Bulgarian national volleyball team in the match against Japan in the FIVB World League 2011

The

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 ...

men's national volleyball team represents the country in international competitions and friendly matches. It is controlled by the

Bulgarian Volleyball Federation Bulgarian Volleyball Federation ( Bulgarian: Българска Федерация по Волейбол, ''Bŭlgarska Federatsiya po Voleĭbol'') is the governing body of volleyball in Bulgaria. The teams of the national club competition, the Su ...

History

The team's achievements include winning the Balkan Championships in 1980, Runners-Up (1970) and Third Place (1949, 1952, 1986, 2006) at the

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

. At the

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

Bulgaria has one Runners-Up (1951) and four Third Place (1955, 1981, 1983, 2009) finishes. Bulgaria has also achieved Runners-Up at the

1980 Summer Olympic Games The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

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 ...

. The team has one third place 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 ...

(2007) and five Semi-Final appearances in the World League (1994, 2004, 2006, 2012, 2013). The team's most significant recent results include earning Third Place at the 2006 World Championship, the 2007 World Cup and 2009 European Championship as well as achieving Runners-Up at the first

European Games The European Games is a continental multi-sport event in the Olympic tradition contested by athletes from countries served by national Olympic committees within the European Olympic Committees (EOC), the regional association for such committ ...

in 2015. Bulgaria first took part in the World League in

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

. During the debut season in the tournament, the team went all the way to the semi-finals; led by players like Lubo Ganev, Dimo Tonev,

Martin Stoev Martin Stoyanov Stoev (; born 3 December 1971 in Sofia) is a Bulgarian volleyball coach and former player. He currently is head coach of the Romanian team C.V.M. Tomis Constanța, CVM Tomis Constanța. He played volleyball from 1984 until 2005, ...

, etc. In the next four editions, Bulgaria took part but did not manage to surpass its prior performance by reaching fifth in

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

, eight in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, sixth in

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, and seventh in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

. Under the guidance of Milorad Kijac, the new wave of players including Teodor Salparov, Danial Mihaylov, etc. mixed well with the more experienced Evgeni Ivanov,

Plamen Konstantinov Plamen Georgiev Konstantinov () (born 14 June 1973) is a former Bulgarian volleyball player. He is currently the head coach of Lokomotiv Novosibirsk and the Bulgaria men's national volleyball team. Personal life Konstantinov was born in Sofia; ...

, Nikolay Ivanov, Vladimir Nikolov,

Hristo Tsvetanov Hristo Tsvetanov (; born 29 March 1978, in Cherven Bryag) is a Bulgarians, Bulgarian male volleyball player who was a member of the Bulgaria men's national volleyball team. He was a part of the Bulgarian national team that competed in the 2008 Su ...

to result in the fifth-place rank in 2003. The next year, once again under Kijac, the team played some impressive games and succeeded to tie its best performance of reaching the Semi-Finals. The team included more players from the Under-21 team that the previous year won a medal at the World Championships, such as

Matey Kaziyski Matey Iliyanov Kaziyski () (born 23 September 1984) is a Bulgarian professional volleyball player, member of Bulgaria men's national volleyball team during 2003–2012 and Italy, Italian club Trentino Volley, a participant of the Olympic Games 2 ...

and Milushev. In

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

with a new coach,

, the team finished as the fifth rank, followed by another tied best-ever performance of reaching the Semi-Finals in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, and another fifth rank in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

. In

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 ...

Bulgaria qualified for first time in the Final Round after four years, they finished as the fifth rank. The 2012 Final Round was held in the newly opened

Armeets Arena Arena Sofia (, ) is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Sofia, Bulgaria. Opened in July 2011, it has a seating capacity of 12,373. It was formerly called Arena Armeets after the Bulgarian insurance company Armeets purchased the naming rights, ...

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 ...

, and the host reached the Semi-Finals once again.

Statistics

Olympic Games

* 1972 Munich — 4th place * 1980 Moscow — Silver medal with cup

Silver medal *: Gunchev,

Stoyanov Stoyanov (), feminine Stoyanova () is a Bulgarian surname. Sometimes, when abroad, the spelling is changed, for instance, to Stoianov or Estoyanoff. Notable people with the surname include: Stoyanov * Aleksandar Stoyanov (born 1986), Bulgarian f ...

, Zlatanov, Dimitrov, Tsanov, Dimitrov,

Petkov Petkov (), feminine Petkova () is a Bulgarian surname derived from the first name Petko. Notable people with the surname include: * Dimitar Petkov (1856–1907), Bulgarian politician, Mayor of Sofia, Prime Minister, assassinated * Dobrin Petkov (19 ...

, Todorov, Simeonov, Valtchev, Iliev, Angelov. *

2012 London The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

— 4th place *: G. Bratoev, Skrimov, Dimitrov, V. Bratoev, V. Nikolov (), Yosifov, Salparov, Todorov, Aleksiev, Penchev, N. Nikolov, Sokolov. Head coach:

Naydenov Naydenov, Naidenov or Naydyonov (Russian language, Russian: Найдёнов; Bulgarian language, Bulgarian: Найденов) is a Slavic masculine surname, its feminine counterpart is Naydenova, Naidenova or Naydyonova. It may refer to *Aleksandri ...

World Championship

* 1949 Czechoslovakia — Bronze medal with cup

Bronze medal * 1952 Soviet Union — Bronze medal with cup

Bronze medal * 1962 Soviet Union — 4th place * 1970 Bulgaria — Silver medal with cup

Silver medal * 1986 France — Bronze medal with cup

Bronze medal * 2006 Japan — Bronze medal with cup

Bronze medal * 2010 Italy — 7th place * 2014 Poland — 13th place * 2018 Italy/Bulgaria — 11th place * 2022 Poland/Slovenia — 20th place * 2025 Philippines – ''Qualified''

World Cup

* 1969 East Germany — 4th place * 2007 Japan — Bronze medal with cup

Bronze medal

European Championship

* 1950 Bulgaria — 4th place * 1951 France — Silver medal with cup

Silver medal * 1955 Romania — Bronze medal with cup

Bronze medal * 1958 Czechoslovakia — 4th place * 1963 Romania — 4th place * 1981 Bulgaria — Bronze medal with cup

Bronze medal * 1983 East Germany — Bronze medal with cup

Bronze medal * 1995 Greece — 4th place * 2009 Turkey — Bronze medal with cup

Bronze medal * 2011 Austria/Czech Republic — 6th place * 2013 Denmark/Poland — 4th place * 2015 Bulgaria/Italy — 4th place * 2017 Poland — 6th place * 2019 France/Slovenia/Belgium/Netherlands — 11th place * 2021 Poland/Czech Republic/Estonia/Finland — 11th place * 2023 Italy/Bulgaria/North Macedonia/Israel — 15th place

World League

— 4th place *

— 5th place *

— 8th place *

— 6th place * 1998 Milan — 7th place * 2003 Madrid — 5th place * 2004 Rome — 4th place * 2005 Belgrade — 5th place * 2006 Moscow — 4th place * 2007 Katowice — 5th place * 2008 Rio de Janeiro — 7th place * 2009 Belgrade — 10th place * 2010 Córdoba — 7th place * 2011 Gdańsk — 5th place * 2012 Sofia — 4th place * 2013 Mar del Plata — 4th place * 2014 Florence — 8th place * 2015 Rio de Janeiro — 10th place * 2016 Kraków — 11th place * 2017 Curitiba — 9th place

Nations League

* 2018 Lille — 11th place * 2019 Chicago — 12th place * 2021 Rimini — 15th place * 2022 Bologna — 14th place * 2023 Gdańsk — 15th place * 2024 Łódź — 14th place

European Games

* 2015 Baku — Silver medal with cup

Silver medal

Universiade

* 1961 Sofia — Silver medal with cup

Silver medal * 1977 Sofia — Gold medal with cup

Gold medal

Team

Current Squad

The following is the Bulgaria roster in the

2024 FIVB Men's Volleyball Nations League The 2024 FIVB Men's Volleyball Nations League was the sixth edition of the FIVB Men's Volleyball Nations League, an annual men's international volleyball tournament. The competition was held from 21 May to 30 June 2024, with the final round took ...

Head coach:

Gianlorenzo Blengini Gianlorenzo Blengini (born 29 December 1971) is an Italian volleyball coach. He is currently in charge of the Bulgaria men's national team. Blengini was promoted from the role of assistant coach in the Italian team after working under former coa ...

Head coaches

Kit providers

The table below shows the history of kit providers for the Bulgaria national volleyball team.

Sponsorship

The main sponsor of the national team is the Bulgarian betting company efbet, while Asics, Mikasa and

Lidl Lidl ( ) is a trademark, used by two Germany, German international discount supermarket, discount retailer chain store, chains that operates over 12,600 stores. The ''LD Stiftung'' operates the stores in Germany and the ''Lidl Stiftung & Co. K ...

are secondary sponsors.

References

External links

Official websiteFIVB profile
{{National sports teams of Bulgaria National men's volleyball teams

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

Volleyball in Bulgaria Men's sport in Bulgaria