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Eternal derby of Bulgarian football

Sports rivalry

Summary

Sports rivalry

FieldValue
nameThe Eternal Derby
image[[File:the eternal derby of bulgarian football.png]]
captionFans of Levski Sofia (left) and CSKA Sofia (right)
city or regionSofia, Bulgaria
first contestedLevski 1–0 CSKA
()
mostrecentLevski 0–1 CSKA
(8 November 2025)
nextmeetingCSKA – Levski
(18 April 2026)
teams involvedLevski Sofia
CSKA Sofia
total220
most winsLevski Sofia (85)
most player appearancesManol Manolov (35)
top scorerGeorgi Ivanov (15)
longeststreakLevski Sofia (9)
currentstreakCSKA Sofia (1)
largestvictoryCSKA 1–7 Levski
(23 September 1994)

() (8 November 2025) (18 April 2026) CSKA Sofia (23 September 1994) The Eternal derby of Bulgarian football or simply The Eternal derby () is the name of the local derby football match between the two most popular and successful football clubs in Sofia and Bulgaria: Levski Sofia and CSKA Sofia. The dominant forces in Bulgarian football have won 26 and 31 national championship titles and 26 and 21 Bulgarian Cup titles, involved into 13 and 11 Doubles, respectively. The rivalry was chosen by COPA90 as the 2nd Maddest Derby in Eastern Europe.

History

The rivalry started in the late 1940s when the newly founded club of CSKA became a champion in their first year in competitive football in 1948. Both the 1948–49 and 1950 seasons ended with the two teams facing each other in Soviet Army Cup finals with Levski Sofia winning on both occasions after extra time of the second final replay, as the previous two final matches had finished as draws.

During the years, as the two teams became more and more successful, they gained large supporter bases. The confrontations between the clubs and their fans became commonplace and often resulted in tense encounters on the pitch and hooligan clashes between the fans off the pitch.

The hostility reached its climax on 19 June 1985 during the Bulgarian Cup final held at Vasil Levski National Stadium when, after many disputable referee decisions, both teams demonstrated poor sportsmanship which resulted in regular fights between them on the pitch. On 21 June, the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party issued a decree that disbanded both teams. CSKA Septemvriysko zname had to be re-founded as Sredets and Levski-Spartak as Vitosha. Six players (including Hristo Stoichkov and Borislav Mihaylov) were banned for life from playing competitive football; many other players and staff members were banned for three months to one year. A year later, the decision was abolished and the players continued their sport careers.

Although both Levski and CSKA are still regarded as the two most popular and supported teams in Bulgaria, neither of the two sides have been crowned champion after 2009. This has been mostly because of the rise of other clubs in the country, such as Litex Lovech and Ludogorets Razgrad. Litex won two consecutive titles between 2009 and 2011, while Ludogorets is currently on a streak of 14 consecutive titles since 2012. Despite this, the Eternal derby games are still usually the most attended ones in the league. In the 2010s, both CSKA and Levski experienced financial instability, with CSKA even being relegated to the third level of Bulgarian football after the 2014–15 season, while Levski was in very serious financial problems and ownership issues and was close to bankruptcy but the fans stepped in and saved the club. Since 2nd of June 2020 Nasko Sirakov has been a major owner and the club has been more stable financially in the last years.

Venues

During the years, all the matches between Levski and CSKA were held at a neutral venue, in most cases at the Vasil Levski National Stadium. During the 2000s the clubs started to play their eternal derby matches at their own stadiums Georgi Asparuhov and Balgarska Armia but soon they decided to move the matches between them back to the National Stadium because of its higher capacity and the damages done on club stadiums by the visiting supporters.

Only once in the history of the Eternal derby it was held outside Sofia – in 1991, Levski won the Bulgarian Cup quarter-final 2–0 in a match that was played at Tundzha Stadium in Yambol.

Results

CompetitionMatchesLevski winsdrawsCSKA winsGoal difference
League166574861214:229
Cup412210969:45
Other1362514:18
Total220856075297:292

Note: All matches that have finished with a win after extra time are represented as a win for the respective club. All matches that have finished with a penalty shoot-out are represented as draws with the final score after 120 minutes. As of 8 November 2025.

Matches list

A PFG / First League (1948–49 – present)

Levski – CSKACSKA – Levski
SeasonDate
1948–4911–12–1948
195023–03–1950
195112–09–1951
195204–04–1952
195323–09–1953
195415–11–1954
195530–09–1955
195601–08–1956
195714–04–1957
195806–07–1958
1958–5923–08–1958
1959–6029–11–1959
1960–6116–09–1960
1961–6215–07–1962
1962–6327–12–1962
1963–6405–10–1963
1964–6513–09–1964
1965–6628–04–1966
1966–6711–03–1967
1967–6829–10–1967
1968–6931–05–1969
1969–7007–07–1970
1970–7120–12–1970
1971–7205–07–1972
1972–7324–03–1973
1973–7424–04–1974
1974–7528–09–1974
1975–7607–05–1976
1976–7725–09–1976
1977–7829–10–1977
1978–7930–05–1979
1979–8022–03–1980
1980–8125–04–1981
1981–8205–09–1981
1982–8315–12–1982
1983–8410–12–1983
1984–8509–03–1985
1985–8622–12–1985
1986–8723–11–1986
1987–8823–08–1987
1988–8917–09–1988
1989–9007–04–1990
1990–9120–10–1990
1991–9223–11–1991
1992–9317–10–1992
1993–9407–11–1993
1994–9502–04–1995
1995–9618–11–1995
1996–9704–05–1997
1997–9810–04–1998
1998–9916–08–1998
1999–0013–05–2000
2000–0122–04–2001
2001–0230–09–2001
24–04–2002Georgi Asparuhov Stadium
2002–0310–05–2003
2003–0431–10–2003
2004–0523–04–2005
2005–0611–09–2005
2006–0717–09–2006
2007–0802–12–2007
2008–0901–11–2008
2009–1027–03–2010
2010–1126–02–2011
2011–1229–04–2012
2012–1327–04–2013
2013–1408–03–2014
21–04–2014Vasil Levski National Stadium
2014–1525–10–2014
2016–1704−03−2017
29−04−2017Vasil Levski National Stadium
2017–1821–10–2017
15−05−2018Vasil Levski National Stadium
2018–1924–02–2019
21−05−2019Vasil Levski National Stadium
2019–2015–02–2020
20–06–2020
2020–2125–04–2021
2021–2206–03–2022
17–04–2022
2022–2318–09–2022
07–06–2023Vasil Levski National Stadium
2023–2407–04–2024
27–04–2024
2024–2519–10–2024
2025–2608–11–2025

Bulgarian Cup and other

SeasonDateMatchStadiumAttendanceCompetition
19485 May 1948Levski 1−0 CSKAYunak Stadium12,000Sofia First Division
19485 September 1948Levski 2–1 CSKAYunak Stadium30,000Bulgarian Republic Championship final – 1st leg
9 September 1948CSKA 3–1 LevskiYunak Stadium30,000Bulgarian Republic Championship final – 2nd leg
19498 May 1949CSKA 1–1 LevskiYunak Stadium35,000Bulgarian Cup final
16 May 1949Levski 2–2 CSKAYunak Stadium35,000Bulgarian Cup final – 1st replay
17 May 1949Levski 2–1 CSKAYunak Stadium35,000Bulgarian Cup final – 2nd replay
19498 December 1949Levski 2–0 CSKAYunak Stadium15,000Sofia Qualification for Bulgarian Cup
195026 November 1950Levski 1–1 CSKABalgarska Armiya Stadium30,000Bulgarian Cup final
27 November 1950CSKA 1–1 LevskiBalgarska Armiya Stadium30,000Bulgarian Cup final – 1st replay
3 December 1950Levski 1−0 CSKABalgarska Armiya Stadium30,000Bulgarian Cup final – 2nd replay
24 December 1950Levski 1–0 CSKAYunak Stadium20,000Joseph Stalin Birthday Cup – final
19513 November 1951CSKA 3–0 LevskiBalgarska Armiya Stadium25,000Bulgarian Cup semi-final
195723 October 1957Levski 2−0 CSKAVasil Levski National Stadium50,000Bulgarian Cup semi-final
1964–658 September 1965CSKA 3–2 LevskiSlavia Stadium30,000Bulgarian Cup final
1968–6930 April 1969CSKA 2–1 LevskiVasil Levski National Stadium40,000Bulgarian Cup final
1969–7025 August 1970Levski 2–1 CSKAVasil Levski National Stadium46,000Bulgarian Cup final
1970–7114 April 1971Levski 2–2 CSKAVasil Levski National Stadium50,000Bulgarian Cup quarter-final
1973–7410 August 1974CSKA 2−1 LevskiVasil Levski National Stadium40,000Bulgarian Cup final
1975–762 June 1976Levski 4−3 CSKAVasil Levski National Stadium65,000Bulgarian Cup final
1978–794 April 1979Levski 2–1 CSKAVasil Levski National Stadium60,000Bulgarian Cup semi-final
1980–8110 June 1981Levski 0–1 CSKAVasil Levski National Stadium25,000Bulgarian Cup final group
29 July 1981Levski 2–0 CSKAVasil Levski National Stadium35,000Cup 1300 Years Bulgaria semi-final
1981–8216 June 1982Levski 4–0 CSKAVasil Levski National Stadium45,000Bulgarian Cup final
1982–832 March 1983Levski 1–1 CSKAVasil Levski National Stadium40,000Soviet Army Cup quarter-final
1983–8414 March 1984CSKA 0–1 LevskiVasil Levski National Stadium28,000Soviet Army Cup semi-final
31 March 1984CSKA 1–3 LevskiVasil Levski National Stadium25,000Bulgarian Cup semi-final
1984–8519 June 1985CSKA 2–1 LevskiVasil Levski National Stadium35,000Bulgarian Cup final
1985–8627 April 1986CSKA 1–2 LevskiVasil Levski National Stadium28,000Bulgarian Cup final
1986–8713 May 1987CSKA 2–1 LevskiVasil Levski National Stadium40,000Bulgarian Cup final
1987–8813 February 1988CSKA 0–3 LevskiVasil Levski National Stadium25,000Soviet Army Cup round of 16
11 May 1988Levski 1–4 CSKAVasil Levski National Stadium40,000Bulgarian Cup final
1990–9113 February 1991CSKA 0–2 LevskiTundzha Stadium – Yambol20,000Bulgarian Cup group stage
1995–9621 February 1996Levski 2–0 CSKAGeorgi Asparuhov Stadium40,000Bulgarian League Cup quarter-final
3 April 1996Levski 1–0 CSKAGeorgi Asparuhov Stadium25,000Bulgarian Cup semi-final, first leg
17 April 1996CSKA 2–4 LevskiBalgarska Armiya Stadium25,000Bulgarian Cup semi-final, second leg
1996–979 November 1996CSKA 3–0 (awarded) LevskiBulgarian League Cup quarter-final group
11 December 1996Levski 0–3 (awarded) CSKABulgarian League Cup quarter-final group
28 May 1997CSKA 3–1 LevskiVasil Levski National Stadium18,500Bulgarian Cup final
1997–9813 May 1998CSKA 0–5 LevskiVasil Levski National Stadium50,000Bulgarian Cup final
1999–200022 March 2000CSKA 0–1 LevskiBalgarska Armiya Stadium17,000Bulgarian Cup quarter-final, first leg
5 April 2000Levski 3–1 CSKAGeorgi Asparuhov Stadium27,000Bulgarian Cup quarter-final, second leg
2001–0215 May 2002CSKA 1–3 LevskiSlavia Stadium15,000Bulgarian Cup final
2002–0316 April 2003CSKA 0–1 LevskiBalgarska Armiya Stadium15,000Bulgarian Cup semi-final, first leg
3 May 2003Levski 0–0 CSKAGeorgi Asparuhov Stadium17,000Bulgarian Cup semi-final, second leg
2004–0525 May 2005Levski 2–1 CSKAVasil Levski National Stadium10,848Bulgarian Cup final
2005–0631 July 2005CSKA 1–1 LevskiVasil Levski National Stadium9,984Bulgarian Supercup
2006–0730 July 2006Levski 0–0 CSKAVasil Levski National Stadium9,751Bulgarian Supercup
2013–1416 November 2013CSKA 0–0 LevskiVasil Levski National Stadium11,670Bulgarian Cup round of 16 – 1st leg
19 December 2013Levski 0–0 CSKAVasil Levski National Stadium8,540Bulgarian Cup round of 16 – 2nd leg
2017–1811 April 2018CSKA 0–2 LevskiVasil Levski National Stadium20,000Bulgarian Cup semi-final, first leg
25 April 2018Levski 2–2 CSKAVasil Levski National Stadium24,000Bulgarian Cup semi-final, second leg
2021–2215 May 2022CSKA 0–1 LevskiVasil Levski National Stadium40,600Bulgarian Cup final

Trophies

National CompetitionLevski SofiaCSKA Sofia
A PFG / First League2631
Bulgarian Cup26+121+1
Soviet Army Cup34
Bulgarian Supercup34
Total5961

Head-to-head ranking in First League (1948–2025)

P.49505152535455565758596061626364656667686970717273747576777879808182838485868788899091929394959697989900010203040506070809101112131415161718192021222324252627123456789101112131415161718
111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
22222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222
33333333333333333333
4444444444
55555555555
66
7
8
11

• Total: CSKA with 46 higher finishes, Levski with 31 higher finishes (as of the end of the 2024–25 season).

Statistics

Biggest wins

Levski wins

7–1 – 23 September 1994, A PFG

7–2 – 17 November 1968, A PFG

5–0 – 13 May 1998, Bulgarian Cup final

4–0 – 16 June 1982, Bulgarian Cup final

CSKA wins

5–0 – 23 September 1953, A PFG; 1 October 1989, A PFG

4–0 – 14 April 1957, A PFG

Most appearances

35 – Manol Manolov (CSKA)

32 – Stefan Bozhkov (CSKA)

31 – Emil Spasov (Levski)

Most goals

15 – Georgi Ivanov (Levski)

14 – Nasko Sirakov (Levski)

12 – Pavel Panov (Levski)

11 – Dimitar Milanov (CSKA)

Most goals in one match

9 – Levski 6–3 CSKA (15 July 1962, A PFG); CSKA 2–7 Levski (17 November 1968, A PFG)

Most red cards

3 – Vladimir Gadzhev (Levski)

Most yellow cards

11 – Todor Yanchev (CSKA)

Record attendances

Highest attendance: 70,000 – 11 March 1967, Vasil Levski National Stadium (final score Levski 1–1 CSKA) and 31 May 1969, Vasil Levski National Stadium (final score Levski 1–3 CSKA)

Lowest attendance: 8,000 – 18 November 1995, Vasil Levski National Stadium (final score Levski 3–1 CSKA) and 26 May 2002, Balgarska Armiya Stadium (final score CSKA 1–0 Levski)

References

  1. [http://youtube.com/watch?v=8PFWqYp2rA0 The Maddest Derbies in Eastern Europe] YouTube
  2. (2008-11-01). "Бой на фенове преди Левски – ЦСКА (Fan fight before Levski – CSKA)". blitz.bg.
  3. (2020-06-04). "Фенове на Левски и ЦСКА се биха в Монтана, по-тежко пострадал е фен на "сините" (Levski and CSKA supporters fight in Montana, a fan of the blues seriously injured)". topsport.bg.
  4. Georgi Dimitrov. (2008-01-30). "Мачът за купата на България, игран на 19 юни 1985 г. (The match for the Bulgarian Cup, played on 19 June 1985)". log.bg.
  5. (2009-05-08). "ЦСКА – Левски: Мачът на България (CSKA – Levski: The match of Bulgaria)". Sportal.bg.
  6. "Левски срещу ЦСКА (София) | LevskiSofia.info".
  7. "Левски срещу ЦСКА-София (София) | LevskiSofia.info".
  8. "ЦСКА срещу Левски (София) — FCCSKA.com фенсайт на ЦСКА". Fccska.com.
  9. (5 March 2022). "Кой е най-гоненият футболист във Вечното дерби?". a-pfg.com.
Wikipedia Source

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