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| Top scorer = [[Hristo Bonev]] (47)
| Top scorer = [[Hristo Bonev]] (47)
| Home Stadium = [[Vasil Levski National Stadium]]
| Home Stadium = [[Vasil Levski National Stadium]]
| FIFA Rank = 35 |1st ranking date = August 1993
| FIFA Rank = 29 |1st ranking date = August 1993
| FIFA max = 4
| FIFA max = 4
| FIFA max date = July 1994
| FIFA max date = July 1994

Revision as of 16:02, 4 October 2007

Bulgaria
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)The Lions (Лъвовете), The Tricolours (Трикольорите)
AssociationBulgarian Football Union
ConfederationUEFA (Europe)
Head coachDimitar Penev
CaptainDimitar Berbatov
Most capsBorislav Mikhailov (102)
Top scorerHristo Bonev (47)
Home stadiumVasil Levski National Stadium
FIFA codeBUL
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current29
Highest4 (July 1994)
Lowest58 (August 2002)
First international
 Austria 6 - 0 Bulgaria Bulgaria
(Vienna, Austria; 21 May, 1924)
Biggest win
Bulgaria Bulgaria 7 - 0 Norway 
(Sofia, Bulgaria, 1957)
Bulgaria Bulgaria 7 - 0 Thailand 
(Mexico City, Mexico; October, 1968
Bulgaria Bulgaria 7 - 0 Malta 
(Sofia, Bulgaria; 14 October, 1982)
Biggest defeat
 Spain 13 - 0 Bulgaria Bulgaria
(Madrid, Spain; 21 May, 1933)
World Cup
Appearances7 (first in 1962)
Best resultFourth place, 1994
European Championship
Appearances2 (first in 1996)
Best resultRound 1, 1996 and 2004
Olympic medal record
Men’s Football
Bronze medal – third place 1956 Melbourne Team
Silver medal – second place 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 Germany to reach the semi-finals, losing to Italy, and finishing in fourth place after a 4-0 defeat to Sweden in the third place play-off.

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.

Certainly one of the most important dates in Bulgarian football history is November 17, 1993, when Emil Kostadinov scored two goals against 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 stars 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, sensationally 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 in a controversial match. Hristo Stoitchkov won the Golden Boot as top scorer in the tournament with six goals. The award was shared with Oleg Salenko of Russia who too scored six goals.

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. It was believed the 1996 squad was stronger than the one in 1994, and that they did not progress to the quarter-finals due to misfortune. The Bulgarians, after a 1-1 draw against Spain (a fantastic Stoitchkov goal was controversially cancelled) and a 1-0 victory against Romania, played well but lost the third and decisive match to a very strong France (the future world champion), 1-3. At the same time Spain defeated a weak and 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. However, The "Golden Generation" was history. They earned a goalless draw 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 disappointingly lost all their group matches and were once again sent home without reaching the knockout round. However, there has been great improvement in the Bulgarian game, as they remain undefeated and in second place in their group for qualifying for the Euro 2008

World Cup record

  • 1930 - Did not enter
  • 1934 - Withdrew during qualifying
  • 1938 - Did not qualify
  • 1950 - Did not enter
  • 1954 - Did not qualify
  • 1958 - Did not qualify
  • 1962 - Round 1
  • 1966 - Round 1
  • 1970 - Round 1
  • 1974 - Round 1
  • 1978 - Did not qualify
  • 1982 - Did not qualify
  • 1986 - Round 2
  • 1990 - Did not qualify
  • 1994 - Fourth place
  • 1998 - Round 1
  • 2002 - Did not qualify
  • 2006 - Did not qualify

European Championship record

Euro 2008 Qualification

Date Venue Opponents Score Competition Bulgaria scorers Match Report
2 September 2006 Gheorghe Hagi Stadium (A)  Romania 2-2 ECQ Martin Petrov (2) Romania leads 2-0 at half time before Petrov slots 2 goals in 2 minutes to level the scores
6 September 2006 Vasil Levski (H)  Slovenia 3-0 ECQ Valeri Bozhinov, Martin Petrov, Dimitar Telkiyski 3 goals in 2nd half
7 October 2006 Vasil Levski (H)  Netherlands 1-1 ECQ Martin Petrov Bulgaria leads 1-0 in the 1st half
11 October 2006 Stade Josy Barthel (A)  Luxembourg 1-0 ECQ Aleksandar Tunchev   S.Petrov quits national team
28 March 2007 Vasil Levski (H)  Albania 0-0 ECQ   S.Petrov rejoins national team
2 June 2007 Dinamo Stadium (A)  Belarus 2-0 ECQ Dimitar Berbatov (2) First goals for Berbatov in this campaign
6 June 2007 Vasil Levski (H)  Belarus 2-1 ECQ Martin Petrov, Chavdar Yankov Bulgaria came back from 0-1 to win the game
8 September 2007 Amsterdam ArenA (A)  Netherlands 0-2 ECQ
12 September 2007 Vasil Levski (H)  Luxembourg 3-0 ECQ Dimitar Berbatov (2), Martin Petrov (pen)
17 October 2007 (A)  Albania ECQ
17 November 2007 (H)  Romania ECQ
21 November 2007 (A)  Slovenia ECQ
Key
  • H = Home match
  • A = Away match
  • ECQ = European Championship Qualifier

Group G Standings

Main article: 2008 UEFA European Football Championship qualifying Group G

As of matches completed through June 6, 2007. Template:2008 UEFA Euro qualifying Group G

Squad

Goalkeepers

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Georgi Petkov 14 April 1976 9 0 Bulgaria Levski Sofia
12 1GK Stoyan Kolev 3 February 1976 10 0 Bulgaria Lokomotiv Plovdiv
27 1GK Dimitar Ivankov 30 October 1975 45 0 Turkey Kayserispor

Defenders

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
2 2DF Radostin Kishishev 30 July 1974 15 0 England Leicester City
3 2DF Aleksandar Tunchev 3 February 1981 11 1 Bulgaria CSKA Sofia
4 2DF Igor Tomašić 14 December 1976 5 0 Bulgaria Levski Sofia
5 2DF Valentin Iliev 11 July 1980 10 0 Bulgaria CSKA Sofia
6 2DF Stanislav Angelov 12 April 1978 9 0 Germany Energie Cottbus
21 2DF Elin Topuzakov 5 February 1977 28 0 Bulgaria Levski Sofia
25 2DF Lucio Wagner 15 June 1976 10 0 Bulgaria Levski Sofia
29 2DF Petar Zanev 18 October 1980 3 0 Spain Celta de Vigo

Midfielders

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
7 3MF Blagoy Georgiev 21 December 1981 16 1 Germany MSV Duisburg
8 3MF Chavdar Yankov 30 January 1984 17 3 Germany Hannover 96
11 3MF Hristo Yovov 4 November 1977 24 5 Bulgaria Levski Sofia
13 3MF Georgi Peev 25 September 1981 32 4 Russia Amkar Perm
19 3MF Stiliyan Petrov 5 July 1979 71 7 England Aston Villa
22 3MF Dimitar Telkiyski 5 May 1977 12 1 Bulgaria Levski Sofia

Strikers

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
9 4FW Dimitar Berbatov (C) 30 January 1981 57 35 England Tottenham Hotspur
10 4FW Valeri Bojinov 15 February 1983 17 3 England Manchester City
14 4FW Martin Kushev 25 August 1973 1 0 Russia Amkar Perm
16 4FW Zdravko Lazarov 4 October 1985 29 2 Bulgaria Slavia Sofia
17 4FW Martin Petrov 15 January 1979 66 15 England Manchester City
20 4FW Svetoslav Todorov 30 August 1978 39 6 England Charlton Athletic


Players with most caps

# Name Career Caps Goals
1 Borislav Mikhailov 1983-1998 102 0
2 Hristo Bonev 1967-1979 96 47
3 Krasimir Balakov 1988-2003 92 16
4 Dimitar Penev 1965-1974 90 2
5 Hristo Stoichkov 1986-1999 83 37
6 Nasko Sirakov 1983-1996 81 23
7 Anyo Sadkov 1981-1991 80 9
8 Zlatko Yankov 1989-1999 79 4
9 Georgi Dimitrov 1978-1987 77 6
10 Trifon Ivanov 1988-1998 76 6

Players with most goals

# Player Career Goals Caps
1 Hristo Bonev 1967-1979 47 96
2 Dimitar Berbatov 1999- 37 59
2 Hristo Stoichkov 1987-1999 37 83
4 Emil Kostadinov 1988-1998 26 70
5 Petar Jekov 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 Dermendjiev 1966-1977 19 58

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 , FC Chelsea 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.

Famous players

The Golden Bulgarian Football Generation:

Current Players

Template:Fb start

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