Bulgaria national under-21 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	Hristiyan Petrov
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	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Germany	10	8	2	0	35	10	+25	26	Final tournament	—	3–1	2–1	0–0	4–1	2–0
2	Poland	10	7	1	2	24	10	+14	22	Final tournament	3–3	—	0–1	3–0	5–0	2–1
3		10	4	3	3	17	12	+5	15		2–3	1–3	—	1–1	6–0	1–0
4	Kosovo	10	3	3	4	10	17	−7	12		0–3	0–4	2–2	—	2–0	3–1
5	Estonia	10	2	1	7	7	31	−24	7		1–10	0–1	1–1	3–1	—	1–0
6	Israel	10	1	0	9	5	18	−13	3		1–5	1–2	0–1	0–1	1–0	—

Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Recent fixtures

Win Draw Loss

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

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

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

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

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

27 September 2022 (2022-09-27) Friendly		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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

21 November 2023 (2023-11-21) UEFA Euro 2025 qualification		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)

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

10 September 2024 (2024-09-10) UEFA Euro 2025 qualification		1-3	Poland	Sofia, Bulgaria
18:00	Tsenov 29'	UEFA	Szymczak 52' Pieńko 56' Kałuziński 78' (pen.)	Stadium: Stadion Aleksandar Shalamanov, Sofia Attendance: 475 Referee: Joey Kooij (Netherlands)

11 October 2024 (2024-10-11) UEFA Euro 2025 qualification	Germany	2-1		Regensburg, Germany
18:00	Beier 9' Woltemade 66' (pen.)	Report	N. Iliev 37'	Stadium: Jahnstadion Attendance: 8,586 Referee: Ben Mcmaster (Northern Ireland)

15 October 2024 (2024-10-15) UEFA Euro 2025 qualification	Israel	0-1		Győr, Hungary
18:00		Report	N. Iliev 46'	Stadium: Ménfői úti Stadion Attendance: 0 Referee: Michele Beltrano (San Marino)

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

As of 15 March 2025

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1GK	Damyan Hristov	(2002-11-10) 10 November 2002	15	0	Ludogorets Razgrad
1GK	Plamen Andreev	(2004-12-15) 15 December 2004	5	0	Feyenoord
1GK	Aleks Bozhev	(2005-07-19) 19 July 2005	0	0	Slavia Prague
1GK	Nikola Videnov	(2002-03-22) 22 March 2002	0	0	Spartak Varna

2DF	Simeon Vasilev	(2005-10-24) 24 October 2005	5	0	CSKA 1948
2DF	Rosen Bozhinov	(2005-01-23) 23 January 2005	0	0	Royal Antwerp
2DF	Mihail Polendakov	(2007-06-05) 5 June 2007	0	0	Septemvri Sofia
2DF	Atanas Chernev	(2002-03-25) 25 March 2002	13	0	Botev Plovdiv
2DF	Dimitar Papazov	(2006-06-15) 15 June 2006	0	0	Bologna
2DF	Teodor Ivanov	(2004-03-13) 13 March 2004	0	0	CSKA 1948
2DF	Martin Bachev	(2004-06-28) 28 June 2004	0	0	Botev Vratsa

3MF	Emil Tsenov	(2002-04-26) 26 April 2002	15	1	CSKA 1948
3MF	Nikola Iliev	(2004-06-06) 6 June 2004	7	2	Botev Plovdiv
3MF	Petar Andreev	(2004-06-02) 2 June 2004	6	0	Lokomotiv Plovdiv
3MF	Valentin Nikolov	(2003-10-15) 15 October 2003	5	0	Septemvri Sofia
3MF	Marto Boychev	(2008-03-15) 15 March 2008	0	0	CSKA 1948
3MF	Petko Panayotov	(2005-07-20) 20 July 2005	0	0	CSKA Sofia
3MF	Antoan Stoyanov	(2005-01-17) 17 January 2005	0	0	POFC Botev Vratsa

4FW	Roberto Raychev	(2005-05-07) 7 May 2005	11	1	Slavia Sofia
4FW	Georgi Nikolov	(2002-07-05) 5 July 2002	10	5	Botev Plovdiv
4FW	Martin Sorakov	(2003-10-23) 23 October 2003	10	2	Montana
4FW	Nikolay Zlatev	(2004-12-12) 12 December 2004	7	0	Cherno More
4FW	Borislav Rupanov	(2004-11-30) 30 November 2004	0	0	Septemvri Sofia
4FW	Ilian Antonov	(2005-05-22) 22 May 2005	0	0	CSKA Sofia
4FW	Borislav Marinov	(2005-03-02) 2 March 2005	0	0	Septemvri Sofia

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
GK	Hristiyan Slavkov	(2003-02-26) 26 February 2003	2	0	Cherno More

DF	Dimo Krastev	(2003-02-10) 10 February 2003	6	0	Ternana
DF	Martin Georgiev	(2005-09-24) 24 September 2005	3	0	Slavia Sofia
DF	Martin Stoychev	(2003-10-17) 17 October 2003	2	0	CSKA Sofia
DF	Kaloyan Kostov	(2004-05-04) 4 May 2004	2	0	Lokomotiv Plovdiv
DF	Rosen Stefanov	(2002-11-27) 27 November 2002	2	0	Cherno More
DF	Todor Pavlov	(2004-07-31) 31 July 2004	1	0	Lokomotiv Plovdiv
DF	Lazar Boyanov	(2003-04-01) 1 April 2003	0	0	Pirin Blagoevgrad

MF	Emanuel Mirchev	(2002-02-09) 9 February 2002	16	0	Hessen Kassel
MF	Bozhidar Penchev	(2002-03-13) 13 March 2002	7	0	Hebar Pazardzhik
MF	Krasian Kolev	(2004-01-18) 18 January 2004	4	0	Botev Plovdiv
MF	Asen Mitkov	(2005-02-17) 17 February 2005	3	0	Levski Sofia
MF	Martin Smolenski	(2003-03-08) 8 March 2003	3	0	Botev Vratsa

FW	Martin Petkov	(2002-08-15) 15 August 2002	11	1	Lokomotiv Plovdiv
FW	Simeon Aleksandrov	(2003-09-24) 24 September 2003	6	0	CSKA 1948
FW	Ivan Tasev	(2002-04-27) 27 April 2002	5	0	CSKA Sofia
FW	Mark-Emilio Papazov	(2003-10-08) 8 October 2003	3	0	Botev Vratsa
FW	Miroslav Marinov	(2004-03-07) 7 March 2004	3	0	Botev Vratsa
FW	Daniel Lyubomirov	(2004-01-01) 1 January 2004	4	0	Alavés

References

^ Mladezhki natsionalen otbor na Balgariya po futbol, literally "Bulgaria national youth football team".

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

[1] Mladezhki natsionalen otbor na Balgariya po futbol, literally "Bulgaria national youth football team".

[1]

Football in Bulgaria
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