Bulgarian Football’s Harrowing Descent into Corruption and Mediocrity

On July 16th, 1994, 12:30 pm, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, the third-place playoff game of the World Cup was about to start between Sweden and the surprise of the tournament, Bulgaria. Even though the Swedes would smash the Bulgarians 4-0, it was nonetheless one of the finest achievements of an Eastern European nation at the World Cup.

Bulgaria’s star player that tournament, Hristo Stoichkov, who was tearing La Liga apart alongside Romario, won the Golden Boot as the top scorer and would be awarded the Ballon d’Or a few months later. Fast forward 29 years, and Bulgaria haven’t taken part in any major tournaments since 2004 and have yet to win any games in 2023. Across 10 friendly and Euro 2024 qualifying games, Bulgaria have lost 6 and drawn four, including losses to Iran, Lithuania, Montenegro and Albania.

Meanwhile, no Bulgarian players are currently active in any of the top 5 leagues and only one team is active in European competitions this season. In order to properly take a look at what caused this marked regression, we need to examine Bulgaria’s footballing past and present to see if maybe, just maybe a better future is on the horizon.

12 Iconic Stadiums That Are No Longer with Us