The Bulgaria men's national basketball team () represents

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

in international

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

. The governing body is the

Bulgarian Basketball Federation The Bulgarian Basketball Federation () also known as (BFB) is the national governing body of basketball in Bulgaria. They organize national competitions in Bulgaria for the Bulgaria national basketball team, Bulgaria men's national basketball tea ...

. Bulgaria's first appearance at an international tournament came at the

EuroBasket EuroBasket, also commonly referred to as the European Basketball Championship, is the main international basketball competition that is contested quadrennially, by the senior men's national teams that are governed by FIBA Europe, which is the E ...

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

. They have reached the premier European basketball competition 25 times, with their best results coming in

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

as the runners-up on home soil, and their bronze medal finish in

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

respectively. Bulgaria has also qualified for the

FIBA World Cup The FIBA Basketball World Cup is an international basketball competition between the senior men's national teams of the members of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), the sport's global governing body. It takes place every four ye ...

, where they finished seventh in their lone appearance in

1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...

. Competing at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

multiple times, the national team had their top performance in

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

. Bulgaria has also competed at smaller events, such as the Balkan Championship, winning gold medals in 1959, 1960, and 1971.

History

EuroBasket 1935

Bulgaria debuted on the international stage at the first

(European Basketball Championship), which was held in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, in

. The Bulgarian side started the tournament off with a loss to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in the preliminary round, but bounced back to defeat

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

in their next match. Following this, Bulgaria lost their classification matches to

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, and to Italy again. The national team would finishing off their tournament debut in 8th place.

EuroBasket 1947

Twelve years later, the Bulgarian national team reached the tournament once again, for their second appearance overall. At the

EuroBasket 1947 The 1947 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1947, was the fifth FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA. Fourteen national teams affiliated with the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) took ...

, Bulgaria split their two preliminary round matches against

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

advancing to the upper bracket semifinal groups. There they lost all three of their games, putting them in a 7th/8th place classification match versus

, which they lost. The national team would once again end the tournament reaching the quarterfinals.

EuroBasket 1951

Bulgaria's third appearance was at

EuroBasket 1951 The 1951 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1951, was the seventh FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). Eighteen national teams affiliated with FIBA e ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. They won their two contested preliminary games, outscoring opponents 145–70, and gained a third win by Romania's forfeit. In the semifinal round, the national team became enmeshed in a three-way tie for first place in the four-team group after losing to

but winning the other two matches, and ended up finishing in second place in the group. This pitted them against the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in a semifinal matchup, which the Bulgarians lost. The national team then went on to lose again, in the bronze medal game to France.

EuroBasket 1953

The national team's next appearance was in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

for

EuroBasket 1953 The 1953 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1953, was the eighth FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA. Seventeen national teams affiliated with the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) e ...

. They found themselves on the unfortunate end of a three-way tiebreaker after finishing 3–1 in their preliminary group, and their 3rd place rank in the group sent them to the classification round, a disappointing turn of events for Bulgaria which had expected to do at least as well as they had two years prior. They won their next five matches to take the highest place available, after the preliminary round. Thus, reaching the quarterfinals in the tournament with an 8–1 record.

EuroBasket 1955

EuroBasket 1955 The 1955 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1955, was the ninth FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA. Eighteen national teams affiliated with the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) enter ...

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, the Bulgarian side open up their campaign at the tournament with a 107-33 dismantling of

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. They would go on to only drop one match in their preliminary group to finish with a 2–1 record, which allowed them to advance to the final round along with group leader

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

. After losing to the three eventual medalists in the final round, Bulgaria finished the round with a 4–3 record while once again reaching the semifinals.

EuroBasket 1957

Bulgaria hosted the

EuroBasket 1957 The 1957 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1957, was the tenth FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. Sixteen national teams affiliated with the International Basketball Federation (FI ...

, in

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

. The national team breezed through their three preliminary round matches, and kept their win streak through the first six of the final round games, including an 82–80 victory over Czechoslovakia. In their final game of the tournament, which by chance was against the similarly undefeated

squad, Bulgaria led by 4 points at halftime, 23–19. Their lead did not last through the second half though, however, as the Soviets powered to a 60–57 final, Bulgaria finished as the runners-up with the

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

1959 World Cup

Bulgaria made its debut at the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

. They were placed in Group C, where they went undefeated (3-0) and advanced to the final round. There, they finished with a 2–4 record, but after controversy struck. As they along with the

Soviets The Soviet people () were the citizens and nationals of the Soviet Union. This demonym was presented in the ideology of the country as the "new historical unity of peoples of different nationalities" (). Nationality policy in the Soviet Union ...

refused to play

Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The island of Taiwan, formerly known to Westerners as Formosa, has an area of and makes up 99% of the land under ROC control. It lies about across the Taiwan Strait f ...

, due to political reasons. This mishap caused the national team to be relegated to seventh place at the tournament.

EuroBasket 1961

At the EuroBasket 1961, the national team returned to the top European basketball tournament looking to place better than their last trip at the event. In their preliminary round group they finished with a 2–0 record to move on to the second round. There they finished with an impressive 4–1 record to advance to the semifinals with a matchup against the

. The outcome did not turn out in the favour of the Bulgarian side though, as they were manhandled 77–54. The devastating loss sent the Bulgarians to the bronze medal match versus

, where they came away with a victory to end the tournament on a high note.

Later years

Bulgaria would go on to qualify to the European Basketball Championship 16 more times after 1961, but never came away with a top three finish at the event. The Bulgarian side have endured multiple droughts without qualifying as well, e.g. not reaching the tournament for 12 years after

EuroBasket 1993 The 1993 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1993, was the 28th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. It was held in Germany between 22 June and 4 July 1993. Sixteen national teams entere ...

until

EuroBasket 2005 The 2005 FIBA European Championship, commonly known as FIBA EuroBasket 2005, was the 34th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe. It also served as the European qualifier for the 2006 FIBA World Championship, awardin ...

. As well as not having qualified to the tournament since

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

. They have also attempted to qualify for the

on numerous occasions since 1959, although they have yet to succeed in their bid.

Competitive record

FIBA World Cup

Olympic Games

EuroBasket

Results and fixtures

2024

2025

Team

Current roster

Roster for the EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers matches on 20 and 23 February 2025 against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Depth chart

Head coach position

* Rosen Barchovski – (2004–2007) * Pini Gershon – (2008–2010) * Rosen Barchovski – (2010–2012) * Konstantin Papazov – (2013) * Georgi Mladenov – (2014) * Lubomir Minchev – (2015–2019) * Rosen Barchovski – (2019–present)

Notable players

* Atanas Golomeev – Most decorated Bulgarian basketball player of all-time. As he was named one of

FIBA's 50 Greatest Players FIBA's 50 Greatest Players (1991) is the list of the 50 greatest players in the history of FIBA international basketball, as selected in 1991, by FIBA Magazine. History Background In June 1991, FIBA organised the Jubilee Game between Europe an ...

. * Georgi Glouchkov – First player from an

Eastern bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...

country to compete in the American

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA)

Past rosters

1935 EuroBasket: finished 8th among 10 teams 3 Krum Konstantinov, 4 Pinkas, 5 Etropolski, 6 Rogachev, 7 Tsankov, 8 Kevorkjan, 9 Khaimov (Coach: Krum Konstantinov) ---- 1947 EuroBasket: finished 8th among 14 teams 3 Veselin Temkov, 4 Krhisto Khajtov, 5 Ljudmil Katerinski, 6 Aleksandar Damjanov, 7 Sharkov, 8 Kosanov, 9 Peev, 10 Konstantin Georgiev, 11 Nikola Kolev, 12 Rajkov, 13 Bozhidar Takev, 14 Ilija Asenov, 15 Stefan Bankov (Coach: Georgi Petkov) ----

1951 EuroBasket The 1951 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1951, was the seventh FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). Eighteen national teams affiliated with FIBA ...

: finished 4th among 17 teams 3 Iliya Georgiev, 4 Stefan Bankov, 5 Neycho Neychev, 6 Vladimir Savov, 7 Ilija Asenov, 8 Petar Shishkov, 9 Kiril Semov, 10 Konstantin Totev, 11 Anton Kuzov, 12 Gencho Khristov, 13 Ivan Nikolov, 14 Dimitar Popov, 15 Metodi Tomovski, 16 Konstantin Georgiev (Coach: Veselin Temkov) ---- 1952 Olympic Games: finished 7th among 23 teams 3 Iliya Georgiev, 4 Kiril Semov, 5 Neycho Neychev, 6 Khristo Donchev, 7 Vasil Manchenko, 8 Petar Shishkov, 9 Georgi Panov, 10 Konstantin Totev, 11 Anton Kuzov, 12 Gencho Khristov, 13 Ivan Nikolov, 14 Veselin Penkov, 15 Konstantin Georgiev, 16 Vladimir Savov (Coach: Veselin Temkov) ---- 1953 EuroBasket: finished 9th among 17 teams 3 Iliya Georgiev, 4 Vladimir Stefanov, 5 Velko Velkov, 6 Khristo Donchev, 7 Vasil Manchenko, 8 Konstantin Georgiev, 9 Georgi Panov, 10 Konstantin Totev, 11 Anton Kuzov, 12 Dimitar Popov, 13 Lyubomir Panov, 14 Veselin Penkov, 15 Iliya Mirchev, 16 Vladimir Savov (Coach: Veselin Temkov) ----

1955 EuroBasket The 1955 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1955, was the ninth FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA. Eighteen national teams affiliated with the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) ente ...

: finished 4th among 18 teams 3 Vasil Manchenko, 4 Vladimir Ganchev, 5 Iliya Mirchev, 6 Rajkov, 7 Gencho Khristov, 8 Anton Kuzov, 9 Georgi Panov, 10 Konstantin Totev, 11 Cvjatko Barchovski, 12 Metodi Tomovski, 13 Viktor Radev, 14 Emanuil Gyaurov (Coach: Bozhidar Takev) ---- 1956 Olympic Games: finished 5th among 15 teams 3 Atanas Atanasov, 4 Vladimir Savov, 5 Iliya Mirchev, 6 Viktor Radev, 7 Georgi Kanev, 8 Vasil Manchenko, 9 Georgi Panov, 10 Konstantin Totev, 11

Tsvetko Slavov Tsvetko Ruskov Slavov (, born 28 March 1934) is a Bulgarian former basketball player. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1956 Summer Olympics, and the 1960 Summer Olympics. References External links