Bulgaria men's national volleyball team

Bulgaria
Nickname(s)Лъвовете (The Lions)
AssociationBulgarian Volleyball Federation
ConfederationCEV
Head coachGianlorenzo Blengini
Uniforms
Home
Away
Third
Summer Olympics
Appearances8 (First in 1964)
Best result (1980)
World Championship
Appearances20 (First in 1949)
Best result (1970, 2025)
World Cup
Appearances4 (First in 1965)
Best result (2007)
European Championship
Appearances28 (First in 1950)
Best result (1951)
www.volleyball.bg (in Bulgarian)
Honours
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 0 1 0
World Championship 0 2 4
World Cup 0 0 1
European Championship 0 1 4
European Games 0 1 0
Total 0 5 9
Medal record
Olympic Games
1980 Moscow Team
World Championship
1970 Bulgaria
2025 Philippines Team
1949 Czechoslovakia
1952 Soviet Union
1986 France Team
2006 Japan Team
World Cup
2007 Japan Team
European Championship
1951 Paris
1955 Bucharest
1981 Varna
1983 East Berlin
2009 Turkey Team
European Games
2015 Baku Team

The Bulgaria men's national volleyball team represents the country in international competitions and friendly matches. The national team is controlled by the Bulgarian Volleyball Federation, the governing body for volleyball in Bulgaria.

History

The team's achievements include winning the Balkan Championships in 1980, Runners-Up (1970, 2025) and Third Place (1949, 1952, 1986, 2006) at the World Championship. At the European Championships Bulgaria has one Runners-Up (1951) and four Third Place (1955, 1981, 1983, 2009) finishes. Bulgaria has also achieved Runners-Up at the 1980 Summer Olympic Games in Moscow. The team has one third place at the World Cup (2007) and five Semi-Final appearances in the World League (1994, 2004, 2006, 2012, 2013). The team's most significant recent results include earning a silver medal at the 2025 World Championship, Third Place at the 2006 World Championship, the 2007 World Cup and 2009 European Championship as well as achieving Runners-Up at the first European Games in 2015.

Bulgaria first took part in the World League in 1994. During the debut season in the tournament, the team went all the way to the semi-finals; led by players like Lubo Ganev, Dimo Tonev and Martin Stoev. In the next four editions, Bulgaria took part but did not manage to surpass its prior performance by reaching fifth in 1995, eight in 1996, sixth in 1997, and seventh in 1998. Under the guidance of Milorad Kijac, the new wave of players including Teodor Salparov, Danial Mihaylov, etc. mixed well with the more experienced Evgeni Ivanov, Plamen Konstantinov, Nikolay Ivanov, Vladimir Nikolov, Hristo Tsvetanov to result in the fifth-place rank in 2003. The next year, once again under Kijac, the team played some impressive games and succeeded to tie its best performance of reaching the Semi-Finals. The team included more players from the Under-21 team that the previous year won a medal at the World Championships, such as Matey Kaziyski and Milushev. In 2005 with a new coach, Martin Stoev, the team finished as the fifth rank, followed by another tied best-ever performance of reaching the Semi-Finals in 2006, and another fifth rank in 2007. In 2011 Bulgaria qualified for first time in the Final Round after four years, they finished as the fifth rank. The 2012 Final Round was held in the newly opened Armeets Arena in Sofia, and the host reached the Semi-Finals once again.

Statistics

Olympic Games

  Champions    Runners up    Third place    Fourth place

Olympic Games record
Year Round Position GP MW ML SW SL SPW SPL Squad
1964 Round robin 5th / 10 9 5 4 20 16 464 429 Squad
1968 Round robin 6th / 10 9 4 5 16 17 379 385 Squad
1972 Semifinals 4th / 12 7 4 3 15 14 386 347 Squad
1976 Did not qualify
1980 Finals 2nd / 10 6 4 2 13 8 263 241 Squad
1984 Withdrew
1988 Final round 6th / 12 7 3 4 10 12 259 270 Squad
1992 Did not qualify
1996 Semifinals 7th / 12 8 4 4 15 16 379 396 Squad
2000 Did not qualify
2004
2008 Quarterfinals 5th / 12 6 3 3 11 12 527 535 Squad
2012 Semifinals 4th / 12 8 5 3 18 10 653 636 Squad
2016 Did not qualify
2020
2024
Total 0 Titles 8/16 60 32 28 118 105 3,310 3,239 —

World Championship

  Champions    Runners up    Third place    Fourth place     As host

World Championship record
Year Round Position GP MW ML SW SL SPW SPL Squad
1949 Final round 3rd / 10 7 5 2 15 10 293 277 —
1952 Final round 3rd / 11 8 5 3 18 12 407 337 —
1956 Final round 5th / 24 10 6 4 24 16 538 440 —
1960 Did not qualify
1962 Final round 4th / 21 11 8 3 27 19 624 545 —
1966 Final round 7th / 22 10 5 5 19 18 470 407 —
1970 Final round 2nd / 24 11 10 1 32 7 547 384 —
1974 Final round 7th / 24 11 8 3 27 13 562 402 —
1978 Final round 10th / 24 9 5 4 17 17 410 394 —
1982 Final round 5th / 24 9 6 3 21 14 447 393 —
1986 Final round 3rd / 16 8 6 2 19 7 346 283 Squad
1990 Final round 5th / 16 7 3 4 12 16 327 370 Squad
1994 Final round 9th / 16 4 2 2 7 7 164 180 Squad
1998 Final round 7th / 24 12 7 5 23 23 570 594 Squad
2002 Second round 13th–16th / 24 6 2 4 13 13 588 584 Squad
2006 Final round 3rd / 24 11 9 2 29 14 1,008 937 Squad
2010 Final round 7th / 24 9 5 4 21 13 809 789 Squad
2014 First round 13th–14th / 24 9 3 6 14 20 718 765 Squad
2018 Second round 11th / 24 8 4 4 16 12 625 617 Squad
2022 First round 20th / 24 3 0 3 2 9 228 262 Squad
2025 Final 2nd / 32 7 6 1 19 8 622 544 Squad
Total 0 Titles 20/21 170 105 65 375 268 10,303 9,504 —

World Cup

  Champions    Runners up    Third place    Fourth place

World Cup record
Year Round Position GP MW ML SW SL SPW SPL Squad
1965 Final round 9th / 11 6 2 4 11 13 296 292 —
1969 Final round 4th / 12 6 3 3 12 9 268 229 —
1977 Final round 6th / 12 8 3 5 12 17 311 341 —
1981 Did not qualify
1985
1989
1991
1995
1999
2003
2007 Fourth round 3rd / 12 11 9 2 29 13 988 881 Squad
2011 Did not qualify
2015
2019
Total 0 Titles 4/14 31 17 14 64 52 1,863 1,743 —

European Championship

  Champions    Runners up    Third place    Fourth place     As host

European Championship record
Year Round Position GP MW ML SW SL SPW SPL Squad
1948 Did not qualify
1950 Round robin 4th / 6 5 2 3 10 10 258 269 —
1951 Final round 2nd / 10 8 6 2 20 9 383 256 —
1955 Final round 3rd / 14 9 5 4 20 16 446 425 —
1958 Final round 4th / 20 11 6 5 26 18 571 475 —
1963 Final round 4th / 17 10 7 3 25 12 477 355 —
1967 Final round 9th / 20 10 7 3 26 11 500 387 —
1971 Final round 7th / 22 8 7 1 23 5 380 254 —
1975 Final round 5th / 12 7 3 4 12 13 310 321 —
1977 Final round 5th / 12 7 4 3 14 9 304 287 —
1979 Final round 10th / 12 7 2 5 11 19 376 397 —
1981 Final round 3rd / 12 7 4 3 15 13 337 355 —
1983 Final round 3rd / 12 7 4 3 16 10 338 286 —
1985 Final round 5th / 12 7 3 4 12 16 300 358 —
1987 Final round 11th / 12 7 3 4 12 13 306 302 —
1989 Final round 6th / 12 7 4 3 16 11 350 298 —
1991 Final round 5th / 12 7 4 3 16 11 364 335 —
1993 Final round 5th / 12 7 4 3 15 13 350 329 —
1995 Final round 4th / 12 7 4 3 12 11 269 282 —
1997 Group stage 9th–10th / 12 5 2 3 8 12 219 263 —
1999 Final round 7th / 8 5 2 3 7 9 348 361 —
2001 Final round 6th / 12 7 4 3 16 13 645 643 Squad
2003 Preliminary round 9th / 12 5 2 3 7 11 320 416 —
2005 Did not qualify
2007 Second round 8th / 16 6 4 2 12 11 519 500 Squad
2009 Final round 3rd / 16 8 6 2 18 10 663 614 Squad
2011 Final round 6th / 16 5 3 2 12 8 466 457 Squad
2013 Final round 4th / 16 7 3 4 13 16 667 679 Squad
2015 Final round 4th / 16 6 4 2 15 10 553 542 Squad
2017 Final round 6th / 16 5 3 2 9 7 385 349 Squad
2019 Final round 11th / 24 6 3 3 11 10 473 494 Squad
2021 Final round 11th / 24 6 3 3 11 12 495 498 Squad
2023 Final round 15th / 24 6 2 4 8 14 494 533 Squad
Total 0 Titles 31/33 215 120 95 448 363 12,866 12,320 —

World League

  Champions    Runners up    Third place    Fourth place     As host

World League record
Year Round Position GP MW ML SW SL SPW SPL Squad
1990 Did not qualify
1991
1992
1993
1994 Semifinals 4th / 12 16 9 7 32 24 697 653 —
1995 Final round 5th / 12 16 11 5 34 25 799 730 —
1996 Intercontinental 8th / 11 12 4 8 17 25 476 516 —
1997 Final round 6th / 12 16 9 7 35 28 793 740 —
1998 Playoff round 7th / 12 14 10 4 31 21 639 599 —
1999 Did not qualify
2000
2001
2002
2003 Final round 5th / 16 15 9 6 36 28 1,443 1,386 —
2004 Semifinals 4th / 12 14 9 6 31 19 1,164 1,100 Squad
2005 Intercontinental 5th / 12 12 6 6 27 22 1,112 1,067 Squad
2006 Semifinals 4th / 16 17 13 4 42 14 1,340 1,182 Squad
2007 Final round 5th / 16 14 9 5 31 20 1,185 1,109 Squad
2008 Intercontinental 7th / 16 12 8 4 29 21 1,122 1,105 Squad
2009 Intercontinental 10th / 16 12 5 7 20 26 1,048 1,084 Squad
2010 Intercontinental 7th / 16 12 8 4 30 13 1,029 956 Squad
2011 Final round 5th / 16 15 8 7 32 28 1,298 1,287 Squad
2012 Semifinals 4th / 16 16 9 7 33 31 1,411 1,403 Squad
2013 Semifinals 4th / 18 14 8 6 30 25 1,220 1,251 Squad
2014 Intercontinental 8th / 28 12 1 11 10 35 895 1,059 Squad
2015 Final round 10th / 32 14 9 5 30 25 1,222 1,226 Squad
2016 Intercontinental 11th / 36 9 1 8 8 26 706 810 Squad
2017 Intercontinental 9th / 36 9 4 5 16 22 819 861 Squad
Total 0 Titles 20/28 272 150 122 554 478 20,418 20,124 —

Nations League

  Champions    Runners up    Third place    Fourth place

Nations League record
Year Round Position GP MW ML SW SL SPW SPL Squad
2018 Preliminary 11th / 16 15 6 9 26 34 1,288 1,351 Squad
2019 Preliminary 12th / 16 15 5 10 21 38 1,268 1,372 Squad
2020 Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021 Preliminary 15th / 16 15 2 13 11 41 1,037 1,238 Squad
2022 Preliminary 14th / 16 12 2 10 16 31 990 1,087 Squad
2023 Preliminary 15th / 16 12 2 10 13 32 957 1,045 Squad
2024 Preliminary 14th / 16 12 3 9 12 31 900 1,033 Squad
2025 Preliminary 10th / 18 12 6 6 22 23 993 1,033 Squad
Total 0 Titles 7/7 93 26 67 121 230 7,433 8,159 —

European Games

  Champions    Runners up    Third place    Fourth place

European Games record
Year Round Position GP MW ML SW SL SPW SPL Squad
2015 Finals 2nd / 12 8 6 2 19 13 737 693 Squad

European League

  Champions    Runners up    Third place    Fourth place     As host

European League record
Year Round Position GP MW ML SW SL SPW SPL Squad
2004 Did not participate
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016 Semifinals 4th / 12 8 4 4 16 15 721 660 —
2017 Did not participate
2018
2019
2020 Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021 Did not participate
2022
2023
2024
2025
Total 0 Titles 1/21 8 4 4 16 15 721 660 —

Team

Current squad

The following players made the final roster for the 2025 FIVB Men's Volleyball World Championship.[1]

Head coach: Gianlorenzo Blengini

Captain: Aleks Grozdanov

No. Name Date of birth Height Weight Spike Block 2025–26 club
1 Simeon Nikolov (2006-11-24)24 November 2006 2.09 m (6 ft 10 in) – – – Lokomotiv Novosibirsk
3 Iliya Petkov (1996-10-10)10 October 1996 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) – – – Yuasa Battery Grottazzolina
4 Martin Atanasov (1996-09-27)27 September 1996 1.99 m (6 ft 6 in) – – – Vero Volley Monza
5 Boris Nachev (2004-04-22)22 April 2004 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) – – – Pallavolo Padova
8 Asparuh Asparuhov (2000-07-28)28 July 2000 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) – – – Ślepsk Suwałki
11 Aleks Grozdanov (1998-03-28)28 March 1998 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) – – – LUK Lublin
12 Georgi Tatarov (2003-05-10)10 May 2003 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) – – – Yuasa Battery Grottazzolina
15 Rusi Zhelev (2001-12-21)21 December 2001 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) – – – Pallavolo Macerata
18 Venislav Antov (2004-04-06)6 April 2004 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) – – – Tourcoing Lille
20 Stoil Palev (2003-05-21)21 May 2003 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) – – – Levski Sofia
21 Dimitar Dobrev (2008-07-17)17 July 2008 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) – – – Levski Sofia
22 Damyan Kolev (2002-01-11)11 January 2002 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) – – – Levski Sofia
23 Aleksandar Nikolov (2003-11-30)30 November 2003 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) – – – Cucine Lube Civitanova
29 Preslav Petkov (2003-10-28)28 October 2003 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) – – – Folgore Massa

Head coaches

  • 1949–1950 – Valentin Ankov
  • 1951–1952 – Dimitar Elenkov
  • 1952–1955 – Georgi Krastev
  • 1957–1958 – Dimitar Elenkov
  • 1964–1971 – Dimitar Gigov
  • 1971–1972 – Todor Simov
  • 1979–1980 – Todor Piperkov
  • 1980–1982 – Tsvetan Pavlov
  • 1982–1983 – Vasil Simov
  • 1984–1986 – Bogdan Kyuchukov
  • 1991–1992 – Georgi Vasilev
  • 1992–1994 – Stoyan Stoev
  • 1994–1994 – Brunko Iliev
  • 1994–1996 – Bogdan Kyuchukov
  • 1996–1997 – Stefan Sokolov
  • 1998–1999 – Georgi Vasilev
  • 1999–2000 – Brunko Iliev
  • 2000–2002 – Hristo Iliev
  • 2002–2003 – Assen Galabinov
  • 2003–2004 – Milorad Kijac
  • 2004–2005 – Brunko Iliev
  • 2005–2008 – Martin Stoev
  • 2009–2010 – Silvano Prandi
  • 2010–2012 – Radostin Stoychev
  • 2012–2012 – Nayden Naydenov
  • 2012–2014 – Camillo Placì
  • 2014–2019 – Plamen Konstantinov
  • 2019–2022 – Silvano Prandi
  • 2022–2023 – Nikolay Jeliazkov
  • 2023 - Plamen Konstantinov
  • 2024–present – Gianlorenzo Blengini

Kit providers

The table below shows the history of kit providers for the Bulgaria national volleyball team.

Period Kit provider
2002–2019 Asics
2019–2025 Erreà
2025– Zeus

Sponsorship

The main sponsor of the national team is the Bulgarian betting company efbet, while Mikasa and Lidl are secondary sponsors.[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Bulgaria 2025 MWCH". Volleyball World. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  2. ^ "Българска Федерация Волейбол". bvf.bg. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
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