Bulgaria men's national volleyball team
The Bulgaria men's national volleyball team represents the country in international competitions and friendly matches. It is controlled by the Bulgarian Volleyball Federation.
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| Association | Bulgarian Volleyball Federation | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Confederation | CEV | |||
| Head coach | Plamen Konstantinov | |||
| FIVB ranking | 31 (as of 15 September 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) | ||||




History
    
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.
Statistics
    
    Olympic Games
    
 1972 Munich — 4th place 1972 Munich — 4th place
 1980 Moscow — 1980 Moscow — Silver medal Silver medal
 2012 London — 4th place 2012 London — 4th place- G. Bratoev, Skrimov, Dimitrov, V. Bratoev, V. Nikolov (C), Yosifov, Salparov, Todorov, Aleksiev, Penchev, N. Nikolov, Sokolov. Head coach: Naydenov
 
World Championship
    
 1949 Czechoslovakia — 1949 Czechoslovakia — Bronze medal Bronze medal
 1952 Soviet Union — 1952 Soviet Union — Bronze medal Bronze medal
 1962 Soviet Union — 4th place 1962 Soviet Union — 4th place
.svg.png.webp) 1970 Bulgaria — 1970 Bulgaria — Silver medal Silver medal
 1986 France — 1986 France — Bronze medal Bronze medal
 2006 Japan — 2006 Japan — Bronze medal Bronze medal
 2010 Italy — 7th place 2010 Italy — 7th place
 2014 Poland — 13th place 2014 Poland — 13th place
   2018 Italy/Bulgaria — 11th place 2018 Italy/Bulgaria — 11th place
   2022 Poland/Slovenia — 20th place 2022 Poland/Slovenia — 20th place
World Cup
    
 1969 East Germany — 4th place 1969 East Germany — 4th place
 2007 Japan — 2007 Japan — Bronze medal Bronze medal
European Championship
    
 1950 Bulgaria — 4th place 1950 Bulgaria — 4th place
 1951 France — 1951 France — Silver medal Silver medal
.svg.png.webp) 1955 Romania — 1955 Romania — Bronze medal Bronze medal
 1958 Czechoslovakia — 4th place 1958 Czechoslovakia — 4th place
.svg.png.webp) 1963 Romania — 4th place 1963 Romania — 4th place
.svg.png.webp) 1981 Bulgaria — 1981 Bulgaria — Bronze medal Bronze medal
 1983 East Germany — 1983 East Germany — Bronze medal Bronze medal
 1995 Greece — 4th place 1995 Greece — 4th place
 2009 Turkey — 2009 Turkey — Bronze medal Bronze medal
   2011 Austria/Czech Republic — 6th place 2011 Austria/Czech Republic — 6th place
   2013 Denmark/Poland — 4th place 2013 Denmark/Poland — 4th place
   2015 Bulgaria/Italy — 4th place 2015 Bulgaria/Italy — 4th place
 2017 Poland — 6th place 2017 Poland — 6th place
    .svg.png.webp)   2019 France/Slovenia/Belgium/Netherlands — 11th place 2019 France/Slovenia/Belgium/Netherlands — 11th place
       2021 Poland/Czech Republic/Estonia/Finland — 11th place 2021 Poland/Czech Republic/Estonia/Finland — 11th place
World League
    
 1994 — 4th place 1994 — 4th place
 1995 — 5th place 1995 — 5th place
 1996 — 8th place 1996 — 8th place
 1997 — 6th place 1997 — 6th place
 1998 Milan — 7th place 1998 Milan — 7th place
 2003 Madrid — 5th place 2003 Madrid — 5th place
 2004 Rome — 4th place 2004 Rome — 4th place
.svg.png.webp) 2005 Belgrade — 5th place 2005 Belgrade — 5th place
 2006 Moscow — 4th place 2006 Moscow — 4th place
 2007 Katowice — 5th place 2007 Katowice — 5th place
 2008 Rio de Janeiro — 7th place 2008 Rio de Janeiro — 7th place
 2009 Belgrade — 10th place 2009 Belgrade — 10th place
 2010 Córdoba — 7th place 2010 Córdoba — 7th place
 2011 Gdańsk — 5th place 2011 Gdańsk — 5th place
 2012 Sofia — 4th place 2012 Sofia — 4th place
 2013 Mar del Plata — 4th place 2013 Mar del Plata — 4th place
 2014 Florence — 8th place 2014 Florence — 8th place
 2015 Rio de Janeiro — 10th place 2015 Rio de Janeiro — 10th place
 2016 Kraków — 11th place 2016 Kraków — 11th place
 2017 Curitiba — 9th place 2017 Curitiba — 9th place
Nations League
    
 2018 Lille — 11th place 2018 Lille — 11th place
 2019 Chicago — 12th place 2019 Chicago — 12th place
 2021 Rimini — 15th place 2021 Rimini — 15th place
 2022 Bologna — 14th place 2022 Bologna — 14th place
 2023 Gdańsk — 15th place 2023 Gdańsk — 15th place
European Games
    
 2015 Baku — 2015 Baku — Silver medal Silver medal
Universiade
    
 1961 Sofia — 1961 Sofia — Silver medal Silver medal
.svg.png.webp) 1977 Sofia — 1977 Sofia — Gold medal Gold medal
Team
    
    Current squad
    
The following is the Bulgaria roster in the 2022 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship.[1][2]
Head coach:  Plamen Konstantinov
 Plamen Konstantinov
| No. | Name | Position | Date of birth | Height | Weight | Spike | Block | 2022–23 club | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) | 91 kg (201 lb) | 365 cm (144 in) | 340 cm (130 in) |  Levski Sofia | 
| 23 | Aleksandar Nikolov | OH | 30 November 2003 | 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) | 98 kg (216 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 | 
Head coaches
    
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Kit providers
    
The table below shows the history of kit providers for the Bulgaria national volleyball team.
| Period | Kit provider | 
|---|---|
| 2002–2019 | Asics | 
| 2019– | Erreà | 
See also
    
- Bulgaria men's team
- Bulgaria men's U19 team
- Bulgaria men's U21 team
- Bulgaria men's U23 team
- Bulgaria women's team
References
    
- "Daily bulletin Poland" (PDF). Retrieved 8 September 2023.
- "Team Bulgaria". en.volleyballworld.com. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
- "Българска Федерация Волейбол". bvf.bg. Retrieved 8 September 2023.








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