Bulgaria's Golden Generation | USA 1994 | FIFA World Cup
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- čas přidán 25. 01. 2021
- It happens every so often that a plucky underdog emerges from the FIFA World Cup and stuns us with their heroics.
At USA 1994, the team pulling off some of the greatest upsets in the tournament’s history was a fearless Bulgaria side - featuring Hristo Stoichkov, Yordan Letchkov and more. This is their story.
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What do you think is the World Cup's best underdog story?
Ya
Si
Please buy me a ball I can’t afford I make ball out of trash
North Korea 1966 Croatia 2018
2002 Senegal, 2010 New Zealand, 2014 Algeria. But I think the Cameroon team in 1990 is definitely impressive so far.
The best Mexican team Vs the best Bulgarian team. They were equally matched and the penalties decided the winner. As Mexican I had a lot of hopes in our national team but much respect to this Bulgarian team.
Did you know Stoichkov says that Mexico was the hardest team that Bulgaria faced
Mexico got lucky in that world cup they only pass the groups because they make 1 goal more than the other 3 teams.
@@brasilmelhorequipedomundo7648 that was the group of death. All teams were so even. 1 goal made the difference. If Pagliuca from Italy wouldn’t have fouled the Norway player, Italy would have never made it to the final. Experts called that group the group of death that year. Not pendejos so they definitely knew what they were talking about.
I was 13 at the time, and during the match behind us were huge crowd of Netherlands, which booed us like wild dogs. At the end we flipped them off, not because we wanted, but because they were cursing us during the whole game. The Mexicans were great in this match.
salut por la respect!
I remember supporting our balkan neighbours vs Germany and jumping like crazy when Letchkov scored the second goal.
Greetings from Albania 🇦🇱
Like I support Albania in every match except against my country.
Greetings from Bulgaria 🇧🇬🇦🇱
Greetings from Bulgaria🤝🏻🇧🇬
You don't celebrate that macedonia won 2-1 vs germany 6 days ago?
@@fiki_yt Yes, i am happy for our Albanian players representing N.Macedonia.
@Mertin Kuring lol if they are rivals then that doesen't mean they are not a country you live in a poor country and you are lu cky that greece likes you not like me
Stoickhov was a pure legend.
Agreed
I chose them as my team to support in 94 because England failed to qualify and Boncho Genchev was a player at my club. What a fantastic team, especially Stoichkov. I hope Bulgaria have another golden generation.
Boncho Guentchev was in my club too, early 90's, Sporting CP. Didn't have the success of Balakov or Yordanov in our club but I remember seeing him next to me in the stands eating an ice cream lol
Looks like Bulgaria won’t have another golden generation, Bulgaria football has fallen off massively, it’s so sad seeing once a 4th place team in the World Cup, to being 81st in the rankings.
Yeah he was at Ipswich
Brother...
You just earned a Bulgarian Citizenship 🇧🇬🤝🇬🇧
Hristo stoihtkov the legend ❤️
Stoichkov : 🤡🤡
I was a big fan of this team in 1994.
Stoichkov and Letchkov were amazing players.
Greetings from Brazil.
why everyone forgets about Balakov?
He was one of the best no. 10's of the world back then
@@KingJohnson1985 He was better afterwards playing with Giovanne Elber and Fredi Bobic @VfB Stuttgart...
Stoichkov was definitely the best player...he was like a Lothar Matthäus turned Striker. Him and Romario we're pure Endlevel...
@@Raydensheraj Romario? lol...
@@KingJohnson1985 Another player who deserves to be mentioned is Ivanov - the one who looked (and played) like a werewolf.
I hope Bulgaria can return to big stages in the future. The 1994 WC was incredible for them. What a squad they had!
me to bro, i'm from bulgaria
Wait and see our football
Croatia doing what Czech republic, Hungary, Serbia and Bulgaria should be doing
Love for Bulgaria from Bosnia🇧🇦
🇧🇬❤🇧🇦
Love to Bosna
Imagine if we had a Bulgaria vs Romania final that year !!! 😩😳🇧🇬🇷🇴
Stoichkov vs. Hagi
Brazil and Italy were wayyyyyyy better
This would be the most unusual and unexpected final of the World Cup.
@@prometheustv6558 no
@@mateuszchojnacki2588 which Bulgaria will win
Greetings from Bulgaria 🇧🇬❤
great Bulgaria, my colleagues and I are thrilled with you in this cup.
hugs from Brazil!
Abraço da Bulgária mermão! A gente por aqui ama muito o Brasil🇧🇬♥️🇧🇷
well after we knocked out Germany no one would accept the victory also against Italy... The referee was terrible
The referee was clearly for Italy and gave them a huge advantage.
Съдията беше французин.. Заради това отпаднаха
@@clashquest3074 the ref was French which was quite comical because in the qualifications France and Bulgaria competed for the last spot
@@vladimirpopov862 Никога няма да му го простим. Историята завинаги ще помни, че България беше по-класният отбор. Заслужавахме да играем на финала.
@@ivchoVarna naglasiha na amerikancite.... :D
I can't believe that, guys! Thank you for dedicating this video for my country! Support from Bulgaria!
I'm a Bulgarian Soccer
Hope you r coach will get better moments
Bulgaria will never be the same. That was a Bulgarian golden age. I earned so much money from Bulgaria football team at the time. Bulgarian girls ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
I was 10 years old back then. The happiest summer of my life!
I love how they gave out bronze medals to the Bulgarians despite losing the play-off for third!. Kennet Anderson once said that he saw the Bulgarians coming up to the podium, but did not notice exactly why, as he was too busy celebrating with his Sweden team mates. He was later shown video footage and was like “I’m still learning so much from my experiences at that tournament”.
Such fantastic times and as a 13 year old, I fell in love with your country and now I am finally visiting next year in Sofia!❤️❤️❤️
At 94 i was 13 years old and i see greatest teams that year Romania Sweden Nigeria and of course Bulgary with hirsto stoicov ivanov mihailov kiriakov letchcov Emil kostadinov very brave team they made a great world cup greetings from Houston
So was I, from me from Indonesia 👍
I totally agree dude. I was 8 back then. Greetings from Greece!
It is hard to describe the joy a whole nation felt that summer. Nothing has ever got Bulgaria as united as this summer. I remember my friends and I (was 12 at the time) getting outside and changing the names of all players, shouting "Bulgarian heroes" with all of our lungs. Brings tears to my eyes just remembering this. Even more so, knowing that there's little chance of such thing happening again in my lifetime, seeing what Bulgarian football had become....
This team was just so inspiring, I just couldn't help but get behind them in USA 94. I knew Stoichkov was great at the team from watching Barcelona on Scorio in Wales but the the rest were unknown to me. Oh those heady days when the world cup would open ones eyes to new talents from around the globe!
The underdog story from Bulgaria is so memorable.
The game vs Italy,it was a clear handball with both hands !!!! in the Italy's box but no penalty for Bulgaria .....
Italy got Karma back in 2002
BULGARIA TIDAK BERUNTUNG MENUJU FINAL WORL-CUP 1994, TAPI TIDAK ADA YANG BISA MELUPAKAN TIM INI TERUTAMA ADANYA STOICHKOV DARI BARCELONA.
BULGARIA 1994 ADALAH TIM PALING MENGGAIRAHKAN DI TURNAMENT ITU, SETIAP ORANG MENYUKAI KEJUTAN.
BAHKAN SAMPAI HARI INI SAYA TETAP TERKEJUT, BULGARIA MENGALAHKAN JERMAN !
SALAM DARI INDONESIA 🇮🇩
@@rockywalker3469 italy got karma but we never got to the finals
The team was unique! If the referee vs Italy was honest we could play final
Mihaylov, Ivanov, Letchkov, Balakov, Kostadinov, Sirakov, Stoichkov... legends!
Lubo Penev😊
Bratko👊🙋♂️🇭🇷
Brate Hrvatska pobijedit ćete na Europskom prvenstvu 2021
@@teodorbojilov7395 moraju se još uigrati!
Nemaju rješenje za ekipe koje se zatvore.
👊🙋♂️
Krassimir Balakov, probably the best Bulgarian player in the Bundesliga of all time
Essential part of the VfB Stuttgart magic triangle.
The brilliant Bulgarian midfielder... lost count of how many Man of the Match awards he got at Stuttgart.
Berbatov too
@Miro how about you stop being dumb af and understand the actual reason he stopped playing for the national team?
Him and Yankov .
Baggio and the referee denied the team of a final...
Joël Quinio
Actually it was the referee brother. Hristo Stoichkov haven’t forgotten him and to this very day. We eliminated France in the qualifiers and the referee at the semi finals was French.
@@Cekacha95 I wish they selected the referee more carefully, then insanely biased refs like Joël wouldn’t have reffed at all.
@@relentero8547 Yeah that referee was incredibly biased. Like Bulgaria got tackled many times by Italy and they only got one penalty. Also Roberto Baggio was a tad bit too much for the Bulgarian defenders to handle. But if they drew and won in pens Bulgaria had a shot at the WC. And if that last match was like the one with Germany it would've probably lost by only 1 goal or it'll be a draw. What if
I am so unlucky to be born after this world cup!😭 Our team is laughable now. I wish we went back in time!🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬
@@Younche05 dude one day i wil play in bulgaria i promise we wil win the cup
@@Younche05 you can only play in england is your from england if you wanne play in bulgaria you must be bulgarian
Сега никой не го интересува нищо!
@@Stalloncho he could obtain Bulgarian citizenship if plays in that country for 5 years but already said his mother is Bulgarian so there’s that to take into consideration.
Our team is worse than laughable and it all happened because of the money and our "Top scorer" Berbatov who left while Serbia was destroying us.
And everyone was terrified of Trifon Ivanov may he r.i.p! What a legend!
Some of these players are still remembered and have the fans respect in Portugal. Especially Balakov, Iordanov, Kostadinov and Mihaylov who were top players in the Portuguese league. What a fantastic squad they had.
You forgot to mention how BG went to the USA - by knocking out the team of France it was great match too - with goal in last second.
I love 🇧🇬
that free kick from stoichkov and the header from letchkov will be in my memorie forvever what a mattch
One of the biggest overall underdog surprises in the history of World Cup, knowing that Bulgaria never won a World Cup match before this tournament, despite qualifying many times in the past.
Any ways, this team is the best in Bulgarian soccer history.
My Country 🇧🇬❤
I Love You BULGARIA National Football Team
Камата - Ицо Стоичков. Да са живи и здрави всички, освен Трифон, лека му пръст, от това първенство. Донесли са страшно радост за България.
Bulgarian Legend
Stoitchkov is a legend for all the Bulgarian people
This is the Best national team BULGARIA🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬💪💪💪💪 in history
Greetings from Iraq 🇮🇶
1994… i was 11 years old and the US World Cup was the first one I truly enjoyed, I have vague memories of that 1990 World Cup… anyways… I remember being hooked watching the game against Germany and what a BIG upset that was… since the beginning I wanted Bulgaria to win the game… as a child, i wanted to be like Ivanov, a truly warrior in the defense that played his heart out in every game… oh my what a team they had that got the heart of the entire world stolen by surprise
A melhor geração da Bulgária de todos os tempos não minha opinião. I,m from Brasil
Sim... A seleção búlgara de hoje em dia é uma besteira msm
As a Bulgarian born in '93, I sincerely hope this success repeats itself in my lifetime..
Bulgaria will never ever have a generation as iconic as that one. With players who actually cared about football rather than drugs, mafia and corruption
This is the first world cup I really knew about and remember vividly as I was 10. Bulgaria and Sweden were both awesome sides during '94. Stoichkov was my favourite player from the tournament along with Hagi
To the French referee's mother, sister(s) and daugther(s):
😁😁😁
I remember that summer, it was celebrations in the whole country. No one could quite believe it. thanks for making this!
1994 was a fantastic summer for the world!
I love Bulgaria and Hristo Stoikov is the best
The name Bulgaria is imprinted in my mind for their impact in that world cup and for Stoichcov
No mention to the dramatic qualification at Parc des Princes?
the 2-1 against France was a part of that journey
Stoichkov , Kostadinov , Sirakov , Balakov , Letchkov , Yankov , Borimirov , Ivanov , Houbtchev , Mikhailov : The generation that probably won't be repeated.
I'll throw in Tsvetanov and Kiriakov and start Borimirov on the bench to complete the team ;)
Bulgaria lover from oman since
fifa world cup 1994
Such a great player..Hristo is fantastic..The entire team played very well in WC 1994..Love from India..
In 1993 qualifier, Kostadinov buzzer beated Team France
WOW
It was coming home🇧🇬
This was my first world cup and it whas awesome! Still got the panini album lol :)
Same.
Same
Bulgaria greetings from Macedonia
I wish we had our golden generation from then now as well.Greatings from 🇧🇬
Thanks for the video and congratulations from Bulgaria ❤️
After witnessing this golden Bulgarian generation who played beautiful flowing football, one can not help but to wonder where is Bulgaria nowadays?
I was 5 years old and still remember this 2 goals against Germany =)
But the "magic" started in 1993 when Bulgaria beat France like Germany 1:0 to 1:2 at Stade de France in Paris and leave France out of USA =)
无比怀念。1994年保加利亚带给我的那个奇妙的夏天。
Free flowing football from Bulgaria...legends like Stoichkov,Lechkov outstanding throughout.... sooper performance indeed....
The national treasure of Bulgaria-STOICHKOV 8 ❤!
Against Italy they had to award 2 penalties to Bulgaria but the judge did not do it
Cry me a river😭
still missing these times❤❤❤
This is refreshing. Long live football and long live FIFA.
Stoichkov was almost like Barcelona’s Messi now, only Romario scored more goals :D
Unforgettable moments for every bulgarian during that crazy American summer of 94. A lot of joy, fun and the best Bulgarian football team playing ever.
Wow great goals.
Some amazing players there. I know Kiriakov from his time at Aberdeen FC.
As a romanian, much respect to Bulgaria's old generation. It's a pity in the history of football that we didn't witness the WC final Bulgaria and Romania😢❤
ستويتشكوف كان لاعبي المفضل في ذلك الوقت
إنه لاعب أسطوري بكل ما تعنيه الكلمة من معنى
كم أحبك يا خريستو ستويتشكوف ❤
Hristo Stoichkov and Balakov were AMAZING
Gran mundial de Bulgaria ! Saludos desde Argentina
Hope so Bulgarian team was one of the most impressive in this world cup 👍😊
Merçi Bulgarie, merçi stoichkov...
UNBELIEVABLE
Why didnt you mention the handball that wasnt given a penalty vs italy? Probably would change the outcome of the match
Stoichkov, Letchkov and Kostadinov are great players.
I rem them from 94 more than any other . They were brilliant esp with such a hard draw of teams . Some awesome goals too.
During the Semi-Final game against Italy. The French Referee Joel Quiniou was supporting and was against Bulgaria. Because during the Qualify Kostadinov scored the winning goal Bulgaria in the last second and France didnt enter the World Cup. During the game the Referee team made Bulgarias attack as offside and then during an one-on-one between Costacurta and Kostadinov. Costacurta physically fouled him and touched the Ball by Hand, even in the Penalty Area but the Referee didnt gave an Penalty. 6 Years later in EURO 2000 Final Sylvain Wiltord scored the equalizer in last second and David Trezeguet scored the Golden Goal for France against Italy. 2 years later in World Cup 2002 France became the first Title Holder too not win an game and even score a Goal.
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪
man, that is so true. referee supported the Italians throughout. it was obvious from miles that this was happening. and it was very disappointing, because it does not give Bulgaria the opportunity to see its possibilities to the last. They were afraid that, unheard of in this tournament country, she was ready to subdue the best. And yes, Bulgaria can really subdue all opponents then.
all national teams from 1994 are legendary with alot of outstanding players.
Balakov and Kostadinov where also real top drawer.
Hristo Legend
that was a great run love from greece
... and it all started with a stoppage-time stunner from Kostadinov at Parc des Princes, sending us to the World Cup at the expense of the French.
It's a significant match that led a golden generation
Equipaso! Saludos desde 🇵🇪
that was great team with some amazing players
I still remember the Hristo Stoichkov free kick goal against Germany ! He was simply superb!
The commentator sounds like an 88 years old war veteran from Nebraska 🤣
Great memories.
Nostalgia time.
Bulgaria and Romania need to be in final
VS Italy they didn't gave us penalty :) dont skip that, dont forgive that
Still mad and salty after 27 freaking years?😭😭😭😭
@@ilrosso8612 Yes cuz we could qualify for the fibal bro🇧🇬
Hristo IS the best
AYO BULGARIA🇧🇬 BANGKITLAH SEPERTI KESEBELASAN PEMAIN DI VIDEO DIATAS!
UKIR LAGI SEJARAH..
KAMI INGIN MELIHAT KALIAN SEPERTI INI LAGI.
SALAM DARI KAMI INDONESIA🇮🇩
Wonderful! I love Football & Soccer!
Nice video