Bulgaria’s national football team suffered a heavy 0-5 defeat to Iceland in a fifth-round Group C4 match in the Nations League. The Scandinavians demonstrated their clear superiority and decided the outcome of the match before half-time, before completing the rout with three more goals.
The visitors took the lead in the 17th minute following a controversial incident in Bulgaria’s penalty area. Yoan Stoyanov made contact with Orri Óskarsson, and the referee awarded Iceland a penalty. Despite the doubts surrounding the decision, the VAR officials did not recommend a review and the penalty stood. Andri Guðjohnsen took responsibility and beat Daniel Naumov with a precise shot into the bottom-right corner to make it 0-1.
The Bulgarians had still not managed to recover from the opening goal when they suffered another heavy blow. Just four minutes later, Hörður Magnússon sent an excellent long pass behind the hosts’ defence. Orri Óskarsson took advantage of the space, found himself one-on-one with Naumov and coolly finished to make it 0-2.
In the 34th minute, Iceland came close to scoring a third. Mikael Ellertsson delivered a cross from the flank, and Logi Tómasson met the ball, but this time the post proved to be the final barrier protecting the Bulgarian goal.
The first half proved successful for the visitors not only in terms of the score but also in their performance, although their manager had to make two forced changes. In the ninth minute, Hörður Magnússon came on for Stefán Þórðarson, while in the 29th minute Arnór Sigurðsson replaced Sverrir Ingason.
After the break, the nightmare continued for the Bulgarian team. In the 52nd minute, Iceland scored a third goal after a bizarre own goal by Emil Tsenov. The defender attempted to intercept a cross from the right flank, but instead of clearing the danger, he directed the ball into his own net.
In the 68th minute, Andri Guðjohnsen once again demonstrated his goalscoring instinct. Hákon Haraldsson played him into an excellent position, and the striker was left unchallenged before firing accurately to score his second goal of the match and make it 0-4.
The final 0-5 was again scored by Guðjohnsen, who turned the evening into his own personal show. Daniel Naumov managed to parry a cross, but the ball fell directly to the Icelandic striker. He did not miss the opportunity and scored his third goal of the match, completing his hat-trick.
The heavy defeat ended Bulgaria’s hopes of promotion to League B. The national team can no longer finish higher than third place in Group C4, where it currently has four points. Iceland are convincing leaders with 11 points and continue the campaign in an excellent position for promotion.