Bulgaria national football team: Difference between revisions
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| Top scorer = [[Hristo Bonev]] (47) |
| Top scorer = [[Hristo Bonev]] (47) |
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| Home Stadium = [[Vasil Levski National Stadium]] |
| Home Stadium = [[Vasil Levski National Stadium]] |
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| FIFA Rank = |
| FIFA Rank = 29 |1st ranking date = August 1993 |
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| FIFA max = 4 |
| FIFA max = 4 |
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| FIFA max date = July 1994 |
| FIFA max date = July 1994 |
Revision as of 16:02, 4 October 2007
Shirt badge/Association crest | |||
Nickname(s) | The Lions (Лъвовете), The Tricolours (Трикольорите) | ||
---|---|---|---|
Association | Bulgarian Football Union | ||
Confederation | UEFA (Europe) | ||
Head coach | Dimitar Penev | ||
Captain | Dimitar Berbatov | ||
Most caps | Borislav Mikhailov (102) | ||
Top scorer | Hristo Bonev (47) | ||
Home stadium | Vasil Levski National Stadium | ||
FIFA code | BUL | ||
| |||
FIFA ranking | |||
Current | 29 | ||
Highest | 4 (July 1994) | ||
Lowest | 58 (August 2002) | ||
First international | |||
![]() ![]() (Vienna, Austria; 21 May, 1924) | |||
Biggest win | |||
![]() ![]() (Sofia, Bulgaria, 1957) ![]() ![]() (Mexico City, Mexico; October, 1968 ![]() ![]() (Sofia, Bulgaria; 14 October, 1982) | |||
Biggest defeat | |||
![]() ![]() (Madrid, Spain; 21 May, 1933) | |||
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 | ||
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1956 Melbourne | Team |
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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) | ![]() |
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) | ![]() |
3-0 | ECQ | Valeri Bozhinov, Martin Petrov, Dimitar Telkiyski | 3 goals in 2nd half | |
7 October 2006 | Vasil Levski (H) | ![]() |
1-1 | ECQ | Martin Petrov | Bulgaria leads 1-0 in the 1st half | |
11 October 2006 | Stade Josy Barthel (A) | ![]() |
1-0 | ECQ | Aleksandar Tunchev | S.Petrov quits national team | |
28 March 2007 | Vasil Levski (H) | ![]() |
0-0 | ECQ | S.Petrov rejoins national team | ||
2 June 2007 | Dinamo Stadium (A) | ![]() |
2-0 | ECQ | Dimitar Berbatov (2) | First goals for Berbatov in this campaign | |
6 June 2007 | Vasil Levski (H) | ![]() |
2-1 | ECQ | Martin Petrov, Chavdar Yankov | Bulgaria came back from 0-1 to win the game | |
8 September 2007 | Amsterdam ArenA (A) | ![]() |
0-2 | ECQ | |||
12 September 2007 | Vasil Levski (H) | ![]() |
3-0 | ECQ | Dimitar Berbatov (2), Martin Petrov (pen) | ||
17 October 2007 | (A) | ![]() |
ECQ | ||||
17 November 2007 | (H) | ![]() |
ECQ | ||||
21 November 2007 | (A) | ![]() |
ECQ |
- Key
- H = Home match
- A = Away match
- ECQ = European Championship Qualifier
Group G Standings
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 | GK | Georgi Petkov | 14 April 1976 | 9 | 0 | ![]() |
12 | GK | Stoyan Kolev | 3 February 1976 | 10 | 0 | ![]() |
27 | GK | Dimitar Ivankov | 30 October 1975 | 45 | 0 | ![]() |
Defenders
No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2 | DF | Radostin Kishishev | 30 July 1974 | 15 | 0 | ![]() |
3 | DF | Aleksandar Tunchev | 3 February 1981 | 11 | 1 | ![]() |
4 | DF | Igor Tomašić | 14 December 1976 | 5 | 0 | ![]() |
5 | DF | Valentin Iliev | 11 July 1980 | 10 | 0 | ![]() |
6 | DF | Stanislav Angelov | 12 April 1978 | 9 | 0 | ![]() |
21 | DF | Elin Topuzakov | 5 February 1977 | 28 | 0 | ![]() |
25 | DF | Lucio Wagner | 15 June 1976 | 10 | 0 | ![]() |
29 | DF | Petar Zanev | 18 October 1980 | 3 | 0 | ![]() |
Midfielders
No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
7 | MF | Blagoy Georgiev | 21 December 1981 | 16 | 1 | ![]() |
8 | MF | Chavdar Yankov | 30 January 1984 | 17 | 3 | ![]() |
11 | MF | Hristo Yovov | 4 November 1977 | 24 | 5 | ![]() |
13 | MF | Georgi Peev | 25 September 1981 | 32 | 4 | ![]() |
19 | MF | Stiliyan Petrov | 5 July 1979 | 71 | 7 | ![]() |
22 | MF | Dimitar Telkiyski | 5 May 1977 | 12 | 1 | ![]() |
Strikers
No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
9 | FW | Dimitar Berbatov (C) | 30 January 1981 | 57 | 35 | ![]() |
10 | FW | Valeri Bojinov | 15 February 1983 | 17 | 3 | ![]() |
14 | FW | Martin Kushev | 25 August 1973 | 1 | 0 | ![]() |
16 | FW | Zdravko Lazarov | 4 October 1985 | 29 | 2 | ![]() |
17 | FW | Martin Petrov | 15 January 1979 | 66 | 15 | ![]() |
20 | FW | Svetoslav Todorov | 30 August 1978 | 39 | 6 | ![]() |
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
- Hristo Bonev (coach)
- Stiliyan Petrov
- Dimitar Yakimov
- Nikola Kotkov
- Petar Zhekov
- Bozhidar Iskrenov
- Nikolay Iliev
- Georgi Asparuhov
- Alexandar Shalamanov
- Manol Manolov
- Krum Milev
- Georgi Pachedzhiev
- Georgi Denev
- Plamen Getov
- Atanas Mikhailov
- Kiril Milanov
- Nikola Tzanev
- Georgi Slavkov
- Asen Peshev
- Spas Dzhevizov
- Todor Diev
- Dinko Dermendzhiev
The Golden Bulgarian Football Generation:
- Hristo Stoichkov
- Yordan Letchkov (current mayor of Sliven)
- Nasko Sirakov
- Emil Kostadinov
- Daniel Borimirov
- Krassimir Balakov (current coach of Grasshoppers Zürich)
- Trifon Ivanov
- Tsanko Tsvetanov
- Borislav Mikhailov (current president of the Bulgarian Football Union)
- Petar Mihtarski
- Petar Hubchev
- Zlatko Yankov
- Emil Kremenliev
- Bontcho Guentchev
- Plamen Nikolov
- Ivaylo Yordanov
- Ilian Kiriakov
Current Players
- Dimitar Berbatov
- Martin Kamburov
- Svetoslav Todorov
- Hristo Yovov
- Georgi Chilikov
- Radostin Kishishev
- Marian Hristov
- Vladimir Manchev
- Tzvetan Genkov
- Dimitar Telkiyski
- Yanko Valkanov
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