Bulgaria national football 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.
Bulgaria first participated in the
1962 World Cup in
Chile, but failed to progress to the knockout stages. The same thing happened in
England in
1966,
Mexico in
1970, and
West Germany in
1974. They qualified from the first round in Mexico
1986 but they were beaten in the round of 16 by the hosts.
Probably the most important date for Bulgarian football 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 made a great impression, eliminating the defending world champions,
Germany, with a surprise 2-1 win. Huge numbers of people celebrated this win in
Sofia,
Bourgas and other Bulgarian cities. Having reached the semi-finals, Bulgaria played
Italy, but they were knocked out in a controversial match.
Hristo Stoichkov won the
Golden Boot for top scorer in the tournament, shared with
Oleg Salenko: both scored six goals.
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: a disappointment repeated in the
1998 World Cup. Bulgaria failed to qualify for
Euro 2000 or the
2002 World Cup, but did reach
Euro 2004. However, they lost all their matches and once again were eliminated before the knockout stage.
*
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*
1960 to
1992 -
Did not qualify*
1996 - Round 1
*
2000 -
Did not qualify*
2004 - Round 1
*
Georgi Asparuhov*
Hristo Bonev (coach)
*
Dimitar Yakimov*
Nikola Kotkov*
Petar Zhekov*
Bozhidar Iskrenov*
Nikolay Iliev*
Kiril Ivkov*
Pavel Panov*
Stoycho Mladenov*
Tzvetan Yonchev*
Dimitar PenevThe Golden Bulgarian Football Generation*
Hristo Stoichkov (current coach of the
Bulgarian national football team)
*
Krassimir Balakov (current coach of
Grasshopers)
*
Yordan Letchkov (current mayor of
Sliven)
*
Nasko Sirakov*
Trifon Ivanov*
Borislav Mikhailov (current president of the
Bulgarian Football Union)
*
Emil Kostadinov*
Luboslav Penev*
Daniel Borimirov*
Petar Hubchev*
Zlatko Yankov*
Ivaylo Yordanov*
Dimitar Berbatov *
Valeri Bojinov *
Martin Petrov*
Stilian Petrov*
Georgi Ivanov*
Radostin Kishishev*
Marian Hristov*
Chavdar Yankov*
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
