The Bulgarian U21 national team officially lost its chances of qualifying for the European Championship in Serbia and Albania in 2027. “The Lions“ lost 0:1 away to Czech Republic U21 in the decisive match for second place in Group „B“, held in Hradec Králové under the leadership of Polish referee Damian Kos.
The Czechs started more aggressively and in the 35th minute Tomas Jelinek fired a dangerous shot, which Rosen Bozhinov headed just a few centimeters from the goal line.
In the 39th minute, after a mistake in our defense, the home team captain Matej Shin advanced and fired a strong shot with his left foot, but goalkeeper Plamen Andreev intervened appropriately.
The Bulgarian national team encountered difficulties in offensive terms and fired only one inaccurate shot in the first half.
The pressure of the hosts paid off at the beginning of the second half. After Vit Shkurton missed from a good position in the 53rd minute, just two minutes later the Czech Republic opened the scoring. Pavel Kachor led with a precise pass behind the Bulgarian defense to Lukash Masek, who with a precise shot with his left foot sent the ball into Andreev's net for 1:0.In the 83rd minute, Bulgaria was on the verge of equalizing - after a cross and a poorly cleared ball, Nikola Iliev shot attractively from the air, but the ball went out of bounds.
In the 89th minute, Todor Pavlov stopped a free kick by goalkeeper Pavel Kachor and received a straight red card. In the same situation, however, Kačor was injured and left the field, and since the hosts had already made all their substitutions, both teams finished the match with 10 men.
After this success, Czech Republic U21 consolidated its second place in Group “B“ with an asset of 18 points. Bulgaria U21 remains in third position with 14 points (4 less), which finally ended our hopes of participating in the finals in 2027.