When it comes to who the world's most regressive football team is, I believe that probably 99% of Chinese answer may be our Chinese men's team. But is that really the case? Obviously, this is not the right answer, because the Chinese men's football team has not been really powerful, it has entered the World Cup once, and it is not a single point or a goal, and the so-called regression is only a regression relative to its peak. The team with the biggest regression in the world in the true sense of the word is undoubtedly the following team - Bulgaria.
As the top four teams of the 1994 World Cup, Bulgaria is currently ranked 78th in the world, only 2 places above the Chinese men's team. And the point is that in the current European Championship qualifiers, Bulgaria is actually at the bottom of the group, with only 2 points in 6 games, and even lost at home to the fishbelly team Lithuania. Since reaching the World Cup for the last time in 1998, this former European dark horse has not participated in the World Cup for more than 20 years! That's right, they have not been in the World Cup longer than the national football team!
In European football, Bulgaria has also had a place and has produced many stars. Including Stoichkov, Balakov, Kostadinov, Lechkov, Berbatov, etc., Bulgarian football began to rise slowly in the 60s, reaching the World Cup in Chile for the first time in 1962, and then reached the World Cup final stage in four consecutive editions in 1966, 1970 and 1974, but all in the group stage. At the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, Bulgaria finally qualified after the group stage for the first time by finishing third in the group. But Bulgarian football really became known to the world at the 1994 World Cup.
1994 peak
In the final match of the European qualifiers for the 1994 World Cup in the United States, Bulgaria played away to France and they had to win to qualify. Trailing 1-0 in the opening set, they beat France 2-1 thanks to two goals from Kostadinov to advance to the final, with the second goal coming almost in the end.
In the group stage of the World Cup, Bulgaria lost 3-0 to Nigeria in their first game, and started unfavorably. The second big rally beat Greece 4-0, and in the final life and death match, they beat Argentina 2-0 to qualify second in the group.
In the 1/8 final, Bulgaria and Mexico entered a 1:1 penalty shootout, and Bulgaria won 3-1. In the quarter-finals, against defending champions Germany, the match replicated their victory over France, conceding a goal, but then helping the team turn defeat into victory and reach the World Cup semi-finals thanks to Stojchkov and Leichenkov's two consecutive goals in three minutes.
Bulgaria met Italy's team led by a red-hot Baggio in the semifinals. Italy won 2-1 thanks to two goals from Baggio, which also kept Bulgaria out of the final. But this is already the best result in the World Cup in Bulgaria. Stoichkov also won the World Cup Golden Boot with 6 goals.
1998 Fell off the altar
Following an outstanding performance in '94, Bulgaria once again reached the World Cup in France '98. But Bulgaria's performance was disappointing this time, after drawing 0-0 with Paraguay in the first game, they lost 1-0 to Nigeria in the second and Spain in the final 1:6, setting the biggest score of the cup and finishing fourth in the group. Some jokingly claim that Bulgaria has two fourth places in two cups, fourth in the 94 World Cup and fourth in the 98 group.
2004 Final appearance
In 2004, Bulgaria reached the final of the European Championship, and they were in the group stage with Italy, Sweden and Denmark. Denmark drew 2-2 with Sweden in the final round of this group, and teaming up to "do" Italy out became a classic. But Bulgaria is just a backdrop for this group. They lost 0:5 to Sweden, 0:2 to Denmark and 1:2 to Italy, losing all three matches. It was also the last appearance at the Bulgarian World Series. It is worth mentioning that this European Championship and Manchester United star Berbatov partnered the Bulgarian striker with Dalian Shide star Jankovic (not the current head coach of the national football team, but the current head coach of the west coast of Qingdao in the Chinese League One) that Chinese fans are very familiar with
2004-present Rapid depravity
After 2004, Bulgaria was no longer able to reach the main tournament and was getting lower and lower in points and rankings in the qualifiers. Since the retirement of the dashing Goberbatov, they have not produced a slightly famous star, not even such as Jankovic. Referring to their results in the European qualifiers in recent years, they basically belong to the fourth tier of teams in Europe, and there is a downward trend towards the fifth gear. It can be said that the current real strength of Bulgaria is even inferior to the previous fishbelly teams Lithuania, Luxembourg, Faroe Islands, Moldova, it is estimated that there may be only five Bulgarian teams in Europe that can win steadily, namely Gibraltar, Malta, Estonia, San Marino, Andorra and Liechtenstein. Of course, I believe that Bulgaria should still be able to win the national team. But if you consider the speed of decline, then Bulgaria is definitely greater than the national football team, Bulgaria is equal to a class that has been in the top few candidates fell to the middle and lower reaches, the national football is equal to the middle table fell to the bottom, which do you think is the greater regression?