Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Northern Ireland stuns Bulgaria with 5:0 win in UEFA Nations League

Photo: AP/BTA

The Bulgarian national team suffered a heavy loss against Northern Ireland in the UEFA Nations League. The Bulgarians lost 5:0 against the hosts after a hat trick by Isaac Price, a goal by Josh Magennis and an own goal by goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov.

The Bulgarian team had a chance for a goal at the end of the first half, but captain Kiril Despodov failed to score a penalty.

This has been the heaviest loss for the Bulgarians since 2019, when the team lost 6:0 against England. After the loss, Northern Ireland tops Group C/3 with 7 points, followed by Belarus with 6, Bulgaria with 5 and Luxembourg with 2.

The coach of the Bulgarian team, Ilian Iliev, took responsibility for the loss, saying that the mistakes of the players were his mistakes and the matches against Luxembourg and Belarus will show whether he would stay in the position. Kiril Despodov called the loss "shameful" and expressed hope that it would not kill the confidence of his team-mates.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Bulgarian snowboarder Tervel Zamfirov becomes world champion in the men’s parallel slolom

Bulgarian snowboarder Tervel Zamfirov achieved another grand success, although he did it very dramatically.  He became world champion in the men’s parallel slalom. The 20-year-old Bulgarian triumphed after a victory in the final with a..

published on 3/22/25 4:51 PM
Vesela Lecheva

Vessela Lecheva heads the Bulgarian Olympic Committee

Vesela Lecheva is the new chairwoman of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee . At the general meeting of the organization, Lecheva, who is the chairwoman of the Bulgarian Shooting Union, prevailed over the long-time head of the Olympic movement in Bulgaria,..

published on 3/19/25 3:22 PM
Kiril Despodov

Kiril Despodov named Bulgaria's Footballer of the Year for the 5th time

The striker of the Greek club PAOK Kiril Despodov has been named Footballer No. 1 of Bulgaria for 2024 . He wins the award for the 4th consecutive time and 5th time in total.  Despodov was honored for the first time in 2018, and in the last 4..

published on 3/18/25 10:23 AM