The Most Successful Football Clubs In Bulgaria

Bulgaria has had its own football league for over a century. A population of just over six million means Bulgaria isn’t a European footballing powerhouse despite the country’s obsession with the sport.

There hasn’t been a Bulgarian team in the knockout rounds of a European competition since 1990. The national team has only qualified for one major tournament this century, and football betting markets indicate it could be a while before they do so again.

Still, Bulgaria has produced some great players over the years, including Ballon d’Or winner Hristo Stoichkov, former Ballon d’Or nominee Georgi Asparuhov, and former Manchester United and Tottenham striker Dimitar Berbatov.

CSKA Sofia

It’s well over a decade since CSKA Sofia won their 31st league title, but they’ve remained a factor when looking at Bulgarian football betting outright markets. CSKA have finished one point behind the champions four times since they last won the Parva Liga.

Not only are CSKA the most successful team in their domestic league, but they are the only Bulgarian team to reach the last eight of the European Cup/Champions League. CSKA are two-time European Cup semi-finalists and four-time quarter-finalists, and also reached the semis of the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1989.

The club isn’t used to waiting this long between league titles – the previous longest gap was five years in the 1990s.

Levski Sofia

The 2010s was the first decade without a Levski Sofia league title since the Parva Liga became a round-robin in the 1930s. Crowned champions on 26 occasions, Levski are second in the all-time Parva Liga table and over 1,000 points ahead of third place.

They are the only club to have never been relegated from the top flight, and notably has reached five European quarter-finals (twice in the UEFA Cup, thrice in the Cup Winners’ Cup).

Thirteen-time double winners, Levski have enjoyed several periods of sustained dominance, including a threepeat at the turn of the century.

Ludogorets

All 13 of Ludogorets’ Parva Liga titles have been won in a row. Starting in 2011/12, Ludogorets have been crowned champions of Bulgaria 13 seasons on the bounce.

Their success has been varied, with some titles won at a canter (such as a 21-point margin in 2021/22), while others have come down to the final day (four of their titles have been won by a single points).

The fortunes of the club changed when bought by Kiril Domuschiev in 2010. His aim to take Ludogorets to the top was quickly realised, including three league and cup doubles in an 11-year period. Ludogorets have been regulars in UEFA competitions, with notable results against PSG, Liverpool, and Lazio.

Slavia Sofia

Six of Slavia Sofia’s Parva Liga titles were won before the end of World War Two. Cup Winners’ Cup semi-finalists in 1966/67, most Slavia fans haven’t seen their team regularly compete for silverware. They have only one top three league finish since 1997.

The club won the Parva Liga in 1996, however, and lifted the Bulgarian Cup in 2018 after losing the final to rivals CSKA Sofia in 2011.

While the club has never been able to replicate its heights of the first half of the 20th century, they have made multiple appearances in continental competition and have been a sustained presence in the Parva Liga.

FC Lovech

Languishing in the Vtora Liga after being expelled from the top flight following a chaotic period in the middle of the 2010s, FC Lovech are trying to build their way back towards the Parva Liga.

Back-to-back champions of Bulgaria as recently as 2009/10 and 2010/11, Lovech have won all four of their league titles since 1997. During the summer of 2024, Litex Commerce JSC sold the club back to Lovech Municipality and ‘Litex’ was dropped from the team name. The club had been named Litex Lovech for almost three decades.

Four-time cup winners (all since the turn of the century), Lovech were a consistent betting favourite in Bulgarian outright markets prior to Ludogorets reign over the last decade-plus.