Bulgaria men's national volleyball team

Bulgaria

Nickname(s)	Лъвовете (The Lions)
Association	Bulgarian Volleyball Federation
Confederation	CEV
Head coach	Gianlorenzo Blengini
Uniforms
Home Away Third
Summer Olympics
Appearances	8 (First in 1964)
Best result	(1980)
World Championship
Appearances	20 (First in 1949)
Best result	(1970, 2025)
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)
Honours Event 1st 2nd 3rd 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 Total 0 5 9 Medal record Olympic Games 1980 Moscow Team World Championship 1970 Bulgaria 2025 Philippines Team 1949 Czechoslovakia 1952 Soviet Union 1986 France Team 2006 Japan Team World Cup 2007 Japan Team European Championship 1951 Paris 1955 Bucharest 1981 Varna 1983 East Berlin 2009 Turkey Team European Games 2015 Baku Team

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.

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.

  Champions    Runners up    Third place    Fourth place

Olympic Games record
Year	Round	Position	GP	MW	ML	SW	SL	SPW	SPL	Squad
1964	Round robin	5th / 10	9	5	4	20	16	464	429	Squad
1968	Round robin	6th / 10	9	4	5	16	17	379	385	Squad
1972	Semifinals	4th / 12	7	4	3	15	14	386	347	Squad
1976	Did not qualify
1980	Finals	2nd / 10	6	4	2	13	8	263	241	Squad
1984	Withdrew
1988	Final round	6th / 12	7	3	4	10	12	259	270	Squad
1992	Did not qualify
1996	Semifinals	7th / 12	8	4	4	15	16	379	396	Squad
2000	Did not qualify
2004
2008	Quarterfinals	5th / 12	6	3	3	11	12	527	535	Squad
2012	Semifinals	4th / 12	8	5	3	18	10	653	636	Squad
2016	Did not qualify
2020
2024
Total	0 Titles	8/16	60	32	28	118	105	3,310	3,239	—

  Champions    Runners up    Third place    Fourth place     As host

World Championship record
Year	Round	Position	GP	MW	ML	SW	SL	SPW	SPL	Squad
1949	Final round	3rd / 10	7	5	2	15	10	293	277	—
1952	Final round	3rd / 11	8	5	3	18	12	407	337	—
1956	Final round	5th / 24	10	6	4	24	16	538	440	—
1960	Did not qualify
1962	Final round	4th / 21	11	8	3	27	19	624	545	—
1966	Final round	7th / 22	10	5	5	19	18	470	407	—
1970	Final round	2nd / 24	11	10	1	32	7	547	384	—
1974	Final round	7th / 24	11	8	3	27	13	562	402	—
1978	Final round	10th / 24	9	5	4	17	17	410	394	—
1982	Final round	5th / 24	9	6	3	21	14	447	393	—
1986	Final round	3rd / 16	8	6	2	19	7	346	283	Squad
1990	Final round	5th / 16	7	3	4	12	16	327	370	Squad
1994	Final round	9th / 16	4	2	2	7	7	164	180	Squad
1998	Final round	7th / 24	12	7	5	23	23	570	594	Squad
2002	Second round	13th–16th / 24	6	2	4	13	13	588	584	Squad
2006	Final round	3rd / 24	11	9	2	29	14	1,008	937	Squad
2010	Final round	7th / 24	9	5	4	21	13	809	789	Squad
2014	First round	13th–14th / 24	9	3	6	14	20	718	765	Squad
2018	Second round	11th / 24	8	4	4	16	12	625	617	Squad
2022	First round	20th / 24	3	0	3	2	9	228	262	Squad
2025	Final	2nd / 32	7	6	1	19	8	622	544	Squad
Total	0 Titles	20/21	170	105	65	375	268	10,303	9,504	—

  Champions    Runners up    Third place    Fourth place

World Cup record
Year	Round	Position	GP	MW	ML	SW	SL	SPW	SPL	Squad
1965	Final round	9th / 11	6	2	4	11	13	296	292	—
1969	Final round	4th / 12	6	3	3	12	9	268	229	—
1977	Final round	6th / 12	8	3	5	12	17	311	341	—
1981	Did not qualify
1985
1989
1991
1995
1999
2003
2007	Fourth round	3rd / 12	11	9	2	29	13	988	881	Squad
2011	Did not qualify
2015
2019
Total	0 Titles	4/14	31	17	14	64	52	1,863	1,743	—

  Champions    Runners up    Third place    Fourth place     As host

European Championship record
Year	Round	Position	GP	MW	ML	SW	SL	SPW	SPL	Squad
1948	Did not qualify
1950	Round robin	4th / 6	5	2	3	10	10	258	269	—
1951	Final round	2nd / 10	8	6	2	20	9	383	256	—
1955	Final round	3rd / 14	9	5	4	20	16	446	425	—
1958	Final round	4th / 20	11	6	5	26	18	571	475	—
1963	Final round	4th / 17	10	7	3	25	12	477	355	—
1967	Final round	9th / 20	10	7	3	26	11	500	387	—
1971	Final round	7th / 22	8	7	1	23	5	380	254	—
1975	Final round	5th / 12	7	3	4	12	13	310	321	—
1977	Final round	5th / 12	7	4	3	14	9	304	287	—
1979	Final round	10th / 12	7	2	5	11	19	376	397	—
1981	Final round	3rd / 12	7	4	3	15	13	337	355	—
1983	Final round	3rd / 12	7	4	3	16	10	338	286	—
1985	Final round	5th / 12	7	3	4	12	16	300	358	—
1987	Final round	11th / 12	7	3	4	12	13	306	302	—
1989	Final round	6th / 12	7	4	3	16	11	350	298	—
1991	Final round	5th / 12	7	4	3	16	11	364	335	—
1993	Final round	5th / 12	7	4	3	15	13	350	329	—
1995	Final round	4th / 12	7	4	3	12	11	269	282	—
1997	Group stage	9th–10th / 12	5	2	3	8	12	219	263	—
1999	Final round	7th / 8	5	2	3	7	9	348	361	—
2001	Final round	6th / 12	7	4	3	16	13	645	643	Squad
2003	Preliminary round	9th / 12	5	2	3	7	11	320	416	—
2005	Did not qualify
2007	Second round	8th / 16	6	4	2	12	11	519	500	Squad
2009	Final round	3rd / 16	8	6	2	18	10	663	614	Squad
2011	Final round	6th / 16	5	3	2	12	8	466	457	Squad
2013	Final round	4th / 16	7	3	4	13	16	667	679	Squad
2015	Final round	4th / 16	6	4	2	15	10	553	542	Squad
2017	Final round	6th / 16	5	3	2	9	7	385	349	Squad
2019	Final round	11th / 24	6	3	3	11	10	473	494	Squad
2021	Final round	11th / 24	6	3	3	11	12	495	498	Squad
2023	Final round	15th / 24	6	2	4	8	14	494	533	Squad
Total	0 Titles	31/33	215	120	95	448	363	12,866	12,320	—

  Champions    Runners up    Third place    Fourth place     As host

World League record
Year	Round	Position	GP	MW	ML	SW	SL	SPW	SPL	Squad
1990	Did not qualify
1991
1992
1993
1994	Semifinals	4th / 12	16	9	7	32	24	697	653	—
1995	Final round	5th / 12	16	11	5	34	25	799	730	—
1996	Intercontinental	8th / 11	12	4	8	17	25	476	516	—
1997	Final round	6th / 12	16	9	7	35	28	793	740	—
1998	Playoff round	7th / 12	14	10	4	31	21	639	599	—
1999	Did not qualify
2000
2001
2002
2003	Final round	5th / 16	15	9	6	36	28	1,443	1,386	—
2004	Semifinals	4th / 12	14	9	6	31	19	1,164	1,100	Squad
2005	Intercontinental	5th / 12	12	6	6	27	22	1,112	1,067	Squad
2006	Semifinals	4th / 16	17	13	4	42	14	1,340	1,182	Squad
2007	Final round	5th / 16	14	9	5	31	20	1,185	1,109	Squad
2008	Intercontinental	7th / 16	12	8	4	29	21	1,122	1,105	Squad
2009	Intercontinental	10th / 16	12	5	7	20	26	1,048	1,084	Squad
2010	Intercontinental	7th / 16	12	8	4	30	13	1,029	956	Squad
2011	Final round	5th / 16	15	8	7	32	28	1,298	1,287	Squad
2012	Semifinals	4th / 16	16	9	7	33	31	1,411	1,403	Squad
2013	Semifinals	4th / 18	14	8	6	30	25	1,220	1,251	Squad
2014	Intercontinental	8th / 28	12	1	11	10	35	895	1,059	Squad
2015	Final round	10th / 32	14	9	5	30	25	1,222	1,226	Squad
2016	Intercontinental	11th / 36	9	1	8	8	26	706	810	Squad
2017	Intercontinental	9th / 36	9	4	5	16	22	819	861	Squad
Total	0 Titles	20/28	272	150	122	554	478	20,418	20,124	—

  Champions    Runners up    Third place    Fourth place

Nations League record
Year	Round	Position	GP	MW	ML	SW	SL	SPW	SPL	Squad
2018	Preliminary	11th / 16	15	6	9	26	34	1,288	1,351	Squad
2019	Preliminary	12th / 16	15	5	10	21	38	1,268	1,372	Squad
2020	Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021	Preliminary	15th / 16	15	2	13	11	41	1,037	1,238	Squad
2022	Preliminary	14th / 16	12	2	10	16	31	990	1,087	Squad
2023	Preliminary	15th / 16	12	2	10	13	32	957	1,045	Squad
2024	Preliminary	14th / 16	12	3	9	12	31	900	1,033	Squad
2025	Preliminary	11th / 18	12	6	6	22	23	993	1,033	Squad
Total	0 Titles	7/7	93	26	67	121	230	7,433	8,159	—

  Champions    Runners up    Third place    Fourth place

European Games record
Year	Round	Position	GP	MW	ML	SW	SL	SPW	SPL	Squad
2015	Finals	2nd / 12	8	6	2	19	13	737	693	Squad

  Champions    Runners up    Third place    Fourth place     As host

European League record
Year	Round	Position	GP	MW	ML	SW	SL	SPW	SPL	Squad
2004	Did not participate
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016	Semifinals	4th / 12	8	4	4	16	15	721	660	—
2017	Did not participate
2018
2019
2020	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021	Did not participate
2022
2023
2024
2025
Total	0 Titles	1/21	8	4	4	16	15	721	660	—

The following players made the final roster for the 2025 FIVB Men's Volleyball World Championship.^[1]

Head coach: Gianlorenzo Blengini

Captain: Aleks Grozdanov

No.	Name	Date of birth	Height	Weight	Spike	Block	2025–26 club
1	Simeon Nikolov	(2006-11-24)24 November 2006	2.09 m (6 ft 10 in)	–	–	–	Lokomotiv Novosibirsk
3	Iliya Petkov	(1996-10-10)10 October 1996	2.02 m (6 ft 8 in)	–	–	–	Yuasa Battery Grottazzolina
4	Martin Atanasov	(1996-09-27)27 September 1996	1.99 m (6 ft 6 in)	–	–	–	Vero Volley Monza
5	Boris Nachev	(2004-04-22)22 April 2004	2.02 m (6 ft 8 in)	–	–	–	Pallavolo Padova
8	Asparuh Asparuhov	(2000-07-28)28 July 2000	2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)	–	–	–	Ślepsk Suwałki
11	Aleks Grozdanov	(1998-03-28)28 March 1998	2.08 m (6 ft 10 in)	–	–	–	LUK Lublin
12	Georgi Tatarov	(2003-05-10)10 May 2003	2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)	–	–	–	Yuasa Battery Grottazzolina
15	Rusi Zhelev	(2001-12-21)21 December 2001	2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)	–	–	–	Pallavolo Macerata
18	Venislav Antov	(2004-04-06)6 April 2004	1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)	–	–	–	Tourcoing Lille
20	Stoil Palev	(2003-05-21)21 May 2003	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	–	–	–	Levski Sofia
21	Dimitar Dobrev	(2008-07-17)17 July 2008	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)	–	–	–	Levski Sofia
22	Damyan Kolev	(2002-01-11)11 January 2002	1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)	–	–	–	Levski Sofia
23	Aleksandar Nikolov	(2003-11-30)30 November 2003	2.07 m (6 ft 9 in)	–	–	–	Cucine Lube Civitanova
29	Preslav Petkov	(2003-10-28)28 October 2003	2.08 m (6 ft 10 in)	–	–	–	Folgore Massa

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

The main sponsor of the national team is the Bulgarian betting company efbet, while Mikasa and Lidl are secondary sponsors.^[2]

• Bulgaria men's U19 team
• Bulgaria men's U21 team
• Bulgaria men's U23 team
• Bulgaria women's team

• Official website
• FIVB profile