Bulgaria women's national football team

Bulgaria
Nickname(s)	Лъвиците (The Lionesses)
Association	Bulgarian Football Union
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Silvia Radoyska
Captain	Nikoleta Boycheva
Home stadium	Lovech Stadium
FIFA code	BUL
First colours	Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	90 (25 August 2023)[1]
Highest	42 (December 2008)
Lowest	92 (August – December 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.

History

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

2023

15 February 2023 Turkish Women's Cup	Bulgaria	2–0	Hong Kong	Alanya, Turkey
15:00	Popadinova 11' Naydenova 22'	Report		Stadium: Gold City Sport Complex

18 February 2023 Turkish Women's Cup	North Macedonia	1–2	Bulgaria	Alanya, Turkey
11:00	Rochi 9'		Yaneva 15' Popadinova 87'	Stadium: Gold City Sport Complex

21 February 2023 Turkish Women's Cup	Bulgaria	1–2	Kosovo	Alanya, Turkey
11:00				Stadium: Gold City Sport Complex

6 April BFU International Women's Cup 2023 SF	Bulgaria	3–0	Lithuania	Sofia, Bulgaria
11:00 UTC+2	Yaneva 23' Dimitrova 55' Karadzhova 81'			Stadium: Boyana Sports Complex

10 April BFU International Women's Cup 2023 F	Bulgaria	0–1	Kosovo	Sofia, Bulgaria
--:-- UTC+2				Stadium: Boyana Sports Complex

16 July Friendly

Romania

2–0

Bulgaria

22 September 2023 (2023-09-22) Nations League C	North Macedonia	0–1	Bulgaria	, Skopje
15:00		Report	Stankova 4'	Stadium: Petar Miloševski Training Centre Attendance: 200 Referee: Miriama Bočková (Slovakia)

Nations League C	Bulgaria	0-0	Kosovo	, Plovdiv
17:00 (18:00 EEST)		Report		Stadium: Stadion Lokomotiv Referee: Lovisa Johansson (Sweden)

Coaching staff

Current coaching staff

As of 28 November 2022.

Role	Name
Head coach	Silviya Radoyska
Assistant coach	Velizar Hristov
Second Assistant coach	Trifon Panev
Goalkeeping coach	Emil Varadinov
Team Manager	Doychin Bahov

Manager history

Name	Period	Matches	Wins	Draws	Losses	Winning %
Emil Atanasov	18 November 2006–25 August 2010	21	11	4	6	52.38%
Valentin Chakarov	24 November 2010–19 September 2012	13	0	1	12	0%
Emil Kartselski	20 August 2013–21 August 2014	11	2	1	8	18.18%
Silviya Radoyska	17 September 2014–present	29	5	2	22	22.73%

Players

Current squad

The following players were named for the 2023–24 UEFA Women's Nations League matches against Kosovo and North Macedonia on 22 and 26 September 2023.[2]

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Martina Ilieva	(2007-02-08) 8 February 2007	0	0	Etar
12	1GK	Roksana Shahanska	(1992-04-23) 23 April 1992	29	0	Lokomotiv
23	1GK	Milena Karakoleva	(2004-04-03) 3 April 2004	1	0	Sportika

2	2DF	Nikoleta Boycheva	(1994-08-20) 20 August 1994	19	0	Lokomotiv
3	2DF	Yanitsa Ivanova	(2001-01-05) 5 January 2001	15	0	Lokomotiv
4	2DF	Mariela Nedeva	(2000-07-12) 12 July 2000	4	0	Lokomotiv
5	2DF	Nora Dimitrova (captain)	(1996-07-26) 26 July 1996	14	1	Lokomotiv
6	2DF	Silviya Kefalova	(2001-06-06) 6 June 2001	2	0	NSA
11	2DF	Kristiana Karaivanova	(2004-07-11) 11 July 2004	6	0	Spezia
18	2DF	Zhasmina Atanasova	(1996-06-25) 25 June 1996	6	0	Lokomotiv

8	3MF	Eva Atanasova	(2005-06-05) 5 June 2005	1	0	Ludogorets
9	3MF	Lora Petrova	(1998-10-12) 12 October 1998	25	1	Res Roma
16	3MF	Zdravka Parapunova	(2003-08-06) 6 August 2003	0	0	SPG Lustenau/Dornbirn
17	3MF	Simona Petkova	(1993-09-03) 3 September 1993	13	0	Aarau
19	3MF	Yoana Stankova	(2005-08-20) 20 August 2005	12	1	Sassuolo U19
20	3MF	Yana Dineva	(2002-11-08) 8 November 2002	9	0	Lokomotiv
22	3MF	Ivana Naydenova	(2001-12-21) 21 December 2001	14	3	Res Roma

7	4FW	Evdokiya Popadinova	(1996-10-26) 26 October 1996	8	3	Lazio
10	4FW	Leonora Zheleva	(1999-05-13) 13 May 1999	6	0	AEL
13	4FW	Aleksandra Yaneva	(2001-02-24) 24 February 2001	2	2	AEL
14	4FW	Dimitra Ivanova	(2004-01-26) 26 January 2004	9	0	Politehnica Timișoara
15	4FW	Nadezhda Ivanova	(2004-12-17) 17 December 2004	0	0	SC Sand
21	4FW	Aleksandra Sergeeva	(2005-11-03) 3 November 2005	2	0	VfL Wolfsburg II

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	0	0	NSA	2023 Turkish Women's Cup
GK	Victoria Ivanova	(2001-01-25) 25 January 2001	0	0	Sevlievo Ladies	2023 Turkish Women's Cup

DF	Ivet Vasileva	(1998-07-12) 12 July 1998	0	0	LP Super Sport	2023 Turkish Women's Cup
DF	Gergana Iliycheva	(2002-02-24) 24 February 2002	2	0	Chita di Matera	2023 Turkish Women's Cup

MF	Dessi Dupuy	(1993-06-10) 10 June 1993	3	0	Växjö DFF	2023 Turkish Women's Cup
MF	Ivelina Pavlova	(2003-07-18) 18 July 2003	1	0	NSA	2023 Turkish Women's Cup

FW	Catherine Karadjov	(1998-06-19) 19 June 1998	1	0	Orvault	v. North Macedonia, 22 September 2023
FW	Polina Rasina	(1999-03-12) 12 March 1999	9	0	NSA	2023 Turkish Women's Cup
FW	Bilyana Pencheva	(1997-05-23) 23 May 1997	3	0	Lokomotiv	2023 Turkish Women's Cup
FW	Mirela Moeva	(2000-09-29) 29 September 2000	0	0	Etar VT	2023 Turkish Women's Cup

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	did not qualify								10	0	0	10	1	37
2027	to be determined								to be determined
Total	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	34	4	4	26	24	136

*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
2025	to be determined								to be determined
Total	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	41	7	3	31	30	117