Bulgaria national football team

Bulgaria

Nickname(s)	Лъвовете (The Lions) Трикольорите (The Tricolors)
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	88
Highest FIFA ranking	8 (June 1995)
Lowest FIFA ranking	88 (February 2012)
Elo ranking	56
Highest Elo ranking	3 (August 1969)
Lowest Elo ranking	58 (Oct 1953, Aug 1954)
Home colours Away colours
First international
Austria 6–0 Bulgaria (Vienna, Austria; 21 May 1924)
Biggest win
Bulgaria 10–0 Ghana (Leon, Mexico; 14 October 1968)
Biggest defeat
Spain 13–0 Bulgaria (Madrid, Spain; 21 May 1933)
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) 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. 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 1923. The team's first match was held in Viena on 21 May 1924, a 6–0 defeat to 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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

National team in March 2011.

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.

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	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

European Championship record

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

Honours

• FIFA World Cup
  • Fourth place (1): 1994

• Olympic football tournament
  • Runners-up (1): 1968
  • Third place (1): 1956

• UEFA European Football Championship
  • Fifth place (1): 1968

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

UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying

Bulgaria is placed in Group G.

• Teams highlighted in green qualified for the finals.

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts England 8 5 3 0 17 5 +12 18 Montenegro 8 3 3 2 7 7 0 12 Switzerland 8 3 2 3 12 10 +2 11 Wales 8 3 0 5 6 10 −4 9 Bulgaria 8 1 2 5 3 13 −10 5

Bulgaria — 0–3 0–1 0–0 0–1 England 4–0 — 0–0 2–2 1–0 Montenegro 1–1 2–2 — 1–0 1–0 Switzerland 3–1 1–3 2–0 — 4–1 Wales 0–1 0–2 2–1 2–0 —

Fixtures

A meeting was held in Zürich, Switzerland, on 15 March to determine the Group G fixture schedule. 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.

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'

Players

Current squad

Squad for the friendly game against Hungary on 29 February 2012.

Caps and goals updated as of 29 February 2012, subsequent to the game against Hungary.

0#0 Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club 12 GK Stoyan Kolev February 6, 1976 (1976-02-06) 13 0 Chernomorets Burgas 13 GK Nikolay Mihaylov June 28, 1988 (1988-06-28) 19 0 Twente 2 DF Stanislav Manolev December 16, 1985 (1985-12-16) 21 0 PSV 3 DF Valentin Iliev August 11, 1980 (1980-08-11) 21 0 Steaua Bucureşti 4 DF Petar Zanev October 18, 1985 (1985-10-18) 18 0 Litex Lovech 5 DF Nikolay Bodurov May 30, 1986 (1986-05-30) 9 0 Litex Lovech 6 DF Yordan Minev October 14, 1980 (1980-10-14) 1 0 Ludogorets Razgrad 11 DF Ivan Bandalovski November 23, 1986 (1986-11-23) 6 0 CSKA Sofia 14 DF Veselin Minev October 14, 1980 (1980-10-14) 9 0 Antalyaspor 15 DF Ivan Ivanov February 25, 1988 (1988-02-25) 23 1 Partizan 8 MF Georgi Sarmov September 7, 1985 (1985-09-07) 4 0 Kasımpaşa 17 MF Georgi Milanov February 19, 1992 (1992-02-19) 2 0 Litex Lovech 18 MF Vladimir Gadzhev July 18, 1987 (1987-07-18) 6 0 Levski Sofia 19 MF Mihail Aleksandrov June 11, 1989 (1989-06-11) 0 0 Ludogorets Razgrad 20 MF Aleksandar Tonev February 3, 1990 (1990-02-03) 2 0 Lech Poznań 21 MF Svetoslav Dyakov May 31, 1984 (1984-05-31) 1 0 Ludogorets Razgrad 22 MF Hristo Zlatinski November 22, 1985 (1985-11-22) 2 0 Lokomotiv Plovdiv 23 MF Emil Gargorov February 15, 1981 (1981-02-15) 12 1 Ludogorets Razgrad 25 MF Boris Galchev October 31, 1983 (1983-10-31) 0 0 CSKA Sofia 7 FW Ivan Stoyanov July 24, 1983 (1983-07-24) 9 0 Ludogorets Razgrad 9 FW Ivelin Popov October 26, 1987 (1987-10-26) 29 7 Gaziantepspor 10 FW Valeri Bojinov February 15, 1986 (1986-02-15) 37 6 Lecce

Recent callups

The following players have also been called up to the Bulgarian squad within last 12 months and are still available for selection.

Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club Latest Call-up GK Plamen Iliev November 30, 1991 (1991-11-30) 0 0 Levski Sofia v. Belarus, August 10, 2011 GK Vladislav Stoyanov June 8, 1987 (1987-06-08) 4 0 Sheriff Tiraspol v. Wales, October 11, 2011 GK Ivan Karadzhov July 12, 1989 (1989-07-12) 0 0 Lokomotiv Plovdiv v. Cyprus, March 29, 2011 DF Kostadin Stoyanov May 8, 1985 (1985-05-08) 10 0 CSKA Sofia v. Wales, October 11, 2011 DF Georgi Terziev April 18, 1992 (1992-04-18) 2 0 Chernomorets Burgas v. Wales, October 11, 2011 DF Plamen Krachunov January 11, 1989 (1989-01-11) 0 0 CSKA Sofia v. Wales, October 11, 2011 DF Zhivko Milanov July 15, 1984 (1984-07-15) 23 0 Vaslui v. Switzerland, September 6, 2011 DF Aleksandar Tunchev July 10, 1981 (1981-07-10) 26 1 Leicester City v. England, September 2, 2011 DF Apostol Popov December 22, 1982 (1982-12-22) 1 0 CSKA Sofia v. Belarus, August 11, 2011 DF Rumen Trifonov February 21, 1985 (1985-02-21) 0 0 CSKA Sofia v. Belarus, August 11, 2011INJ MF Stiliyan Petrov July 5, 1979 (1979-07-05) 105 8 Aston Villa v. Wales, October 11, 2011 MF Aleksandar Tsvetkov August 31, 1990 (1990-08-31) 1 0 Litex Lovech v. Wales, October 11, 2011 MF Martin Petrov January 15, 1979 (1979-01-15) 89 19 Bolton Wanderers v. Switzerland, September 6, 2011 MF Chavdar Yankov March 29, 1984 (1984-03-29) 50 5 Metalurh Donetsk v. Belarus, August 11, 2011 MF Nikolay Dimitrov October 15, 1987 (1987-10-15) 8 0 Kasımpaşa v. Belarus, August 11, 2011 MF Hristo Yanev May 4, 1979 (1979-05-04) 11 3 Litex Lovech v. Montenegro, June 4, 2011 MF Stanislav Angelov April 12, 1978 (1978-04-12) 39 1 Anorthosis Famagusta v. Switzerland, March 26, 2011 FW Dimitar Rangelov March 7, 1983 (1983-03-07) 24 2 Energie Cottbus v. Wales, October 11, 2011 FW Spas Delev September 22, 1989 (1989-09-22) 5 0 Mersin İdmanyurdu SK v. Wales, October 11, 2011 FW Tsvetan Genkov February 8, 1984 (1984-02-08) 18 0 Wisła Kraków v. Switzerland, September 6, 2011 FW Georgi Bozhilov February 11, 1987 (1987-02-11) 1 0 Cherno More Varna v. England, September 2, 2011 FW Zdravko Lazarov February 20, 1976 (1976-02-20) 31 3 Lokomotiv Plovdiv v. Switzerland, March 26, 2011

Notes

^INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury.

Previous squads

FIFA World Cup squads

• 1962 FIFA World Cup squad
• 1966 FIFA World Cup squad
• 1970 FIFA World Cup squad
• 1974 FIFA World Cup squad
• 1986 FIFA World Cup squad
• 1994 FIFA World Cup squad
• 1998 FIFA World Cup squad

UEFA European Football Championship squads

• UEFA Euro 1996 squad
• UEFA Euro 2004 squad

Recent results

Main article: Bulgaria national football team results

2010

Date	Location	Opponent	Score	Competition	Bulgaria scorers
3 March 2010	Warszawa, Poland	Poland	0 − 2	Friendly
19 May 2010	Brussels, Belgium	Belgium	1 − 2	Friendly	Popov  31'
24 May 2010	Johannesburg, South Africa	South Africa	1 − 1	Friendly	Bojinov  31'
11 August 2010	Saint Petersburg, Russia	Russia	0 − 1	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	0 − 1	Friendly

2011

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	0 − 1	Friendly
2 September 2011	Sofia, Bulgaria	England	0 − 3	UEFA Euro 2012 Q
6 September 2011	Basel, Switzerland	Switzerland	1 − 3	UEFA Euro 2012 Q	I.Ivanov  9'
7 October 2011	Kiev, Ukraine	Ukraine	0 − 3	Friendly
11 October 2011	Sofia, Bulgaria	Wales	0 − 1	UEFA Euro 2012 Q

2012

Date	Location	Opponent	Score	Competition	Bulgaria scorers
29 February 2012	Győr, Hungary	Hungary	1 − 1	Friendly	Bojinov  87'
26 May 2012	Amsterdam, the Netherlands	Netherlands		Friendly
26 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	Bulgaria scorers
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.

Most appearances

#	Name	Pos.	Career	Caps	Goals	Average
1	Stiliyan Petrov	MF	1998–present	105	8	0.08
2	Borislav Mihaylov	GK	1983–1998	102	0	0.00
3	Hristo Bonev	FW	1967–1979	96	47	0.49
4	Krasimir Balakov	MF	1988–2003	92	16	0.17
5	Dimitar Penev	DF	1965–1974	90	2	0.02
6	Martin Petrov	MF	1999–present	89	19	0.21
7	Radostin Kishishev	DF	1996–2009	88	1	0.01
8	Hristo Stoichkov	FW	1986–1999	83	37	0.45
9	Nasko Sirakov	FW	1983–1996	82	23	0.28
10	Zlatko Yankov	MF	1989–1999	80	4	0.05
11	Ayan Sadakov	MF	1981–1991	79	9	0.11
12	Dimitar Berbatov	FW	1999–2010	77	48	0.62

Most goals

#	Player	Career	Goals	Caps	Average
1	Dimitar Berbatov	1999–2010	48	77	0.60
2	Hristo Bonev	1967–1979	47	96	0.49
3	Hristo Stoichkov	1987–1999	37	83	0.45
4	Emil Kostadinov	1988–1998	26	70	0.37
5	Petar Zhekov	1963–1972	25	44	0.57
6	Ivan Kolev	1950–1963	25	75	0.33
7	Atanas Mihaylov	1970–1981	23	45	0.51
8	Nasko Sirakov	1983–1996	23	82	0.28
9	Dimitar Milanov	1948–1959	20	39	0.51
10	Georgi Asparuhov	1962–1970	19	50	0.38
11	Dinko Dermendzhiev	1966–1977	19	58	0.33
12	Martin Petrov	1999–present	19	89	0.21

Head coaches

Leopold Nitsch 1924 Willibald Stejskal 1925 Pavel Grozdanov 1927-1930 Carl Nemes 1930 Otto Feist 1931 Pavel Grozdanov 1932-1933 Karoly Foggle 1934-1935 Nikola Kalkandzhiev 1935 Ivan Batandzhiev 1936 Geno Mateev 1936 Stanislav Toms 1937-1938 Kostantin Maznikov 1938 Ivan Radoev 1939 Franz Koler 1940-41 Ivan Radoev 1942

Ivan Batandzhiev 1943 Todor Konov 1946 Mihail Manov 1947 Rezső Somlaly & Ivan Radoev 1947 Ivan Radoev 1947 Lubomir Angelov 1948 Andor Haidu 1948-1949 Ivan Radoev 1950 Lubomir Angelov 1950 Andor Haidú 1950 Lubomir Angelov 1953 Stoyan Ormandzhiev 1950-1953 Stoyan Ormandzhiev & Krum Milev 1954-60 Georgi Pachedzhiev 1955-1962

Stoyan Ormandzhiev 1963 Bella Volentik 1963-1964 Rudolf Vytlačil 1965–1966 Dobromir Tashkov 1966 Stefan Bozhkov 1967–1970 Vasil Spasov 1970–1972 Hristo Mladenov 1972–1974 Stoyan Ormandzhiev 1974–1977 Cvetan Ilchev 1978–1980 Atanas Purzhelov 1980–1982 Ivan Vutsov 1982–1986 Hristo Mladenov 1986–1987 Boris Angelov 1988–1989 Ivan Vutsov 1989–1991 Krasimir Borisov 1991

Dimitar Penev 1991–1996 Hristo Bonev 1996–1998 Dimitar Dimitrov 1998–1999 Stoycho Mladenov 2000–2001 Plamen Markov 2002–2004 Hristo Stoichkov 2004–2007 Stanimir Stoilov 2007 Dimitar Penev 2007 Plamen Markov 2008 Stanimir Stoilov 2009–2010 Lothar Matthäus 2010-2011 Michail Madanski 2011 Luboslav Penev 2011-

See also

• Bulgaria national under-21 football team
• Bulgaria national under-19 football team

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