokomotiv Sofia
8	4FW	Stanislav Dyulgerov	(2003-08-23) 23 August 2003 (age 20)	3	0	Apollon Larissa
17	4FW	Ivan Tasev	(2002-04-27) 27 April 2002 (age 22)	3	0	Pirin Blagoevgrad
15	4FW	Miroslav Marinov	(2004-03-07) 7 March 2004 (age 20)	2	0	Botev Vratsa
19	4FW	Nikolay Zlatev	(2004-12-12) 12 December 2004 (age 19)	2	0	Cherno More
22	4FW	Roberto Raychev	(2005-05-07) 7 May 2005 (age 19)	2	0	Slavia Sofia

Recent call ups

The following players have previously been called up to the Bulgaria under-21 squad and remain eligible.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Nikola Videnov	(2002-03-22) 22 March 2002 (age 22)	0	0	Minyor Pernik	v. Serbia, 27 September 2022

DF	Dimo Krastev	(2003-02-10) 10 February 2003 (age 21)	6	0	Fiorentina	v. Serbia, 27 September 2022 ^A
DF	Martin Stoychev	(2003-10-17) 17 October 2003 (age 20)	1	0	Septemvri Sofia	v. Serbia, 27 September 2022
DF	Lazar Boyanov	(2003-04-01) 1 April 2003 (age 21)	0	0	Marinhense	v. Serbia, 27 September 2022

MF	Stanislav Shopov	(2002-02-23) 23 February 2002 (age 22)	10	1	CSKA Sofia	v. Serbia, 27 September 2022 ^A
MF	Martin Atanasov	(2002-01-19) 19 January 2002 (age 22)	7	0	Botev Vratsa	v. Serbia, 27 September 2022
MF	Biser Bonev	(2003-06-04) 4 June 2003 (age 21)	0	0	Botev Plovdiv II	v. Serbia, 27 September 2022
MF	Marin Petkov	(2003-10-02) 2 October 2003 (age 20)	8	0	Levski Sofia	v. Gibraltar, 11 June 2022 ^A

FW	Martin Sorakov	(2003-10-23) 23 October 2003 (age 20)	2	0	Slavia Sofia	v. Serbia, 27 September 2022
FW	Mark-Emilio Papazov	(2003-10-08) 8 October 2003 (age 20)	1	0	CSKA Sofia II	v. Serbia, 27 September 2022
FW	Martin D. Petkov	(2002-08-15) 15 August 2002 (age 21)	10	1	Slavia Sofia	v. Gibraltar, 11 June 2022

Notes

^A = Not part of the current squad due to being called up to the senior team.
^INJ = Not part of the current squad due to injury.
^COVID = Withdrawn from the current squad due to suffering from COVID-19.

References

^ Mladezhki natsionalen otbor na Balgariya po futbol, literally "Bulgaria national youth football team".
^ "Състав на България U21 за приятелските мачове със Словения и Босна и Херцеговина" (in Bulgarian). Bulgarian Football Union. 14 November 2022.

External links

Official website (in Bulgarian)
UEFA Under-21 website, complete results archive
The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation, full record of U-21 and U-23 Championships

[1] Mladezhki natsionalen otbor na Balgariya po futbol, literally "Bulgaria national youth football team".

[2] "Състав на България U21 за приятелските мачове със Словения и Босна и Херцеговина" (in Bulgarian). Bulgarian Football Union. 14 November 2022.

[1]

[2]

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