Who Are Bulgaria’s Opponents in Their Euro 2024 Qualifying Campaign?

There can be no denying that Bulgarian football has never been at a lower point. The nation hasn't qualified for a major football tournament since Euro 2004, and you have to go back a further six years for their last appearance at the FIFA World Cup. Domestically, Ludogorets have held the First Professional League hostage in recent years, racking up the last eleven Bulgarian championships on the spin. They have managed to reach the UEFA Champions League on two occasions, most recently in 2017, and even featured in the UEFA Europa League this season. But elsewhere, it makes for grim reading. 

CSKA Sofia, who are looking to end their Razgrad rivals' stranglehold on the Bulgarian top flight, made it as far as the UEFA Europa Conference League playoff round before being eliminated by Swiss outfit FC Basel. Their city rivals Levski Sofia were dumped out of the same competition by Maltese minnows Hamrun Spartans in front of a packed house at the Georgi Asparuhov Stadium in one of the lowest points in the club's entire history. Fellow Bulgarian side Botev Plovdiv were eliminated from the competition by APOEL Nicosia. 

A Huge Opportunity to Break the Jinx 

But Euro 2024 represents an opportunity for Bulgarian football to get back on track. Since the European championships were expanded from 16 to 24 teams, a whole host of smaller nations such as Finland and North Macedonia have qualified for the tournament, and Bulgaria will never have a better chance than this year. That's because they have been drawn into a group alongside three of their Balkan rivals in qualifying, namely Hungary, Serbia, and Montenegro. Lithuania are the fifth and final team in the group. 

Current manager, Serbia's Mladen Krstajić, led his home nation to a...