2025 – the year Bulgaria returned among the greats – and confidently headed towards its dream – the Olympics again!
2025 was not just a successful year. It was a turning point.

A year in which the Bulgarian national volleyball team emerged from the shadow of the past, overcame doubts, and regained its most valuable asset – the self-confidence to be among the best in the world.

Twelve months ago, Bulgaria began its journey ranked 20th in the world.
Today, the national team is ninth.
A leap measured not just by points and positions, but by trust, stability, and a clearly recognizable game identity.

Our last participation in the Olympic Games remains London 2012.
Since then, the dream of returning to the biggest stage seemed distant.
After 2025, it is once again a realistic goal, not an abstract hope.

The Year of the Team

2025 was more than just results.
It was the Year of the Team.

The national team showed something that had long been missing – character in key games, resilience under pressure, and the ability to earn respect, even when not winning all matches.

This was not a story about one hero.
It was a story about a group of men who stood by each other – in difficult moments, in comebacks, in matches where future victories are forged.

Individual recognition – a reflection of the collective

World volleyball saw it and acknowledged it:

• #2 in the world ranking – Aleksandar Nikolov

• #6 – Simeon Nikolov

• #8 – Alex Grozdanov

Two Bulgarians also made it into the World Championship's dream team –
Alex Grozdanov and Aleksandar Nikolov.

These individual accolades, however, are not just personal success.
They are a reflection of a working collective, because behind every strong player stands a team that allows him to be the best version of himself.

Everyone mattered

The Bulgaria team in 2025 was not a collection of starters.
It was an entire system.

Setters, outside hitters, middle blockers, opposite hitters, and liberos.
Everyone who entered the game.
Everyone who supported from the bench.
Everyone who accepted their role – big or small – in the name of Bulgaria.

This was a year when the reserves won sets, and the bench won matches.
A year when defensive saves, patience, and discipline became a trademark.

The conductor of change – Gianlorenzo Blengini

No well-functioning machine can exist without its conductor.
And behind Bulgaria's transformation in 2025 stands one key name – Gianlorenzo Blengini.

The Italian coach took over the national team in 2024, at a time when expectations were rather cautious, and trust was fragile.
Without grand promises.
Without slogans.
But with a clear vision and a specific goal.

In just one year, Blengini transformed Bulgaria into a well-oiled winning machine "," a team with a structured setup, clear roles, and discipline evident in every game.
A team that knows how to win, but also how to endure when the match demands it.

Under his leadership, the national team found a balance between youth and experience, between emotion and control.
The play became more mature, the decisions "," more composed, and the reactions in difficult moments "," timely.

Most importantly "," Blengini restored the belief that Bulgaria can be competitive against anyone.
That ninth place in the world is not a ceiling, but a stage.

Looking Ahead "," Europe at Home and the Olympic Goal

After 2025, an even bigger challenge awaits.
Next year, Bulgaria will host a European Championship.

The home tournament brings expectations, pressure, and hopes.
But this team has already shown that it can handle them.

The goal is clear "," for positive emotions to continue, for the game to improve, and for the direction to remain the same.
Because when you have a team, you have a future.

And when you are ninth in the world, the dream of an Olympics is no longer a memory from London 2012, but a path that Bulgaria is once again treading.