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  Badge Bulgaria football uniongif
  FIFA Trigramme BUL
  Nickname The Lions (Лъвовете), The Tricolours (Трикольорите)
  Association Bulgarian Football Union
  Confederation UEFA ( Europe )
  Coach Dimitar Penev
  Captain Dimitar Berbatov
  Most Caps Borislav Mikhailov (102)
  Top Scorer Hristo Bonev (47)
  Home Stadium Vasil Levski National Stadium
  FIFA Rank 29 1st ranking date = August 1993
  FIFA Max 4
  FIFA Max Date July 1994
  FIFA Min 58
  FIFA Min Date August 2002
  Elo Rank 28
  Elo Max 7
  Elo Max Date August 1969
  Elo Min 63
  Elo Min Date Oct 1953, Aug 1954
  Pattern La1 pattern_b1=pattern_ra1=
  Leftarm1 FFFFFFbody1=FFFFFFrightarm1=FFFFFFshorts1=008000socks1= FF0000
  Pattern La2 pattern_b2=pattern_ra2=
  Leftarm2 FF0000body2=FF0000rightarm2=FF0000shorts2=008000socks2= FF0000
  First Game 6 - 0 Bulgaria <br />( Vienna , Austria 21 May , 1924 )
  Largest Win Bulgaria 7 - 0 <br />(Sofia, Bulgaria, 1957 ) <br /> Bulgaria 7 - 0 <br />( Mexico City , Mexico October, 1968 <br /> Bulgaria 7 - 0 <br />( Sofia , Bulgaria 14 October , 1982 )
  Largest Loss 13 - 0 Bulgaria <br />( Madrid , Spain 21 May , 1933 )
  World Cup Apps 7
  World Cup First 1962
  World Cup Best Fourth place, 1994
  Regional Name European Championship
  Regional Cup Apps 2
  Regional Cup First 1996
  Regional Cup Best Round 1, 1996 and 2004


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


;Key
  • H = Home match

  • A = Away match

  • ECQ = European Championship Qualifier



Group G Standings

See Also: 2008 UEFA European Football Championship qualifying Group G



As of matches completed through June 6 , 2007 .
  expanded yes
  fixtures yes


  {{nat Fs G Playerno 12pos=GKname= Stoyan Kolev caps=10goals=0


  {{nat Fs G Playerno 29pos=DFname= Petar Zanev caps=3goals=0


  { Class "wikitable"
  { Class "wikitable"