Honouring 100 years of Bulgarian football
Tuesday, December 3, 2024
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UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin joined the Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) at a special event on Monday to mark 100 years since their first international match. To celebrate the occasion, we look back on some of the biggest moments and most iconic Bulgarian players of the last century.
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It’s been 100 years since Bulgaria made their entrance into international football, a 6-0 defeat by Austria in Vienna on 21 May 1924.
To mark the centenary of their first match, the BFU held an official celebration at their headquarters in Sofia on Monday, attended by several legends of Bulgarian football, as well as UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin.
"Here, in Bulgaria, you’ve got rich footballing traditions. Bulgaria is an important footballing country that has had its rise and fall throughout the years, and I think that you will return to your glory days. I see that under the leadership of FA president Georgi Ivanov, Bulgarian football is heading into the right direction."
BFU President Georgi Ivanov added: “For all of us it is a huge honour that all these years we’ve been a part of the European football family and your presence here, President Čeferin, is a proof of the friendship and solidarity which unites us all. I would like to thank you for honouring our celebrations and sharing this historic moment with us.”
100 years of Bulgarian football in five eras
The beginning
The date: 21 May 1924. The city: Vienna. The venue: Simmeringer Had. The result: Austria 6-0 Bulgaria.
A defeat that was easy to predict, but one that signified an all-important first step.
Formed with the aim of taking part in the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, the Bulgaria national team had entered international football, marking the start of a journey that has lasted 100 years and counting.
Although their Olympics lasted just one match, football in Bulgaria grew rapidly after the national association became a member of FIFA in the same year.
A first-ever international victory, a 5-3 win against Romania, came on 12 October 1930, before they won the Balkan Cup a year later to put themselves on the European map.
The sweet sixties
Development continued at pace in the post-war years with local teams getting stronger and stronger, led by Sofia giants CSKA and Levski.
The national team gradually improved with the emergence of its first real stars like Dimitar Yakimov, who led Bulgaria under-18s to a UEFA Youth Tournament triumph in 1959.
A first FIFA World Cup appearance came in 1962, thanks to a play-off win over France, and marked the first of four consecutive tournament berths – an impressive feat considering just 16 teams qualified at the time.
More stars continued to emerge through the decades, including Georgi ‘Gundi’ Asparuhov, one of the country’s greatest-ever players.
An Olympic silver medal in Mexico City in 1968 and a semi-final appearance for CSKA Sofia in the 1966/67 European Cup illustrated the rapid progress being made.
The resurgent 80s
A change in generations saw a lull in the '70s, but a resurgence in the '80s started with the emergence of the greatest CSKA team ever.
Their most famous performance came in the 1981/82 European Cup, dethroning holders Liverpool in the quarter-finals before falling 7-4 on aggregate to Bayern Munich in the semi-finals.
The national team was also on the rise again. After coming close to a first-ever UEFA European Championship appearance in 1983 and 1987, Bulgaria reached their first World Cup in 12 years with a perfect qualifying campaign for Mexico '86.
The golden 90s
The 1990s was the golden era for the national team with a perfect blend of established players like Nasko Sirakov and Borislav Mihaylov, and rising stars like Hristo Stoichkov, Krasimir Balakov, Emil Kostadinov and Lyuboslav Penev.
It was a stunning last-minute goal from Kostadinov that secured a famous 2-1 win over France and a spot in the 1994 FIFA World Cup, where Bulgaria defied all expectations.
After a first-ever tournament win, a 4-0 victory over Greece, Bulgaria marched to the semi-finals with wins over Mexico and Germany.
A close defeat by Roberto Baggio’s Italy in the semis ended the dream, but a first-ever European Championship appearance followed two years later, before the decade was rounded off with another World Cup appearance at France '98.
"I started playing on clay pitches in my home town Plovdiv. I learned from the great and inspiring Bulgarian players before me; I watched them and absorbed their football magic. That’s why I want to tell the young generations: “Watch and learn”.
“Dimitar Penev, the greatest Bulgarian coach of the 20th century, gave me the chance to play for the most successful Bulgarian club CSKA Sofia. Now, I am one of those who made Bulgarian fans proud throughout these 100 years. My ultimate pride as a player was listening to the national anthem at the full Vasil Levski stadium."
The new millennium
Another talented generation led by Dimitar Berbatov and Stiliyan Petrov led Bulgaria to UEFA EURO 2004, their most recent appearance at a major tournament.
A new milestone was reached in club football as Levski Sofia became the first Bulgarian side to reach the group stage of the UEFA Champions League in 2006/07.
In more recent years, Ludogorets have become a regular fixture in UEFA club competitions with two UEFA Champions League appearances and nine Europa League berths, including eight straight since 2016/17.
Looking ahead, it is hoped that a new focus on youth development will bring the reward of a first major tournament appearance in more than 20 years.
Five era-defining players
Asparuhov is without a doubt the greatest and most-loved player from the most romantic era of Bulgarian football, the 1960s.
The perfect centre-forward, blessed with skill, presence and pure goalscoring ability, Asparuhov was also a true gentleman off the pitch.
A legend at Levski Sofia, where he won three league titles and three cups, Asparuhov was the symbol of the national team, scoring some of the most important goals of the era.
In 1971, at the age of just 28, Asparuhov tragically died in a car crash alongside his Levski and Bulgaria team-mate, Nikola Kotkov.
Lokomotiv Plovdiv legend Bonev was the biggest star of Bulgarian football in the 1970s.
For a long period, he held the national team records for most goals (48) and most appearances (96).
He finished in the top 20 of Ballon d’Or voting four times before going on to coach Bulgaria to its most recent World Cup appearance in 1998.
Dimitrov was “captain fantastic” for both CSKA Sofia and Bulgaria in the 1980s.
An elegant and stylish central defender with a winning mentality who led by example, Dimitrov was ahead of his time.
During a period in which Bulgarian players couldn’t move abroad, Dimitrov could easily have been a star for some of the best sides in Europe.
Instead, he won five league titles and three cups with CSKA, while captaining the national team at the 1986 World Cup, where they advanced to the round of 16.
Arguably the greatest and most successful Bulgarian player in history, Stoichkov made his name with CSKA Sofia in the late 80s.
After winning the European Golden Boot with 38 goals in the 1989/90 season, his talents were brought to the world stage with a move to Barcelona, where he won four consecutive league titles and became the first and only Bulgarian to lift the European Cup in 1992.
Hi six goals at the 1994 World Cup led Bulgaria to the semi-finals and Stoichkov to the Golden Boot. Later that year he was rewarded with the Ballon d’Or, another first for a Bulgarian player.
Berbatov is probably the most skilful goalscorer Bulgaria has ever produced, and the country’s joint-top scorer with 48 international goals.
Starting out at CSKA Sofia, Berbatov made his name in Europe with Bayer Leverkusen, where he finished as a Champions League runner-up in 2002.
A move to the English Premier League with Tottenham Hotspur was followed two years later by a big-money transfer to Manchester United, where Berbatov won two domestic titles and the Golden Boot, also appearing in two more Champions League finals.
On the international stage, Berbatov was part of the Bulgaria team at UEFA EURO 2004, their most recent major tournament appearance, and captained the country between 2006 and 2010.