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	Various
FIFA code	BUL
First colours	Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	95 5 (15 March 2024)[1]
Highest	42 (December 2008)
Lowest	95 (March 2024)
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

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)

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

1 December 2023 (2023-12-01) Nations League C	Kosovo	5–1	Bulgaria	Podujevo
13:00	Halilaj 39' Metaj 58' Uka 71' Memeti 84', 89'	Report	Ivanova 26'	Stadium: Zahir Pajaziti Stadium Attendance: 120 Referee: Meliz Özçiğdem (Turkey)

5 December 2023 (2023-12-05) Nations League C	Bulgaria	2–2	North Macedonia	Plovdiv
16:00 (17:00 EET)		Report		Stadium: Stadion Lokomotiv Referee: Alexandra Collin (France)

2024

23 February 2023–24 UEFA Women's Nations League promotion/relegation matches	Bulgaria	0–4	Ukraine	Kardzhali
15:00 (16:00 EET)		Report	Kravchuk 6' Andrukhiv 24' Hlushchenko 82' Shmatko 90'	Stadium: Arena Arda

27 February 2023–24 UEFA Women's Nations League promotion/relegation matches	Ukraine	3–0 (7–0 agg.)	Bulgaria	Antalya, Turkey[lower-alpha 1]
14:00 (16:00 TRT)		Report		Stadium: Mardan Sports Complex
Note: Ukraine won 7–0 on aggregate, and therefore both teams remained in their respective leagues.

5 April 2024 (2024-04-05) Euro 2025 qualifying League C	Kazakhstan	0–1	Bulgaria	Almaty
13:00 (16:00 UTC+5)		Report	Petkova 45+5'	Stadium: Almaty Central Stadium Referee: Meliz Özçiğdem (Turkey)

9 April UEFA Women's Euro 2025 qualifying League C GS	Bulgaria	2–3	Armenia	Sofia
18:00 UTC+3)		Report		Stadium: Stadion Aleksandar Shalamanov Referee: Emilie Torkelsen (Norway)

Coaching staff

Current coaching staff

As of 28 November 2022

Role	Name
Head coach	Silvia Radoyska
Assistant coaches	Velizar Hristov
Assistant coaches	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 part of the squad ahead of the UEFA Women's Euro 2025 qualifying match against Kazakhstan and Armenia on the 6th and 9 April 2024 , respectively .[3]

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
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

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
3	2DF	Yanitsa Ivanova	(2001-01-05) 5 January 2001	15	0	Lokomotiv
18	2DF	Zhasmina Atanasova	(1996-06-25) 25 June 1996	6	0	Lokomotiv
	2DF	Ivet Vasileva	(1998-07-12) 12 July 1998	0	0	LP Super Sport

2	3MF	Anita Churusinova
2	3MF	Nikoleta Boycheva	(1994-08-20) 20 August 1994	19	0	Lokomotiv
19	3MF	Yoana Stankova	(2005-08-20) 20 August 2005	12	1	Sassuolo U19
9	3MF	Lora Petrova	(1998-10-12) 12 October 1998	25	1	Res Roma
22	3MF	Ivana Naydenova	(2001-12-21) 21 December 2001	14	3	Res Roma
	3MF	Ivelina Pavlova	(2003-07-18) 18 July 2003	1	0	NSA
16	3MF	Zdravka Parapunova	(2003-08-06) 6 August 2003	0	0	SPG Lustenau/Dornbirn
8	3MF	Leonora Zheleva	(1999-05-13) 13 May 1999	8	1	AEL

17	4FW	Simona Petkova	(1993-09-03) 3 September 1993	13	0	Aarau
7	4FW	Evdokiya Popadinova	(1996-10-26) 26 October 1996	8	3	Lazio
8	4FW	Polina Rusina				NSA
8	3MF	Victoria Yavorova
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

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
GK	Martina Ilieva	(2007-02-08) 8 February 2007	0	0	Ludogorets	v. Ukraine, 27 February 2024

DF	Gergana Iliycheva	(2002-02-24) 24 February 2002	2	0	Chita di Matera	2023 Turkish Women's Cup
DF	Mariela Nedeva	(2000-07-12) 12 July 2000	4	0	Lokomotiv	v. Ukraine, 27 February 2024
DF	Yana Dineva	(2002-11-08) 8 November 2002	9	0	Lokomotiv	v. Ukraine, 27 February 2024

MF	Dessi Dupuy	(1993-06-10) 10 June 1993	3	0	Växjö DFF	2023 Turkish Women's Cup
MF	Eva Atanasova	(2005-06-05) 5 June 2005	1	0	Ludogorets	v. Kosovo, 23 September 2023
MF	Eva Atanasova	(2005-06-05) 5 June 2005	1	0	Ludogorets	v. Kosovo , 23 September 2023
MF	Preslava Yordanova				NSA	v. North Macedonia , 5 December 2023
MF	Veni Donna Srpbinska				Sportika	v. North Macedonia , 5 December 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
FW	Leonora Zheleva	(1999-05-13) 13 May 1999	6	0	AEL	v. Kosovo, 23 September 2023
FW	Viky Adrianova	(2003-05-12) 12 May 2003	2	0	Jacksonville State University	v. North Macedonia , 5 December 2023
FW	Aleksandra Sergeeva	(2005-11-03) 3 November 2005	2	0	VfL Wolfsburg II	v. Ukraine, 27 February 2024
FW	Aleksandra Yaneva	(2001-02-24) 24 February 2001	2	2	AEL	v. Ukraine, 27 February 2024
FW	Catherine Karadjov	(1998-06-19) 19 June 1998	1	0	Orvault	v. Ukraine, 27 February 2024

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