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Bulgaria men's national volleyball team

Men's national volleyball team representing Bulgaria

Bulgaria men's national volleyball team

Summary

Men's national volleyball team representing Bulgaria

FieldValue
nameBulgaria
image[[File:Bvfbulgaria.png200px]]
nicknameЛъвовете (The Lions)
federationBulgarian Volleyball Federation
confederationCEV
coachGianlorenzo Blengini
Olympic apps8
Olympic first1964
Olympic best(1980)
World Champs apps20
World Champs first1949
World Champs best(1970, 2025)
World Cup apps4
World Cup first1965
World Cup best(2007)
Regional nameEuropean Championship
Regional cup apps28
Regional cup first1950
Regional cup best(1951)
websitewww.volleyball.bg
pattern_b1_whitecollar
leftarm1FF0000
body1008000
rightarm1FF0000
shorts1008000
pattern_b2_temuco0910h
pattern_sh2_bul10a
leftarm232CD32
body2FF0000
rightarm232CD32
shorts2FF0000
pattern_b3_augsburg1112h
pattern_sh3_bul10a
leftarm3FFFFFF
body3FF0000
rightarm3FFFFFF
shorts3FFFFFF
medaltemplates-expandyes
{{MedalCounttotalyes

| medaltemplates-expand = yes |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

The Bulgaria National Team in 2014
Bulgaria Defeating Powerful Rivals Serbia in 2011
The Bulgaria National Team at the [[2011 FIVB World League]] Defeating Asian Giants Japan
Bulgaria and Serbia Match in 2014

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 recordYearRoundPositionGPMWMLSWSLSPWSPLSquadTotal0 Titles8/166032281181053,3103,239
JAP 1964Round robin5th / 109542016464429Squad
MEX 1968Round robin6th / 109451617379385Squad
West Germany 1972Semifinals4th / 127431514386347Squad
CAN 1976Did not qualify
URS 1980Finals2nd / 10642138263241Squad
USA 1984Withdrew
KOR 1988Final round6th / 127341012259270Squad
ESP 1992Did not qualify
USA 1996Semifinals7th / 128441516379396Squad
AUS 2000Did not qualify
GRE 2004
CHN 2008Quarterfinals5th / 126331112527535Squad
GBR 2012Semifinals4th / 128531810653636Squad
BRA 2016Did not qualify
JPN 2020
FRA 2024

World Championship

Champions Runners up Third place Fourth place As host

World Championship recordYearRoundPositionGPMWMLSWSLSPWSPLSquadTotal0 Titles20/211701056537526810,3039,504
CSK 1949Final round3rd / 107521510293277
URS 1952Final round3rd / 118531812407337
FRA 1956Final round5th / 2410642416538440
BRA 1960Did not qualify
URS 1962Final round4th / 2111832719624545
CSK 1966Final round7th / 2210551918470407
BUL 1970Final round2nd / 2411101327547384
MEX 1974Final round7th / 2411832713562402
ITA 1978Final round10th / 249541717410394
ARG 1982Final round5th / 249632114447393
FRA 1986Final round3rd / 16862197346283Squad
BRA 1990Final round5th / 167341216327370Squad
GRE 1994Final round9th / 1642277164180Squad
JAP 1998Final round7th / 2412752323570594Squad
ARG 2002Second round13th–16th / 246241313588584Squad
JAP 2006Final round3rd / 24119229141,008937Squad
ITA 2010Final round7th / 249542113809789Squad
POL 2014First round13th–14th / 249361420718765Squad
ITABUL 2018Second round11th / 248441612625617Squad
POLSLO 2022First round20th / 2430329228262Squad
PHI 2025Final2nd / 32761198622544Squad

World Cup

Champions Runners up Third place Fourth place

World Cup recordYearRoundPositionGPMWMLSWSLSPWSPLSquadTotal0 Titles4/1431171464521,8631,743
POL 1965Final round9th / 116241113296292
GDR 1969Final round4th / 12633129268229
JPN 1977Final round6th / 128351217311341
JPN 1981Did not qualify
JPN 1985
JPN 1989
JPN 1991
JPN 1995
JPN 1999
JPN 2003
JPN 2007Fourth round3rd / 1211922913988881Squad
JPN 2011Did not qualify
JPN 2015
JPN 2019

European Championship

Champions Runners up Third place Fourth place As host

European Championship recordYearRoundPositionGPMWMLSWSLSPWSPLSquadTotal0 Titles31/332151209544836312,86612,320
ITA 1948Did not qualify
BUL 1950Round robin4th / 65231010258269
FRA 1951Final round2nd / 10862209383256
ROM 1955Final round3rd / 149542016446425
CSK 1958Final round4th / 2011652618571475
ROM 1963Final round4th / 1710732512477355
TUR 1967Final round9th / 2010732611500387
ITA 1971Final round7th / 22871235380254
YUG 1975Final round5th / 127341213310321
FIN 1977Final round5th / 12743149304287
FRA 1979Final round10th / 127251119376397
BUL 1981Final round3rd / 127431513337355
GDR 1983Final round3rd / 127431610338286
NED 1985Final round5th / 127341216300358
BEL 1987Final round11th / 127341213306302
SWE 1989Final round6th / 127431611350298
GER 1991Final round5th / 127431611364335
FIN 1993Final round5th / 127431513350329
GRE 1995Final round4th / 127431211269282
NED 1997Group stage9th–10th / 12523812219263
AUT 1999Final round7th / 852379348361
CZE 2001Final round6th / 127431613645643Squad
GER 2003Preliminary round9th / 12523711320416
ITASCG 2005Did not qualify
RUS 2007Second round8th / 166421211519500Squad
TUR 2009Final round3rd / 168621810663614Squad
AUTCZE 2011Final round6th / 16532128466457Squad
DENPOL 2013Final round4th / 167341316667679Squad
BULITA 2015Final round4th / 166421510553542Squad
POL 2017Final round6th / 1653297385349Squad
FRASLOBELNED 2019Final round11th / 246331110473494Squad
POLCZEESTFIN 2021Final round11th / 246331112495498Squad
ITABULMKDISR 2023Final round15th / 24624814494533Squad

World League

Champions Runners up Third place Fourth place As host

World League recordYearRoundPositionGPMWMLSWSLSPWSPLSquadTotal0 Titles20/2827215012255447820,41820,124
JAP 1990Did not qualify
ITA 1991
ITA 1992
BRA 1993
ITA 1994Semifinals4th / 1216973224697653
BRA 1995Final round5th / 12161153425799730
NED 1996Intercontinental8th / 1112481725476516
RUS 1997Final round6th / 1216973528793740
ITA 1998Playoff round7th / 12141043121639599
ARG 1999Did not qualify
NED 2000
POL 2001
BRA 2002
ESP 2003Final round5th / 16159636281,4431,386
ITA 2004Semifinals4th / 12149631191,1641,100Squad
SCG 2005Intercontinental5th / 12126627221,1121,067Squad
RUS 2006Semifinals4th / 161713442141,3401,182Squad
POL 2007Final round5th / 16149531201,1851,109Squad
BRA 2008Intercontinental7th / 16128429211,1221,105Squad
SRB 2009Intercontinental10th / 16125720261,0481,084Squad
ARG 2010Intercontinental7th / 16128430131,029956Squad
POL 2011Final round5th / 16158732281,2981,287Squad
BUL 2012Semifinals4th / 16169733311,4111,403Squad
ARG 2013Semifinals4th / 18148630251,2201,251Squad
ITA 2014Intercontinental8th / 281211110358951,059Squad
BRA 2015Final round10th / 32149530251,2221,226Squad
POL 2016Intercontinental11th / 36918826706810Squad
BRA 2017Intercontinental9th / 369451622819861Squad

Nations League

Champions Runners up Third place Fourth place

Nations League recordYearRoundPositionGPMWMLSWSLSPWSPLSquadTotal0 Titles7/79326671212307,4338,159
FRA 2018Preliminary11th / 16156926341,2881,351Squad
USA 2019Preliminary12th / 161551021381,2681,372Squad
ITA 2020Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
ITA 2021Preliminary15th / 161521311411,0371,238Squad
ITA 2022Preliminary14th / 161221016319901,087Squad
POL 2023Preliminary15th / 161221013329571,045Squad
POL 2024Preliminary14th / 16123912319001,033Squad
CHN 2025Preliminary10th / 18126622239931,033Squad

European Games

Champions Runners up Third place Fourth place

European Games recordYearRoundPositionGPMWMLSWSLSPWSPLSquad
AZE 2015Finals2nd / 128621913737693Squad

European League

Champions Runners up Third place Fourth place As host

European League recordYearRoundPositionGPMWMLSWSLSPWSPLSquadTotal0 Titles1/218441615721660
CZE 2004Did not participate
RUS 2005
TUR 2006
POR 2007
TUR 2008
POR 2009
ESP 2010
SLO 2011
TUR 2012
TUR 2013
2014
POL 2015
BUL 2016Semifinals4th / 128441615721660
DEN 2017Did not participate
CZE 2018
EST 2019
2020Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
BEL 2021Did not participate
CRO 2022
CRO 2023
CRO 2024
CZE 2025

Team

Current squad

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

Head coach: ITA Gianlorenzo Blengini

Captain: Aleks Grozdanov

No.NameDate of birthHeightWeightSpikeBlock2025–26 club
12.09 mRUS Lokomotiv Novosibirsk
32.02 mITA Yuasa Battery Grottazzolina
41.99 mITA Vero Volley Monza
52.02 mITA Pallavolo Padova
82.00 mPOL Ślepsk Suwałki
112.08 mPOL LUK Lublin
122.00 mITA Yuasa Battery Grottazzolina
152.00 mITA Pallavolo Macerata
181.95 mFRA Tourcoing Lille
201.88 mBUL Levski Sofia
21Dimitar Dobrev1.90 mBUL Levski Sofia
221.77 mBUL Levski Sofia
23Aleksandar Nikolov2.07 mITA Cucine Lube Civitanova
292.08 mITA Folgore Massa

Head coaches

Kit providers

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

PeriodKit provider
2002–2019Asics
2019–2025Erreà
2025–Zeus

Sponsorship

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

References

References

  1. "Bulgaria 2025 MWCH".
  2. "Българска Федерация Волейбол".
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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