Participation of Bulgaria's national football team in the FIFA World Cup
The
FIFA World Cup is an international
association football competition contested by the
men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (
FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in
1930, except in 1942 and 1946, due to
World War II.
The tournament consists of two parts, the
qualification phase and the final phase (officially called the World Cup Finals). The qualification phase, which currently take place over the three years preceding the Finals, is used to determine which teams qualify for the Finals. The current format of the Finals involves 32 teams competing for the title, at venues within the host nation (or nations) over a period of about a month. The World Cup Finals is the most widely viewed sporting event in the world, with an estimated 715.1 million people watching the
2006 tournament final.
Bulgaria's first appearance at the World Cup was at the seventh edition of the tournament in
1962. Between 1962 and 1974, they participated at four consecutive World Cup tournaments but did not survive the first round. Their best result followed in
1994, where they reached the semi-finals.
Bulgaria qualified for the
World Cup in
Mexico by finishing second in Group Four, behind
France with 11 points, but worse
goal difference, ahead of the teams of
Yugoslavia,
East Germany, and
Luxembourg. This was their fifth World Cup appearance. They were drawn in Group A with
Italy,
Argentina, and
South Korea. In the opening match of the World Cup, the Bulgarians held the defending champions Italy to a 1–1 draw.
Alessandro Altobelli gave the Italians the lead, but an 85th-minute equalizer by
Nasko Sirakov gave the Bulgarians the point. The next match was another 1–1 draw against South Korea with the goal for Bulgaria coming from
Plamen Getov in the 11th minute. They lost the final match of the group 2–0 against Argentina, who ended up winning the tournament. Despite not recording a win, the Bulgarians advanced to the knockout stage by being the third-best third placed team. That way, Bulgaria and also
Uruguay became the first nations to qualify for the knockout stage without winning a game in the first round. In the Round of 16, they faced World Cup hosts
Mexico and lost the match 2–0.
Ivan Vutsov was the manager of the team.
Certainly[according to whom?] one of the most important dates in Bulgarian football history is 17 November 1993, when
Emil Kostadinov scored two goals to beat
France in
Paris, allowing Bulgaria to qualify for the World Cup in the
United States in
1994. Under the management of
Dimitar Penev, the Bulgarians, led by players such as
Hristo Stoichkov,
Yordan Letchkov, and
Krasimir Balakov — along with a multitude of other talented players remembered in Bulgaria as the "
Golden Generation" — made a strong impression by reaching the semi-finals. They entered Group D with
Argentina,
Nigeria, and
Greece. Before that, the Bulgarians hadn't won a single match in five World Cup finals appearances. The first match ended with a 3–0 defeat by
Nigeria. Despite the bad start, the team won 4–0 against World Cup-debuting featherweights
Greece and 2–0 against
Argentina. Argentina had actually been winning the group going into injury-time. A 91st-minute strike from
Nasko Sirakov, however, meant that they dropped two places and finished third. Bulgaria continued to the next round, where they faced
Mexico. The match ended 1–1 and after no goals were scored in extra time, penalties would decide which team would go through. Team captain
Borislav Mihaylov made a good performance saving two of the penalty kicks. Bulgaria won 3–1 on penalties with Mihaylov becoming the hero for the Bulgarian team. In the quarter-finals, Bulgaria faced
Germany.
Lothar Matthäus scored from a penalty. The Bulgarians, however, managed to turn the game over with two goals by
Hristo Stoichkov and
Yordan Letchkov, giving them a 2–1 win and recording one of the most memorable wins for the team. Millions of Bulgarians celebrated this win in the Bulgarian capital city of
Sofia and other Bulgarian cities. Having reached the semi-finals, this was the best Bulgarian performance in the World Cup. In the semi-finals, they lost 2–1 to
Italy. The third-place match was lost to
Sweden, 4–0, and Bulgaria eventually finished in fourth place. Hristo Stoichkov was awarded the
Golden Boot as the top scorer in the tournament with six goals (shared with
Oleg Salenko).
Krasimir Balakov was named in the all-star team along with Stoichkov.
Starting 11: GK-Mihaylov(c); RB-Kiryakov/Kremenliev, CB/SW-Hubchev, CB-Ivanov, LB-Tsvetanov; DM-Yankov, CM-Lechkov, CM-Balakov, AM/CF-Sirakov/Borimirov; CF/RW-Kostadinov, CF/LW-Stoichkov.[2][3]
Bulgaria qualified for the
World Cup in
France by finishing first in the Group 5, followed by
Russia. They entered the competition with a new manager
Hristo Bonev, since
Dimitar Penev was sacked after Euro 1996. Bulgaria drew
Spain,
Nigeria, and
Paraguay in Group D. The first match ended in a 0–0 goalless draw against Paraguay. In the second match, the Bulgarians lost 1–0 for a second-straight World Cup to Nigeria. The final match ended with a disappointing 6–1 defeat to Spain. Following the bad results, Bulgaria finished fourth in the group, with only one point, and didn't go through the next round. This was the last major appearance at World Cup level for Bulgaria.
1 Considered a successor team by FIFA, or have competed under another name(s). 2 Have been member of multiple confederations. 3 Team and national federation no longer exist.
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Greece
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Bulgaria
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Bulgaria
12'
Bulgaria
