Bulgaria men's national basketball team

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Bulgaria
1961
)
First international
 Italy 42–23 Bulgaria 
(Geneva, Switzerland; 2 May 1935)
Biggest win
 Ireland 55–133 Bulgaria 
(Heerlen, Netherlands; 4 May 1972)
Biggest defeat
 Bulgaria 60–104 Russia 
(Botevgrad, Bulgaria; 21 February 2019)

The Bulgaria men's national basketball team (Bulgarian: Български национален отбор по баскетбол, romanizedBalgarski natsionalen otbor po basketbol) represents Bulgaria in international basketball. The governing body is the Bulgarian Basketball Federation.

Bulgaria's first appearance at an international tournament came at the

FIBA World Cup, where they finished seventh in their lone appearance in 1959. Competing at the Olympic Games multiple times, the national team had their top performance in 1956. Bulgaria has also competed at smaller events, such as the Balkan Championship
, winning gold medals in 1959, 1960, and 1971.

History

EuroBasket 1935

Bulgaria debuted on the international stage at the first

Belgium
, and to Italy again. The national team would finishing off their tournament debut in 8th place.

EuroBasket 1947

Twelve years later, the Bulgarian national team reached the tournament once again, for their second appearance overall. At the

Hungary
, which they lost. The national team would once again end the tournament reaching the quarterfinals.

EuroBasket 1951

Bulgaria's third appearance was at

Soviet Union
in a semifinal matchup, which the Bulgarians lost. The national team then went on to lose again, in the bronze medal game to France.

EuroBasket 1953

The national team's next appearance was in Moscow for EuroBasket 1953. They found themselves on the unfortunate end of a three-way tiebreaker after finishing 3–1 in their preliminary group, and their 3rd place rank in the group sent them to the classification round, a disappointing turn of events for Bulgaria which had expected to do at least as well as they had two years prior. They won their next five matches to take the highest place available, after the preliminary round. Thus, reaching the quarterfinals in the tournament with an 8–1 record.

EuroBasket 1955

At

Czechoslovakia
. After losing to the three eventual medalists in the final round, Bulgaria finished the round with a 4–3 record while once again reaching the semifinals.

EuroBasket 1957

Bulgaria hosted the

Soviet Union squad, Bulgaria led by 4 points at halftime, 23–19. Their lead did not last through the second half though, however, as the Soviets powered to a 60–57 final, Bulgaria finished as the runners-up with the silver medal
.

1959 World Cup

Bulgaria made its debut at the

Soviets refused to play Formosa
, due to political reasons. This mishap caused the national team to be relegated to seventh place at the tournament.

EuroBasket 1961

At the

France
, where they came away with a victory to end the tournament on a high note.

Later years

Bulgaria would go on to qualify to the

European Basketball Championship 16 more times after 1961, but never came away with a top three finish at the event. The Bulgarian side have endured multiple droughts without qualifying as well, e.g. not reaching the tournament for 12 years after EuroBasket 1993 until EuroBasket 2005. As well as not having qualified to the tournament since 2011. They have also attempted to qualify for the World Cup
on numerous occasions since 1959, although they have yet to succeed in their bid.

Competitive record

Results and fixtures

  Win   Loss

2023

Norway  v  Bulgaria
19 July 2023 Norway  86–80  Bulgaria Asker, Norway
19:00 (UTC+2) Scoring by quarter: 22–21, 27–18, 19–8, 18–33
Pts: Frey 27
Rebs: Ndow 8
Asts: Frey
4
Boxscore Pts: Miller-McIntyre 20
Rebs: Alipiev 7
Asts: P. Ivanov 9
Arena: Varner Arena
Attendance: 1,950
Referees: Gatis Saliņš (LAT), Michał Proc (POL), Gvidas Gedvilas (LTU)
22 July 2023 Bulgaria  83–71  Austria Botevgrad, Bulgaria
18:00 (UTC+3) Scoring by quarter: 15–20, 19–7, 26–20, 23–24
6 Boxscore Pts: Vujošević 15
Rebs: Vujošević 6
Asts: Vujošević 7
Arena: Arena Botevgrad
Attendance: 1,500
Referees: Aleksandar Glišić (SRB), Gintaras Mačiulis (LTU), Zdenko Tomašovič (SVK)
29 July 2023 Bulgaria  91–69  Norway Botevgrad, Bulgaria
18:00 (UTC+3) Scoring by quarter: 20–14, 30–20, 24–17, 17–18
13 Boxscore Pts: Kolstad 12
Rebs: Sjölund 6
Asts: Frey 8
Arena: Arena Botevgrad
Attendance: 2,000
Referees: Yener Yılmaz (TUR), Josip Jurčević (CRO), Vladimir Jevtović (SRB)
2 August 2023 Austria  71–85  Bulgaria Schwechat, Austria
19:15 (UTC+2) Scoring by quarter: 13–28, 25–25, 14–16, 19–16
3 Boxscore Pts: Miller-McIntyre, P. Ivanov 18
Rebs: Kostadinov, Simeonov 8
Asts: Miller-McIntyre 8
Arena: Multiversum
Attendance: 1,700
Referees: Michał Proc (POL), Marek Kúkelčík (SVK), Carsten Straube (GER)

2024

22 February 2024 Sweden  84–70  Bulgaria Partille, Sweden
19:00 (UTC+1) Scoring by quarter: 29–22, 21–21, 12–12, 22–15
5 Boxscore Pts: Miller-McIntyre 21
Rebs: Minchev 13
Asts: Ivanov 4
Arena: Partille Arena
Attendance: 4,567
Referees: Boris Krejić (SVN), Mihkel Männiste (EST), Ilias Kounelles (CYP)
25 February 2024 Bulgaria  67–62  Germany Botevgrad, Bulgaria
17:00 (UTC+2) Scoring by quarter: 7–19, 21–8, 11–18, 28–17
Pts: Miller-McIntyre 23
Rebs: four players 5
Asts: Miller-McIntyre
4
Boxscore Pts: Da Silva 15
Rebs: Da Silva 12
Asts: Da Silva 4
Arena: Arena Botevgrad
Attendance: 4,500
Referees: Marius Ciulin (ROU), Martin Vulić (CRO), Vladimir Jevtović (SRB)
22 November 2024 Montenegro  vs.  Bulgaria Montenegro
Boxscore

2025

20 February 2025 Bulgaria  vs.  Sweden Bulgaria
Boxscore
23 February 2025 Germany  vs.  Bulgaria Germany
Boxscore

Team

Current roster

Roster for EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers matches on 22 and 25 February 2024 against Sweden and Germany.[2]

Bulgaria men's national basketball team roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr.
G
0 Codi Miller-McIntyre 29 – (1994-06-01)1 June 1994 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) Baskonia Spain
PG 2 Deyan Karamfilov 30 – (1994-01-21)21 January 1994 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) Rilski Sportist Bulgaria
SF 8 Ivan Alipiev 24 – (1999-07-28)28 July 1999 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) Latina Italy
SG 10 Pavlin Ivanov 30 – (1993-03-28)28 March 1993 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) CSU Sibiu Romania
F
11 Yordan Minchev 25 – (1998-10-17)17 October 1998 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Balkan Bulgaria
F
15 Konstantin Kostadinov 20 – (2003-03-25)25 March 2003 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Fundación Lucentum Spain
PG 22 Konstantin Toshkov 22 – (2002-02-14)14 February 2002 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) Spartak Bulgaria
F
24 Georgi Boyanov 30 – (1993-05-09)9 May 1993 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) CSKA Sofia Bulgaria
C 25 Andrey Ivanov 30 – (1993-05-09)9 May 1993 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) Chernomorets Bulgaria
SF 26 Hristo Zahariev 33 – (1990-10-27)27 October 1990 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) Chernomorets Bulgaria
PF
34 Dimitar Dimitrov 30 – (1993-03-01)1 March 1993 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Balkan Bulgaria
PG 35 Ventsislav Petkov 32 – (1991-10-14)14 October 1991 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) CSKA Sofia Bulgaria
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Club – describes last
    club before the competition
  • Age – describes age
    on 22 February 2024

Depth chart

Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2
C Emil Stoilov Simeon Lepichev
PF
Sasha Vezenkov Dimitar Dimitrov Georgi Boyanov
SF Yordan Minchev Ivan Alipiev Aleks Simeonov
SG Chavdar Kostov Pavlin Ivanov
PG Codi Miller-McIntyre Deyan Karamfilov Lachezar Dimitrov

Head coach position

Notable players

Past rosters

1935 EuroBasket
: finished 8th among 10 teams

3 Krum Konstantinov, 4 Pinkas, 5 Etropolski, 6 Rogachev, 7 Tsankov, 8 Kevorkjan, 9 Khaimov (Coach: Krum Konstantinov)


1947 EuroBasket
: finished 8th among 14 teams

3 Veselin Temkov, 4 Krhisto Khajtov, 5 Ljudmil Katerinski, 6 Aleksandar Damjanov, 7 Sharkov, 8 Kosanov, 9 Peev, 10 Konstantin Georgiev, 11 Nikola Kolev, 12 Rajkov, 13 Bozhidar Takev, 14 Ilija Asenov, 15 Stefan Bankov (Coach: Georgi Petkov)


1951 EuroBasket
: finished 4th among 17 teams

3 Iliya Georgiev, 4 Stefan Bankov, 5 Neycho Neychev, 6 Vladimir Savov, 7 Ilija Asenov, 8 Petar Shishkov, 9 Kiril Semov, 10 Konstantin Totev, 11 Anton Kuzov, 12 Gencho Khristov, 13 Ivan Nikolov, 14 Dimitar Popov, 15 Metodi Tomovski, 16 Konstantin Georgiev (Coach: Veselin Temkov)


1952 Olympic Games: finished 7th among 23 teams

3 Iliya Georgiev, 4 Kiril Semov, 5 Neycho Neychev, 6 Khristo Donchev, 7 Vasil Manchenko, 8 Petar Shishkov, 9 Georgi Panov, 10 Konstantin Totev, 11 Anton Kuzov, 12 Gencho Khristov, 13 Ivan Nikolov, 14 Veselin Penkov, 15 Konstantin Georgiev, 16 Vladimir Savov (Coach: Veselin Temkov)


1953 EuroBasket
: finished 9th among 17 teams

3 Iliya Georgiev, 4 Vladimir Stefanov, 5 Velko Velkov, 6 Khristo Donchev, 7 Vasil Manchenko, 8 Konstantin Georgiev, 9 Georgi Panov, 10 Konstantin Totev, 11 Anton Kuzov, 12 Dimitar Popov, 13 Lyubomir Panov, 14 Veselin Penkov, 15 Iliya Mirchev, 16 Vladimir Savov (Coach: Veselin Temkov)


1955 EuroBasket
: finished 4th among 18 teams

3 Vasil Manchenko, 4 Vladimir Ganchev, 5 Iliya Mirchev, 6 Rajkov, 7 Gencho Khristov, 8 Anton Kuzov, 9 Georgi Panov, 10 Konstantin Totev, 11 Cvjatko Barchovski, 12 Metodi Tomovski, 13 Viktor Radev, 14 Emanuil Gyaurov (Coach: Bozhidar Takev)


1956 Olympic Games: finished 5th among 15 teams

3 Atanas Atanasov, 4 Vladimir Savov, 5 Iliya Mirchev, 6 Viktor Radev, 7 Georgi Kanev, 8 Vasil Manchenko, 9 Georgi Panov, 10 Konstantin Totev, 11 Tsvetko Slavov, 12 Lyubomir Panov, 13 Nikolay Ilov (Coach: Ljudmil Katerinski)


1957 EuroBasket
: finished 2nd Silver among 16 teams

3 Mikhail Semov, 4 Vladimir Ganchev, 5 Iliya Mirchev, 6 Viktor Radev, 7 Georgi Kanev, 8 Petko Lazarov, 9 Georgi Panov, 10 Konstantin Totev, 11 Tsvetko Slavov, 12 Lyubomir Panov, 13 Metodi Tomovski, 14 Atanas Atanasov (Coach: Ljudmil Katerinski)


1959 FIBA World Cup: finished 7th among 13 teams

3 Mikhail Semov, 4 Gencho Khristov, 5 Iliya Mirchev, 6 Viktor Radev, 7 Georgi Kanev, 8 Petko Lazarov, 9 Georgi Panov, 10 Emanuil Gyaurov, 11 Tsvetko Slavov, 12 Lyubomir Panov, 13 Metodi Tomovski, 14 Atanas Atanasov (Coach: Ljudmil Katerinski)


1959 EuroBasket
: finished 5th among 17 teams

3 Angel Shipkov, 5 Iliya Mirchev, 6 Viktor Radev, 7 Georgi Kanev, 8 Petko Lazarov, 9 Georgi Panov, 10 Khristo Donchev, 12 Mikhail Semov, 13 Nikolay Ilov, 14 Atanas Atanasov, 15 Tsvetko Slavov, 16 Gencho Khristov (Coach: Ljudmil Katerinski)


1960 Olympic Games: finished 16th among 16 teams

3 Stefan Stoykov, 5 Iliya Mirchev, 6 Viktor Radev, 7 Georgi Kanev, 8 Petko Lazarov, 9 Georgi Panov, 10 Emanuil Gyaurov, 11 Tsvetko Slavov, 12 Lyubomir Panov, 13 Nikolay Ilov, 14 Atanas Atanasov, 15 Khristo Tsvetkov (Coach: Nikola Kolev)


1961 EuroBasket
: finished 3rd Bronze among 19 teams

4 Mincho Dimov, 5 Iliya Mirchev, 6 Viktor Radev, 7 Stefan Stoykov, 8 Petko Lazarov, 9 Georgi Panov, 10 Khristo Donchev, 11 Tsvetko Slavov, 12 Lyubomir Panov, 13 Khristo Tsvetkov, 14 Atanas Atanasov, 15 Radko Zlatev (Coach: Veselin Temkov)


1963 EuroBasket
: finished 5th among 16 teams

4 Stefan Filipov, 5 Iliya Mirchev, 6 Viktor Radev, 7 Georgi Kanev, 8 Mincho Dimov, 9 Georgi Panov, 10 Dimitar Donev, 11 Tsvetko Slavov, 12 Lyubomir Panov, 13 Nikola Atanasov, 14 Atanas Atanasov, 15 Kliment Kamenarov (Coach: Kiril Khajtov)


1965 EuroBasket
: finished 5th among 16 teams

4 Mincho Dimov, 6 Pando Pandov, 7 Georgi Barzakov, 8 Emil Mikhaylov, 9 Valentin Spasov, 10 Kamen Ilchev, 11 Stefan Filipov, 12 Borislav Kolev, 13 Slavey Raychev, 14 Atanas Atanasov, 15 Radko Zlatev, 16 Boto Paspalanov (Coach: Kiril Semov)


1967 EuroBasket
: finished 4th among 16 teams

4 Emil Mikhaylov, 5 Slavey Raychev, 6 Pando Pandov, 7 Khristo Doychinov, 8 Georgi Guenev, 9 Boris Krastev, 10 Mincho Dimov, 11 Cvjatko Barchovski, 12 Ivan Vodenicharski, 13 Boycho Branzov, 14 Temelaki Dimitrov, 15 Georgi Khristov (Coach: Kiril Khajtov)


1968 Olympic Games: finished 10th among 16 teams

4 Emil Mikhaylov, 5 Stanislav Boyadzhiev, 6 Pando Pandov, 7 Khristo Doychinov, 8 Valentin Spasov, 9 Stefan Filipov, 10 Mincho Dimov, 11 Ivaylo Kirov, 12 Dimitar Sakhanikov, 13 Boycho Branzov, 14 Slavey Raychev, 15 Georgi Khristov (Coach: Kiril Khajtov)


1969 EuroBasket
: finished 7th among 12 teams

4 Khristo Doychinov, 5 Rumen Pejchev, 6 Atanas Golomeev, 7 Dimitar Galabov, 8 Ivan Rusinov, 9 Georgi Barzakov, 10 Mincho Dimov, 11 Bogomil Chanev, 12 Stancho Kostov, 13 Boycho Branzov, 14 Temelaki Dimitrov, 15 Georgi Khristov (Coach: Dimitar Mitev)


1971 EuroBasket
: finished 6th among 12 teams

4 Rumen Pejchev, 5 Stefan Filipov, 6 Pando Pandov, 7 Khristo Doychinov, 9 llija Yankov, 10 Boto Paspalanov, 11 Atanas Golomeev, 12 Docho Petrov, 13 Ivaylo Kirov, 14 Slavey Raychev, 15 Georgi Khristov, 16 Bogomil Chanev (Coach: Dimitar Mitev)


1973 EuroBasket
: finished 6th among 12 teams

4 Khristo Doychinov, 5 Georgi Stojanov, 6 Pando Pandov, 7 Rumen Pejchev, 8 Ivaylo Kirov, 9 Khristo Borisov, 10 Marin Romanski, 11 Atanas Golomeev, 12 Boris Krastev, 13 Boycho Branzov, 14 Bogomil Chanev, 15 Georgi Khristov (Coach: Nejcho Nejchev)


1975 EuroBasket
: finished 5th among 12 teams

4 Khristo Doychinov, 5 Valentin Petkov, 6 Atanas Stojanov, 7 Docho Petrov, 8 Mikhail Mikhajlov, 9 Valentin Sharkov, 10 Marin Romanski, 11 Atanas Golomeev, 12 Mikhail Dukov, 13 Boycho Branzov, 14 Temelaki Dimitrov, 15 Georgi Khristov (Coach: Ivan Kolev)


1977 EuroBasket
: finished 6th among 12 teams

4 Milko Arabadzhijski, 5 Linben Yosifov, 6 Petko Marinov, 7 Stojan Shantov, 8 Ilija Evtimov, 9 Mikail Smochevski, 10 Valentin Sharkov, 11 Atanas Golomeev, 12 Plamen Takev, 13 Atanas Kolev, 14 Todor Bogdanov, 15 Rumen Pejchev (Coach: Nejcho Nejchev)


1979 EuroBasket
: finished 11th among 12 teams

4 Georgi Glouchkov, 5 Atanas Kolev, 6 Dimitar Donov, 7 Mikhail Manolov, 8 Ilija Evtimov, 9 Hristo Borissov, 10 Valentin Sharkov, 11 Rumen Pejchev, 12 Ognjan Rusev, 13 Milko Arabadzhijski, 14 Todor Bogdanov, 15 Dimitar Marchin (Coach: Ivan Todorov)


1985 EuroBasket
: finished 8th among 12 teams

4 Kojo Koev, 5 Atanas Kolev, 6 Jordan Kolev, 7 Rosen Barchovski, 8 Ilija Evtimov, 9 Saško Vezenkov, 10 Ivan Cenov, 11 Georgi Mladenov, 12 Cvetan Antov, 13 Emil Jonov, 14 Georgi Glouchkov, 15 Ljubomir Amiorkov (Coach: Cvjatko Barchovski)


1989 EuroBasket
: finished 7th among 8 teams

4 Kojo Koev, 5 Eduard Vălčev, 6 Jordan Kolev, 7 Robert Gergov, 8 Georgi Glouchkov, 9 Ventsislav Slavov, 10 Ivan Cenov, 11 Saško Vezenkov, 12 Georgi Mladenov, 13 Emil Jonov, 14 Cvetan Antov, 15 Ljubomir Amiorkov (Coach: Kiril Semov)


1991 EuroBasket
: finished 8th among 8 teams

4 Ivajlo Ravucov, 5 Cvetan Nedelčev, 6 Jordan Kolev, 7 Robert Gergov, 8 Spas Natov, 9 Plamen Petrov, 10 Ivan Cenov, 11 Saško Vezenkov, 12 Georgi Mladenov, 13 Daniel Dimitrov, 14 Georgi Glouchkov, 15 Lubomir Amiorkov (Coach: Saško Vezenkov)


1993 EuroBasket
: finished 16th among 16 teams

4 Stanislav Stankov, 5 Anton Kharalanov, 6 Dimo Kostov, 7 Ivajlo Ravutsov, 8 Spas Natov, 9 Ventsislav Slavov, 10 Daniel Dimitrov, 11 Vladimir Dimitrov, 12 Georgi Mladenov, 13 Vasil Stojanov, 14 Robert Gergov, 15 Lubomir Amiorkov (Coach: Saško Vezenkov)


2005 EuroBasket
: finished 13th among 16 teams

4 Dejan Ivanov, 5 Kaloyan Ivanov, 6 Tenčo Banev, 7 Yulian Radionov, 8 Filip Videnov, 9 Yordan Bozov, 10 Georgi Davidov, 11 Dimitar Angelov, 12 Stefan Georgiev, 13 Boyko Mladenov, 14 Hrisimir Dimitrov, 15 Todor Stoykov (Coach: Rosen Barchovski)


2009 EuroBasket
: finished 16th among 16 teams

4 Deyan Ivanov, 5 Kaloyan Ivanov, 6 Chavdar Kostov, 7 Earl Rowland, 8 Filip Videnov, 9 Stanislav Slaveykov, 10 Stefan Georgiev, 11 Dimitar Angelov, 12 Vassil Evtimov, 13 Boyko Mladenov, 14 Bozhidar Avramov, 15 Todor Stoykov (Coach: Pini Gershon)


2011 EuroBasket
: finished 13th among 24 teams

4 Dejan Ivanov, 5 Kaloyan Ivanov, 6 Earl Rowland, 7 Chavdar Kostov, 8 Filip Videnov, 9 Pavel Marinov, 10 Bozhidar Avramov, 11 Zlatin Georgiev, 12 Aleksandar Yanev, 13 Asen Velikov, 14 Tencho Banev, 15 Nikolay Varbanov (Coach: Rosen Barchovski)


2022 EuroBasket: finished 20th among 24 teams[3]

0 Ivan Alipiev, 1 Dee Bost, 2 Deyan Karamfilov, 9 Chavdar Kostov (C), 12 Aleksandar Yanev, 17 Emil Stoilov, 22 Pavlin Ivanov,
23 Stanimir Marinov, 24 Andrey Ivanov, 34 Dimitar Dimitrov, 41 Sasha Vezenkov, 99 Aleks Simeonov (Coach: Rosen Barchovski)

See also

References

  1. ^ "FIBA Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 1 March 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  2. ^ "Bulgaria during the EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers in February 2024". Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  3. ^ "Bulgaria the EuroBasket 2022". Retrieved 7 September 2022.

External links