Bulgaria national under-21 football team

National association football team

Bulgaria U-21

Nickname(s)

Лъвчетата / Lavchetata
(The Young Lions)

Association

Bulgarian Football Union (BFU)

Confederation

UEFA (Europe)

Head coach

Aleksandar Dimitrov

Captain

Dominik Yankov

Most caps

Petar Mihtarski (51)

Top scorer

Atanas Mihaylov (31)

Home stadium

Stadion Aleksandar Shalamanov

FIFA code

BUL

First colours

Second colours

The Bulgaria national under-21 football team (Bulgarian: Mладежки национален отбор на България по футбол)^[1] is considered to be the feeder team for the Bulgaria national football team. This team is for Bulgarian players aged under 21 at the start of the calendar year in which a two-year UEFA European Under-21 Championship campaign begins, so some players can remain with the squad until the age of 23.

Competition results

Champions Runners-Up Semi-Finals Other Top Results

Balkan Youth Championship

Year	Rank
1968	Champions
1970	Champions
1973	Champions

UEFA U-21 European Championship

Year	Rank
1972	Semi-Finals
1974	Quarter-Finals
1976	Quarter-Finals
1978	Semi-Finals
1990	Quarter-Finals

UEFA Euro 2025 Qualifier

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Germany	6	5	1	0	15	4	+11	16	Final tournament	—	3–1	11 Oct '24	0–0	4–1	2–0
2	Poland	7	5	0	2	14	6	+8	15	Play-offs	15 Oct '24	—	0–1	3–0	5–0	2–1
3	Bulgaria	7	3	3	1	14	7	+7	12		2–3	10 Sep '24	—	1–1	6–0	1–0
4	Kosovo	7	2	3	2	8	10	−2	9		0–3	11 Oct '24	2–2	—	2–0	3–1
5	Estonia (E)	6	0	1	5	2	19	−17	1		10 Sep '24	0–1	1–1	15 Oct '24	—	7 Sep '24
6	Israel (E)	5	0	0	5	3	10	−7	0		4 Sep '24	1–2	15 Oct '24	10 Sep '24	10 Oct '24	—

Updated to match(es) played on 26 March 2024. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(E) Eliminated

Recent fixtures

Win Draw Loss

Bulgaria

Netherlands

25 March 2022 (2022-03-25) UEFA Euro 2023 qualification	Bulgaria	0–0	Netherlands	Sofia, Bulgaria
19:45 (EET)		Report		Stadium: Stadion Aleksandar Shalamanov Attendance: 332 Referee: Sandi Putros (Denmark)

Wales

Bulgaria

29 March 2022 (2022-03-29) UEFA Euro 2023 qualification	Wales	1–1	Bulgaria	Newport, Wales
17:00 (EET)	Pearson 63'	Report	Nikolov 61'	Stadium: Rodney Parade Attendance: 210 Referee: Pavel Orel (Czech Republic)

Switzerland

Bulgaria

4 June 2022 (2022-06-04) UEFA Euro 2023 qualification	Switzerland	1–0	Bulgaria	Lugano, Switzerland
19:00	Rieder 56'	Report		Stadium: Cornaredo Stadium Attendance: 1,125 Referee: Gustavo Fernandes Correia (Portugal)

Gibraltar

Bulgaria

11 June 2022 (2022-06-11) UEFA Euro 2023 qualification	Gibraltar	1–1	Bulgaria	Gibraltar
20:00	Peacock 83' (pen.)	Report	Nikolov 57'	Stadium: Victoria Stadium Attendance: 480 Referee: Alessandro Dudic (Switzerland)

Hungary

Bulgaria

23 September 2022 (2022-09-23) Friendly	Hungary	1–0	Bulgaria	Szombathely, Hungary
19:00	Kocsis 1'	Report		Stadium: Haladás Sportkomplexum

Bulgaria

Serbia

27 September 2022 (2022-09-27) Friendly	Bulgaria	1–1	Serbia	Sofia, Bulgaria
17:00	Tsenov 37'	Report	Ratkov 8'	Stadium: Stadion Aleksandar Shalamanov
Note: The game was abandoned at half-time due to a thunderstorm.

Slovenia

Bulgaria

21 November 2022 (2022-11-21) Friendly	Slovenia	0–0	Bulgaria	Murska Sobota, Slovenia
18:30		Report		Stadium: Fazanerija City Stadium

Bulgaria

Bosnia and Herzegovina

25 November 2022 (2022-11-25) Friendly	Bulgaria	0–3	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria
18:00		Report	Bašić 20' (pen.) Bristrić 33' Šošić 57'	Stadium: Stadion Hristo Botev

Bulgaria

Slovakia

25 March 2023 (2023-03-25) Friendly tournament	Bulgaria	0–1	Slovakia	Antalya, Turkey
17:30 (UTC+03:00)		Report	Trabalik 69'	Stadium: Bellis Sports Center

Bulgaria

Finland

28 March 2023 (2023-03-28) Friendly tournament	Bulgaria	0–2	Finland	Antalya, Turkey
17:30 (UTC+03:00)			Sadiku 55' Liimatta 73'	Stadium: Bellis Sports Center

Bulgaria

Montenegro

15 June 2023 (2023-06-15) Friendly	Bulgaria	1–0	Montenegro	Plovdiv, Bulgaria
17:30 (UTC+03:00)	Nikolov 73'			Stadium: Hristo Botev Stadium

Albania

Bulgaria

20 June 2023 (2023-06-20) Friendly	Albania	3–1	Bulgaria	Elbasan, Albania
18:30 (UTC+03:00)	Shpendi 10' Kurtulan 14' Berisha 49'		Stoyanov 24'	Stadium: Elbasan Arena

Estonia

Bulgaria

7 September 2023 (2023-09-07) UEFA Euro 2025 qualification	Estonia	1–1	Bulgaria	Tallinn, Estonia
16:30 (EET)	Šapovalov 15'		Nikolov 8'	Stadium: Kadriorg Stadium

Bulgaria

Israel

12 September 2023 (2023-09-12) UEFA Euro 2025 qualification	Bulgaria	1–0	Israel	Sofia, Bulgaria
18:00 (EET)	Iliev 50'			Stadium: Stadion Aleksandar Shalamanov

Bulgaria

Germany

13 October 2023 (2023-10-13) UEFA Euro 2025 qualification	Bulgaria	2–3	Germany	Sofia, Bulgaria
	Shopov 25' Iliev 90+3'	Report	Moukoko 40', 49', 69'	Stadium: Stadion Aleksandar Shalamanov Referee: Nathan Verboomen (Belgium)

Bulgaria

Kosovo

17 October 2023 (2023-10-17) UEFA Euro 2025 qualification	Bulgaria	1–1	Kosovo	Stadion Aleksandar Shalamanov, Sofia
	Sorakov 90+1'	Report	Tahiri 8' (pen.)	Attendance: 358 Referee: Jan Petrik (Czech Republic)

Kosovo

Bulgaria

17 November 2023 (2023-11-17) UEFA Euro 2025 qualification	Kosovo	2–2	Bulgaria	Zahir Pajaziti Stadium, Podujevo
	Tahiri 34', 59'	Report	Sorakov 8' Petkov 45'	Attendance: 200 Referee: Patrik Kolarić (Croatia)

Bulgaria

Estonia

21 November 2023 (2023-11-21) UEFA Euro 2025 qualification	Bulgaria	6–0	Estonia	Stadion Aleksandar Shalamanov, Sofia
	Nikolov 50', 60', 85' Veering 65' (o.g.) Mitkov 66' Raychev 88'	Report		Attendance: 178 Referee: David Dickinson (Scotland)

Poland

Bulgaria

26 March 2024 (2024-03-26) UEFA Euro 2025 qualification	Poland	0–1	Bulgaria	Chorzów, Poland
			Petkov 58'	Stadium: Stadion Śląski Referee: Christian-Petru Ciochirca

Bulgaria

Poland

10 September 2024 (2024-09-10) UEFA Euro 2025 qualification

Bulgaria

Poland

Bulgaria

Germany

Bulgaria

11 October 2024 (2024-10-11) UEFA Euro 2025 qualification

Germany

Bulgaria

Germany

Israel

Bulgaria

15 October 2024 (2024-10-15) UEFA Euro 2025 qualification

Israel

Bulgaria

Israel

Coaching staff

Current coaching staff

Position	Staff
Manager	Aleksandar Dimitrov
Assistant manager	Ivaylo Yordanov Yavor Valchinov

Last updated: 20 December 2018
Source: https://bfunion.bg/news/45742/0

Manager history

Tenure	Head Coach
2000–2001	Dimitar Aleksiev
2002	Ivan Kolev
2003–2006	Petar Miladinov
2006–2007	Aleksandar Stankov
2008–2009	Ivan Kolev
2010–2013	Mihail Madanski
2014–2018	Antoni Zdravkov
2018–	Aleksandar Dimitrov

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the UEFA Euro 2025 qualification matches against Poland on 26 March 2024 respectively.^[2]

Caps and goals correct as of 26 March 2024, after the match against Poland.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
12	1GK	Damyan Hristov	(2002-11-10) 10 November 2002 (age 21)	15	0	Ludogorets Razgrad
23	1GK	Plamen Andreev	(2004-12-15) 15 December 2004 (age 19)	5	0	Levski Sofia
1	1GK	Nikola Videnov	(2002-03-22) 22 March 2002 (age 22)	0	0	Spartak Varna

4	2DF	Hristiyan Petrov	(2002-06-24) 24 June 2002 (age 21)	15	0	CSKA Sofia
18	2DF	Atanas Chernev	(2002-03-25) 25 March 2002 (age 22)	13	0	Botev Plovdiv
5	2DF	Veljko Jelenković	(2003-06-05) 5 June 2003 (age 20)	9	0	Slavia Sofia
13	2DF	Simeon Vasilev	(2005-10-24) 24 October 2005 (age 18)	5	0	CSKA 1948
16	2DF	Rosen Bozhinov	(2005-01-23) 23 January 2005 (age 19)	0	0	CSKA 1948
2	2DF	Dimitar Papazov	(2006-06-15) 15 June 2006 (age 17)	0	0	Botev Provdiv II

15	3MF	Martin Atanasov	(2002-01-19) 19 January 2002 (age 22)	17	0	Minyor Pernik
8	3MF	Stanislav Shopov	(2002-02-23) 23 February 2002 (age 22)	16	2	CSKA Sofia
3	3MF	Emanuel Mirchev	(2002-02-09) 9 February 2002 (age 22)	16	0	Teutonia Ottensen
6	3MF	Emil Tsenov	(2002-04-26) 26 April 2002 (age 22)	15	1	CSKA 1948
20	3MF	Kristiyan Stoyanov	(2003-04-29) 29 April 2003 (age 21)	14	1	Slavia Sofia
11	3MF	Marin Petkov	(2003-10-02) 2 October 2003 (age 20)	11	2	Levski Sofia
10	3MF	Nikola Iliev	(2004-06-06) 6 June 2004 (age 19)	7	2	CSKA 1948
19	3MF	Nikolay Zlatev	(2004-12-12) 12 December 2004 (age 19)	7	0	Cherno More
14	3MF	Valentin Nikolov	(2003-10-15) 15 October 2003 (age 20)	5	0	Lokomotiv Sofia
22	3MF	Chung Nguyen Do	(2005-05-23) 23 May 2005 (age 18)	3	0	Slavia Sofia

7	4FW	Roberto Raychev	(2005-05-07) 7 May 2005 (age 18)	11	1	Slavia Sofia
9	4FW	Georgi Nikolov	(2002-07-05) 5 July 2002 (age 21)	10	5	Hebar Pazardzhik
17	4FW	Martin Sorakov	(2003-10-23) 23 October 2003 (age 20)	10	2	Krumovgrad
21	4FW	Petar Andreev	(2004-06-02) 2 June 2004 (age 19)	6	0	Lokomotiv Plovdiv

Recent call ups

The following players have previously been called up to the Bulgaria under-21 squad and remain eligible.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Hristiyan Slavkov	(2003-02-26) 26 February 2003 (age 21)	2	0	Etar Veliko Tarnovo

DF	Martin Stoychev	(2003-10-17) 17 October 2003 (age 20)	2	0	Arda Kardzhali	v. Serbia, 27 September 2022
DF	Efe Ali	(2003-01-03) 3 January 2003 (age 21)	0	0	Lokomotiv Plovdiv
DF	Martin Georgiev	(2005-09-24) 24 September 2005 (age 18)	3	0	Barcelona
DF	Kaloyan Kostov	(2004-05-04) 4 May 2004 (age 19)	2	0	Benfica
DF	Rosen Stefanov	(2002-11-27) 27 November 2002 (age 21)	2	0	Cherno More
DF	Todor Pavlov	(2004-07-31) 31 July 2004 (age 19)	1	0	Lokomotiv Plovdiv	v. Finland, 27 March 2023
DF	Dzhan Hasan	(2002-05-04) 4 May 2002 (age 21)	1	0	Dunav Ruse	v. Finland, 27 March 2023
DF	Luka Ivanov	(2003-12-31) 31 December 2003 (age 20)	0	0	Lokomotiv Sofia	v. Finland, 27 March 2023
DF	Dimo Krastev	(2003-02-10) 10 February 2003 (age 21)	6	0	Fiorentina	v. Serbia, 27 September 2022 ^A
DF	Lazar Boyanov	(2003-04-01) 1 April 2003 (age 21)	0	0	Marinhense	v. Serbia, 27 September 2022

MF	Bozhidar Penchev	(2002-03-13) 13 March 2002 (age 22)	7	0	Beroe Stara Zagora
MF	Asen Mitkov	(2005-02-17) 17 February 2005 (age 19)	3	0	Levski Sofia
MF	Krasian Kolev	(2004-01-18) 18 January 2004 (age 20)	4	0	Botev Plovdiv
MF	Chung Nguyen Do	(2005-05-23) 23 May 2005 (age 18)	2	0	Slavia Sofia
MF	Sewen Emilov	(2003-08-05) 5 August 2003 (age 20)	0	0	Falkenbergs FF
MF	Martin Smolenski	(2003-03-08) 8 March 2003 (age 21)	3	0	Pirin Blagoevgrad	v. Finland, 27 March 2023
MF	Biser Bonev	(2003-06-04) 4 June 2003 (age 20)	0	0	Botev Plovdiv II	v. Serbia, 27 September 2022

FW	Daniel Lyubomirov	(2004-01-01) 1 January 2004 (age 20)	4	0	Alavés
FW	Martin Petkov	(2002-08-15) 15 August 2002 (age 21)	11	1	Septemvri Sofia
FW	Simeon Aleksandrov	(2003-09-24) 24 September 2003 (age 20)	6	0	Septemvri Sofia
FW	Ivan Tasev	(2002-04-27) 27 April 2002 (age 22)	5	0	Pirin Blagoevgrad
FW	Mark-Emilio Papazov	(2003-10-08) 8 October 2003 (age 20)	3	0	Hebar Pazardzhik
FW	Miroslav Marinov	(2004-03-07) 7 March 2004 (age 20)	3	0	Botev Vratsa	v. Finland, 27 March 2023

Notes

^A = Not part of the current squad due to being called up to the senior team.
^INJ = Not part of the current squad due to injury.
^COVID = Withdrawn from the current squad due to suffering from COVID-19.

References

^ Mladezhki natsionalen otbor na Balgariya po futbol, literally "Bulgaria national youth football team".
^ "Състав на България U21 за евроквалификациите срещу Германия и Косово" (in Bulgarian). Български футболен съюз. 7 October 2023. Retrieved 14 June 2023.

External links

Official website (in Bulgarian)
UEFA Under-21 website, complete results archive
The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation, full record of U-21 and U-23 Championships

v t e Football in Bulgaria
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