The Bulgaria men's national volleyball team represents the country in international competitions and friendly matches. It is controlled by the Bulgarian Volleyball Federation.
Association | Bulgarian Volleyball Federation | |||
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Confederation | CEV | |||
Head coach | Gianlorenzo Blengini | |||
FIVB ranking | 20 (as of 2 December 2023) | |||
Uniforms | ||||
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Summer Olympics | ||||
Appearances | 8 (First in 1964) | |||
Best result | (1980) | |||
World Championship | ||||
Appearances | 19 (First in 1949) | |||
Best result | (1970) | |||
World Cup | ||||
Appearances | 4 (First in 1965) | |||
Best result | (2007) | |||
European Championship | ||||
Appearances | 28 (First in 1950) | |||
Best result | (1951) | |||
www.volleyball.bg (in Bulgarian) | ||||
The team's achievements include winning the Balkan Championships in 1980, Runners-Up (1970) 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 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, Martin Stoev, etc. 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.
The following is the Bulgaria roster in the 2022 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship.[1][2]
Head coach: Plamen Konstantinov
No. | Name | Position | Date of birth | Height | Weight | Spike | Block | 2022–23 club |
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1 | Denis Karyagin | OH | 28 September 2002 | 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) | 99 kg (218 lb) | 355 cm (140 in) | 340 cm (130 in) | Spacer's Toulouse Volley |
2 | Stefan Chavdarov | MB | 26 July 1995 | 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) | 98 kg (216 lb) | 348 cm (137 in) | 335 cm (132 in) | Deya Volley |
3 | Nikolay Kolev | MB | 16 December 1997 | 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) | 86 kg (190 lb) | 355 cm (140 in) | 340 cm (130 in) | Narbonne Volley |
4 | Martin Atanasov | OH | 27 September 1996 | 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) | 80 kg (180 lb) | 358 cm (141 in) | 335 cm (132 in) | Lokomotiv Novosibirsk |
8 | Asparuh Asparuhov | OH | 28 July 2000 | 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) | 88 kg (194 lb) | 353 cm (139 in) | 335 cm (132 in) | Kioene Padova |
9 | Georgi Seganov | S | 10 June 1993 | 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) | 83 kg (183 lb) | 340 cm (130 in) | 325 cm (128 in) | GKS Katowice |
11 | Aleks Grozdanov | MB | 28 March 1998 | 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) | 90 kg (200 lb) | 357 cm (141 in) | 334 cm (131 in) | WithU Verona Volley |
14 | Martin Bozhilov | L | 11 April 1988 | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) | 82 kg (181 lb) | 320 cm (130 in) | 305 cm (120 in) | CSKA Sofia |
17 | Nikolay Penchev | OH | 22 May 1992 | 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) | 90 kg (200 lb) | 345 cm (136 in) | 337 cm (133 in) | Epicentr-Podolyany |
19 | Tsvetan Sokolov | OP | 31 December 1989 | 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) | 110 kg (240 lb) | 365 cm (144 in) | 350 cm (140 in) | Dynamo Moscow |
21 | Simeon Dobrev | L | 15 April 2001 | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | 66 kg (146 lb) | 305 cm (120 in) | 295 cm (116 in) | Neftochimic Burgas |
22 | Simeon Nikolov | S | 24 November 2006 | 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) | 92 kg (203 lb) | 365 cm (144 in) | 340 cm (130 in) | Levski Sofia |
23 | Aleksandar Nikolov | OH | 30 November 2003 | 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) | 100 kg (220 lb) | 353 cm (139 in) | 340 cm (130 in) | Cucine Lube Civitanova |
24 | Ilia Petkov | MB | 10 October 1996 | 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) | 88 kg (194 lb) | 350 cm (140 in) | 337 cm (133 in) | Hebar Pazardzhik |
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The table below shows the history of kit providers for the Bulgaria national volleyball team.
Period | Kit provider |
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2002–2019 | Asics |
2019– | Erreà |
The main sponsor of the national team is the Bulgarian betting company efbet, while Asics, Mikasa and Lidl are secondary sponsors.[3]