Bulgaria's national team will return to Sofia for its home matches in 2027 after low spectator interest in the three games in Plovdiv in this year's edition of the Nations League. The reconstructed „Bulgarska Armiya“ Stadium and the Vasil Levski National Stadium are being discussed as possible venues, Sportal reports.
Bulgaria's three home matches were played at Hristo Botev Stadium. The team lost 1:2 to Luxembourg, drew 0:0 with Estonia and on Friday suffered a 0:5 defeat against Iceland. Sportal reports a total of 6,410 spectators at the three matches – 4,300 against Luxembourg, 960 against Estonia and 1,150 against Iceland. Other media reported around or fewer than 500 people at the last match, indicating a discrepancy in the reported attendance.
The defeat against Iceland left Bulgaria with no chance of promotion to the tournament's higher division. The team's final match in Group C4 is an away game against Estonia on 16 November.
The national team's return to Sofia comes after the opening of the renovated „Bulgarska Armiya“ Stadium. The facility was officially opened on 31 October with the match between CSKA and Slavia, and the home side received permission to use it for its official games.
According to Sportal, CSKA's management will not object to the national team also playing at the stadium. The other option is Vasil Levski, where Bulgaria hosted Spain, Turkey and Georgia in the World Cup qualifiers last autumn. The specific choice of venue for the next home matches has not yet been announced.
Bulgaria will learn its opponents in the qualifiers for the 2028 European Championship on 6 December. The draw will be held in Belfast, with the teams to be divided into 12 groups of four or five sides.
The qualifying phase will begin in March 2027 and continue until November of the same year. Bulgaria's schedule will depend on the composition of its group. In a group of four teams, two friendlies are scheduled for March and two more for June. If the team is drawn into a group of five, it may play two European Championship qualifiers in June.
UEFA plans to change the format of national-team competitions after Euro 2028. „The new formats will improve the competitive balance and reduce the number of matches without significance,“ UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin said.