Bulgaria women's national football team

Bulgaria
Nickname(s)	Лъвиците (The Lionesses)
Association	Bulgarian Football Union
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Silviya Radulska
Captain	Radoslava Slavcheva
Home stadium	Lovech Stadium
FIFA code	BUL
First colours	Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	85 4 (25 March 2022)[1]
Highest	33 (December 2008)
Lowest	85 (March 2022)
First international
	Bulgaria 1–1 Spain ; (Sofia, Bulgaria; 11 October 1987)
Biggest win
	Estonia 0–5 Bulgaria ; (Otopeni, Romania; 18 November 2006); Bulgaria 5–0 Luxembourg ; (Ta' Qali, Malta; 5 June 2009); Bulgaria 5–0 Georgia ; (Lovech, Bulgaria; 21 November 2009)
Biggest defeat
	France 14–0 Bulgaria ; (Le Mans, France; 28 November 2013)

The Bulgaria women's national football team (Bulgarian: Български женски национален отбор по футбол) represents Bulgaria in international women's football, and is controlled by the Bulgarian Football Union. The team's major success came in 2008 when they won the Balkan Championship and the Albena Cup in the same year. These major tournament victories brought them up to their all-time highest FIFA world ranking of 33rd.

Team image

Nicknames

The Bulgaria women's national football team have been nicknamed as "Лъвиците (The Lionesses)".

Home stadium

Bulgaria plays their home matches on the Lovech Stadium.

Results and fixtures

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

Legend

Win Draw Lose Fixture

2021

11 June 2021 Friendly	Bulgaria	0–1	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Sofia, Bulgaria
18:00 UTC+3		Report (BFU) Report (FABH)	M. Hasanbegović 36'	Stadium: National Football Base Boyana Referee: Hristiyana Guteva (Bulgaria)

14 June 2021 Friendly

Turkey

3–1

Bulgaria

18 September 2021 (2021-09-18) 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification – UEFA Group H	Germany	7–0	Bulgaria	Cottbus, Germany
16:07	Schüller 21', 72' Magull 24', 33' Dallmann 67', 82' Waßmuth 76'	Report		Stadium: Stadion der Freundschaft Referee: Ivana Projkovska (North Macedonia)

21 October 2021 (2021-10-21) 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification – UEFA Group H	Turkey	1–0	Bulgaria	Istanbul, Turkey
	Uraz 76'	Report		Stadium: Esenyurt Necmi Kadıoğlu Stadium Referee: Jurgita Mačikunytė (Lithuania)

26 October 2021 (2021-10-26) 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification – UEFA Group H	Bulgaria	0–5	Portugal	Plovdiv, Bulgaria
TBD		Report	Ivanova 3' (o.g.) Di. Silva 5', 57' Gomes 71' C. Costa 76' (pen.)	Stadium: Stadion Lokomotiv Referee: Alina Peşu (Romania)

25 November 2021 (2021-11-25) 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification – UEFA Group H	Serbia	3–0	Bulgaria	Stara Pazova, Serbia
TBD	J. Damnjanović 31', 59' N. Damjanović 84'	Report		Stadium: Serbian FA Sports Center, Stara Pazova Referee: Vera Opeykina (Russia)

30 November 2021 (2021-11-30) 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification – UEFA Group H	Bulgaria	1–4	Serbia	Plovdiv, Bulgaria
TBD	Naydenova 49'	Report	Mijatović 20' Milivojević 33' Damnjanović 45', 89'	Stadium: Stadion Lokomotiv Referee: Ainara Acevedo (Spain)

2022

16 February 2022 (2022-02-16) Turkish Women's Cup	Bulgaria	1–1	Latvia	Alanya
	Naydenova 88' (pen.)	Report	Voitāne 24' (pen.)	Stadium: Goldcity Sport Complex

19 February 2022 (2022-02-19) Turkish Women's Cup	Bulgaria	2–3	Lithuania	Alanya
	Petrova 9' Dineva 43'	Report	Zabolotnaja 19' Vaitukaitytė 21', 84'	Stadium: Goldcity Sport Complex

22 February 2022 (2022-02-22) Turkish Women's Cup	Ukraine	2–0	Bulgaria	Alanya
	Voronina 58' Apanashchenko 90+1'			Stadium: Goldcity Sport Complex

7 April 2022 (2022-04-07) 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification – UEFA Group H	Bulgaria	0–2	Turkey	Plovdiv, Bulgaria
		Report	Türkoğlu 41' Topçu 88'	Stadium: Stadion Lokomotiv Referee: Tanja Račić (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

12 April 2022 (2022-04-12) 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification – UEFA Group H	Portugal	3–0	Bulgaria	Barcelos, Portugal
TBD		Report		Stadium: Estádio Cidade de Barcelos Referee: Ivana Martinčić (Croatia)

23 June 2022 (2022-06-23) 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification – UEFA Group H	Bulgaria	v	Israel	TBD
		Report		Stadium: TBD

1 September 2022 (2022-09-01) 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification – UEFA Group H	Israel	v	Bulgaria	TBD
TBD		Report		Stadium: TBD

6 September 2022 (2022-09-06) 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification – UEFA Group H	Bulgaria	v	Germany	TBD
TBD		Report		Stadium: TBD

Coaching staff

Current coaching staff

As of 23 May 2021

Position	Name	Ref.
Head coach	Silviya Radulska

Manager history

Silviya Radulska (????–)

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for a friendly match against Bosnia and Herzegovina on 11 June 2021.[2][3]

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Nina Karabelyova	(1995-12-21) 21 December 1995	0	0
12	1GK	Roksana Shahanska	(1992-04-23) 23 April 1992	16	0	NSA

2	2DF	Nikoleta Boycheva	(1994-08-20) 20 August 1994	9+	0+	Lokomotiv Plovdiv
3	2DF	Yanitsa Ivanova	(2001-01-05) 5 January 2001	1	0	NSA
4	2DF	Monika Razhgeva	(1992-11-21) 21 November 1992	11	0	NSA
5	2DF	Nora Dimitrova	(1996-07-26) 26 July 1996	1	0	NSA
16	2DF	Yana Dineva	(2002-11-08) 8 November 2002	1	0	Lokomotiv Stara Zagora
18	2DF	Zhasmina Atanasova	(1996-06-25) 25 June 1996	1+	0+	Lokomotiv Plovdiv
20	3MF	Gergana Iliycheva	(2002-02-24) 24 February 2002	1	0

6	3MF	Diana-Mihaela Atanasova	(1999-11-08) 8 November 1999	2	0
7	3MF	Simona Petkova	(1993-09-03) 3 September 1993	7	0	Lugano
8	3MF	Leonora Zheleva	(1999-05-13) 13 May 1999	1+	0	NSA
14	3MF	Bilyana Pencheva	(1997-05-23) 23 May 1997	2	0
17	3MF	Nina Georgieva	(1995-07-05) 5 July 1995	1	0	Lokomotiv Stara Zagora
19	3MF	Teya Penkova	(1999-09-08) 8 September 1999	1	0	NSA

10	4FW	Veronika Gotseva	(1993-05-29) 29 May 1993	1+	0	Lokomotiv Plovdiv
11	4FW	Velina Koshuleva	(1991-02-01) 1 February 1991	1+	0	Lokomotiv Plovdiv
15	4FW	Aleksandra Yaneva	(2001-02-24) 24 February 2001	0	0	NSA
21	4FW	Yuliana Aleksandrova	(1999-02-21) 21 February 1999	4+	0	NSA

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up to a Bulgaria squad in the past 12 months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Viktoria Dimova	(2002-01-08) 8 January 2002	1+	0+	NSA	v. Turkey, 21 October 2021

DF	Veni Sarbinska	(1995-12-28) 28 December 1995	1+	0+	Lokomotiv Plovdiv	v. Bosnia and Herzegovina, 11 June 2021
DF	Aleksandra Palagacheva	(2002-09-02) 2 September 2002	1	0	Lokomotiv Plovdiv	v. Bosnia and Herzegovina, 11 June 2021

MF	Eva Dupuy	(1993-06-10) 10 June 1993	1	0	KIF Örebro	v. Germany, 18 September 2021
MF	Liliana Kostova	(1988-03-15) 15 March 1988	25+	3+	Czarni Sosnowiec	v. Bosnia and Herzegovina, 11 June 2021
MF	Yoana Papazova (captain)	(1992-08-13) 13 August 1992	4	0	NSA	v. Bosnia and Herzegovina, 11 June 2021
MF	Ivana Naydenova	(2001-12-21) 21 December 2001	2	1	NSA	v. Bosnia and Herzegovina, 11 June 2021
MF	Lora Petrova	(1998-10-12) 12 October 1998	1+	0	Lugano	v. Bosnia and Herzegovina, 11 June 2021
MF	Yana Yordanova	(2003-02-20) 20 February 2003	0	0	NSA	v. Bosnia and Herzegovina, 11 June 2021

FW	Evdokiya Popadiynova	(1996-10-26) 26 October 1996	4	1	Napoli	v. Bosnia and Herzegovina, 11 June 2021
FW	Dimitra Ivanova	(2004-01-26) 26 January 2004	1+	0	NSA	v. Bosnia and Herzegovina, 11 June 2021

Captains

Radoslava Slavcheva (????–)

Records

As of 23 May 2021

Active players in bold, statistics correct as of 2021.

Most capped players

#	Player	Year(s)	Caps

Top goalscorers

#	Player	Year(s)	Goals	Caps

Competitive record

FIFA Women's World Cup

Year	Result	GP	W	D*	L	GF	GA		GP	W	D*	L	GF	GA
FIFA Women's World Cup record									Qualification record
1991	Did not qualify								UEFA Euro 1991
1995									UEFA Euro 1995
1999									6	2	1	3	11	12
2003	Did not enter								Did not enter
2007	Did not enter								Did not enter
2011	Did not qualify								8	2	2	4	9	25
2015	Did not qualify								10	0	1	9	3	62
2019	Did not enter								Did not enter
2023	To be determined								To be determined
Total	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	24	4	4	16	23	99

*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

UEFA Women's Championship

Year	Result	GP	W	D*	L	GF	GA		GP	W	D*	L	GF	GA
UEFA Women's Championship record									Qualifying record
1984	Did not enter								Did not enter
1987	Did not enter								Did not enter
1989	Did not qualify								8	0	2	6	1	18
1991									6	0	0	6	3	18
1993									4	0	0	4	1	9
1995									4	1	1	2	3	11
1997									6	4	0	2	13	6
2001	Did not enter								Did not enter
2005	Did not enter								Did not enter
2009	Did not qualify								3	2	0	1	8	1
2013	Did not qualify								10	0	0	10	1	54
2017	Did not enter								Did not enter
2022	Did not enter								Did not enter
Total	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	41	7	3	31	30	117