Bulgarian Cup

The Bulgarian Cup (Bulgarian: Купа на България, romanized: Kupa na Bulgaria) is a Bulgarian annual football competition. It is the country's main cup competition and all officially registered Bulgarian football teams take part in it.

Bulgarian Cup
Organising bodyBulgarian Football Union (BFU)
Founded1938 (1938)
RegionBulgaria
Number of teamsVarious
Qualifier forUEFA Europa Conference League
Domestic cup(s)Bulgarian Supercup
Current championsLudogorets Razgrad
(3rd title)
Most successful club(s)Levski Sofia
(26 titles)
Television broadcastersNova Broadcasting Group
2022–23 Season

The tournament's format is single-elimination, with all matches being one-legged, except the semi-finals. The competition's winner gets the right to take part in the UEFA Europa Conference League. If the winner has already secured a place through the Bulgarian A Professional Football Group, the team that has come fourth in the championship substitutes it.

The competition has been dominated by Sofia-based teams. The Sofia teams have won together a total number of 65 titles. The three most successful teams are Levski Sofia (26 cups), CSKA Sofia (21 cups) and Slavia Sofia (8 cups). The current cup holders are Ludogorets Razgrad, who beat CSKA 1948 Sofia 3–1 in the 2023 final.

Format

The Bulgarian Cup tournament is divided in two phases - the qualification phase and the final phase.

Qualification phase

In this phase are participating teams from the four groups of the amateur division V AFG (3rd level of the Bulgarian football league system) and teams from Bulgarian A Regional Football Group (A RFG) (4th level of the Bulgarian football league system).

Final phase

In this phase are participating the teams that have won their matches in the qualification phase, with the 20 teams from the two groups of B PFG (10 teams from West B PFG and 10 teams from East B PFG) and 16 teams from A PFG. The team from a lower league division is the home team. In matches between teams from the same division, the home team is determined by lot.

  • Round 1 (round of 32) - 32 teams participate (the teams that have won their matches in the qualification phase, with the 20 teams from the two groups of B PFG (10 teams from West B PFG and 10 teams from East B PFG).
  • Round 2 (round of 32) - 32 teams participate (16 teams from round 1 and 16 teams from A PFG).
  • Round 3 (round of 16) - 16 teams participate (16 teams from round 2).
  • Quarter-finals - 8 teams participate (8 teams from round 3).
  • Semi-finals.
  • Final.

History

The Bulgarian Cup as a domestic cup knock-out tournament, has its roots in several tournaments held in Bulgaria through the early 20th century, simultaneously or successively starting in the 1910s with regional Sofia competitions.

Tsar's Cup
Sketch of the Tsar's Cup

The Tsar's Cup (Bulgarian: Царска купа, romanized: Tsarska kupa) is recognised as the foundation of the modern domestic cup by the Bulgarian Football Union. The cup was founded in 1924, and until 1937 (and in 1943), it was awarded to the winner of the Bulgarian State Football Championship. The championship was a knockout tournament in which the champions of the country's districts (oblasts) played in one-legged single-elimination rounds.

From 1938 to 1942, a separate tournament was held to determine the cup champion, its winners are officially recognised as domestic cup holders by the BFS.

Soviet Army Cup

An annual cup competition was not held between 1943 and 1945 due to World War II. In 1946, Bulgaria, now a communist state, reformed its football league structure and competitions alike those in the Soviet Union. The new Central Football Committee created the Soviet Army Cup (Bulgarian: Купа на Съветската армия, romanized: Kupa na Savetskata armiya) in time for the 1945-46 season. Until the end of communist administration in Bulgaria in 1990, the annual two-legged knock-out tournament was held, its winners qualified for the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.

The Soviet Army Cup was the country's primary cup tournament up to 1982. In the following years until 1990, the championship served as a secondary cup tournament, before ceasing to exist. The Bulgarian Football Union recognises the historic winners of the Soviet Army Cup as official domestic cup holders for the seasons between 1945–46 to 1981–82. Levski Sofia, being the club to have won the tournament the most times, were given the original trophy permanently.

Bulgarian Cup

In 1981, in honour of the 1300th Anniversary of the Bulgarian State, a national knock-out football tournament was introduced, awarding the winner with the Bulgarian Cup. The Soviet Army Cup tournament gradually lost its importance due to the success of the Bulgarian Cup and in 1983 it ceded primacy to the new competition. The winners of the Bulgarian Cup from 1982-83 onwards are considered official domestic cup holders.

Records

The most successful club in the cup tournament is Levski Sofia, having won 26 titles. Levski Sofia also holds the record for the biggest win in a Bulgarian Cup final, winning 5–0 against Pirin Blagoevgrad in 1992 and 5–0 against CSKA Sofia in 1998. CSKA Sofia are the only team to have claimed the trophy from outside the top level of Bulgarian football, doing so in 2016, while representing the third tier of the country's football pyramid. Furthermore, CSKA Sofia hold the record for winning the most consecutive Bulgarian Cups (3 titles in a row), achieving that on two occasions, between 1972-1974 and 1987-1989.

Finals

Performance by club
Main article: List of Bulgarian Cup finals

A summary of the performance of various clubs who have taken part in the competition is shown in the table below.[1]

Club Wins Last win Runners-up Last final lost
Levski Sofia262022122018
CSKA Sofia212021142022
Slavia Sofia8201832011
Litex Lovech4200932007
Lokomotiv Sofia4199521977
Botev Plovdiv32017102019
Ludogorets Razgrad3202312017
Beroe Stara Zagora2201341980
Lokomotiv Plovdiv2202042012
FK 13 Sofia21940——
Spartak Plovdiv1195821959
Spartak Sofia1196821967
Cherno More Varna1201522008
Shipka Sofia11939——
Atletik-Slava 2311941——
Septemvri Sofia11960——
Marek Dupnitsa11978——
Sliven11990——
Pirin Blagoevgrad — — 4 2009
Levski Ruse——21939
Sportklub Plovdiv——21942
Spartak Varna——21983
Napredak Ruse——11941
Chernolomets Popovo——11946
Slavia-Chengelov Plovdiv——11948
Akademik Sofia——11951
Spartak Pleven——11957
Minyor Pernik——11958
Dunav Ruse——11962
Chernomorets Burgas——11989
Naftex Burgas——12000
Velbazhd Kyustendil——12001
Montana——12016
Arda Kardzhali——12021
CSKA 1948 Sofia——12023

Unofficial winners

Bulgarian Cup (1981–1982)

During the 1981 and 1982 Bulgarian Cup seasons, the tournament was a secondary cup competition.

Season Winner Result Runner-up Date Venue Attendance
1981CSKA Sofia1–0Slavia Sofia6 June 1981Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia25,000
1982Levski Sofia4–0CSKA Sofia16 June 1982Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia30,000

Notes:

Sponsorship

From 1997 to 2011 the Bulgarian Cup is sponsored by the American car manufacturer Ford and its official distributor in Bulgaria Moto-Pfohe.

From season 2011–12 the Bulgarian Cup is sponsored by the Bulgarian Corporate Commercial Bank.

References
  1. Todor Krastev. "Bulgaria Cups Overview". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  2. "Bulgaria Cups Overview". Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
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