CSKA Sofia
The club
Professional Football Club CSKA Sofia were founded on 5 May 1948 out of the army sports structures of the new Bulgarian state, and are known as the Army Men or simply the Reds. They play in red. Their own Bulgarian Army Stadium is being rebuilt, so home matches are staged at the Vasil Levski National Stadium in Sofia, capacity 43,230. The club has carried several names in its history, among them CSKA Cherveno Zname, CSKA Septemvriysko Zname, Sredets and CFKA Sredets, the last two imposed after the Bulgarian Communist Party dissolved and re-founded both CSKA and Levski following the violent 1985 cup final.
Recent seasons
CSKA have not won the Bulgarian championship since 2007/08, the longest such gap in the club's history. They were second in 2021/22 and second again in 2022/23, when they lost the title to Ludogorets by a single point on the final day after Ivan Turitsov missed a penalty in the 95th minute. They were third in 2023/24, fifth in 2024/25 and fourth of sixteen in 2025/26.
The 2025/26 season ended with silverware. CSKA beat Ludogorets in the Bulgarian Cup semi-final and then Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the final at the Vasil Levski National Stadium on 20 May 2026, drawing 1-1 in front of 32,000 and winning 4-3 on penalties. It was their 22nd Bulgarian Cup and their 37th final, and it took them into the first qualifying round of the Europa League.
Honours and landmarks
CSKA have won the Bulgarian championship 31 times, a national record, and the Bulgarian Cup 22 times, most recently in 2025/26. They have four Bulgarian Supercups, four Cups of the Soviet Army and one V Group title, from 2015/16, won after the original club's licensing collapse. Their biggest European wins are 9-0 against Haka in the 1970/71 Cup Winners' Cup, 8-1 against Dinamo București in the 1956/57 European Cup and 8-0 against Constructorul in the 2000/01 UEFA Cup.
Notable scorelines
In the 1981/82 European Cup semi-final first leg CSKA led Bayern Munich 3-0 inside sixteen minutes in front of 85,000 in Sofia and won 4-3; they lost the return 4-0 in Munich. In the same competition's earlier rounds they beat Liverpool 2-0 in Sofia with two goals from Stoycho Mladenov, having lost 1-0 at Anfield. In 1980/81 they beat the European champions Nottingham Forest 1-0 home and away. No all-time record domestic win or defeat was confirmed from the sources read here.
European record
CSKA are among the most experienced Bulgarian clubs in Europe, with roughly sixty seasons of UEFA competition behind them. A commonly cited all-time total of 264 matches, 102 won, 58 drawn and 104 lost, could not be confirmed against the sources read here and should not be quoted as fact.
They reached the European Cup semi-finals twice, in 1966/67 and 1981/82, still the deepest run by any Bulgarian club. In 1966/67 they drew 1-1 twice with Inter Milan and lost a deciding third match 1-0. In 1973/74 they knocked out the holders and three-time champions Ajax in the first round, 2-1 on aggregate, one of the largest upsets in the competition's history, and then lost 1-4 in Munich and won 2-1 at home against Bayern in the quarter-final. They reached the Cup Winners' Cup semi-final in 1988/89, losing home and away to Johan Cruyff's Barcelona; Cruyff signed Hristo Stoichkov from that CSKA side the following year. They beat Juventus 3-2 in Sofia in the 1994/95 UEFA Cup, but the result was annulled by UEFA over the late registration of Petar Mihtarski and awarded 3-0 to Juventus.
More recently they reached the Europa League group stage in 2005/06, 2009/10, 2010/11 and 2020/21, the last of those after eliminating Basel in the play-off, and the Europa Conference League group stage in 2021/22, having beaten Liepāja, Osijek and Viktoria Plzeň to get there.
The 2026/27 run has been the strongest for years. In the first qualifying round CSKA beat Derry City 3-2 at the Vasil Levski on 9 July 2026, Ioannis Pittas scoring twice and Bruno Jordão once, and won the return 2-1 at the Brandywell on 16 July, Pittas again and a Barry Cotter own goal deep into an extraordinary eighteen minutes of stoppage time, for 5-3 on aggregate. In the second qualifying round they drew 0-0 at Qarabağ in Baku on 23 July in front of 23,813 and 0-0 after extra time in Sofia on 30 July, then won the shoot-out 5-4, Pittas, Teodor Ivanov, Jean-Philippe Gbamin, Stefano Sensi and James Eto'o all scoring.
Quotes
- "Имаме шансове срещу толкова силния отбор на Макаби." - Hristo Yanev, CSKA Sofia head coach, to Gol.bg, 5 August 2026. https://www.gol.bg/a/113-cska/456052-yanev-makabi-e-mnogo-silen-no-tsska-ima-shansove
- "Самото ни присъствие тук е нещо много специално. Мотивирани сме да показваме онова, което можем – без значение дали ще има 20 хиляди." - Hristo Yanev, CSKA Sofia head coach, to Gol.bg, 5 August 2026. https://www.gol.bg/a/113-cska/456052-yanev-makabi-e-mnogo-silen-no-tsska-ima-shansove
- "Много по-различен от Карабах. Директен отбор, физически силни, разполагат с много скорост, обичат да играят на преход." - Hristo Yanev, CSKA Sofia head coach, on Maccabi Tel Aviv, to Gol.bg, 5 August 2026. https://www.gol.bg/a/113-cska/456052-yanev-makabi-e-mnogo-silen-no-tsska-ima-shansove
- "Тази победа ни дава повече увереност и самочувствие. Трябва да останем смирени, защото знаем колко труд трябва да положим още." - Hristo Yanev, CSKA Sofia head coach, to Sportal.bg, 6 August 2026. https://sportal.bg/news-2026080618121095107
In English, the last of these reads: this win gives us more confidence and self-belief, but we must stay humble, because we know how much work there still is to do.
Right now (2026/27)
Hristo Yanev is head coach. The club is controlled by the CSKA Red Hearts Foundation.
The summer business was modest. Joël Zwarts arrived from Lokomotiv Plovdiv for €500,000 on 18 June 2026, Stefano Sensi from Anorthosis Famagusta for €200,000 on 24 June, Jean-Philippe Gbamin free from Metz on 5 July, and Tamimou Ouorou on loan from Botev Vratsa on 3 July. Lumbardh Dellova was sold to Amedspor for €950,000 on 10 July and Matthias Phaëton to Lion City Sailors for €500,000 on 28 July. Ivan Turitsov, Ilian Iliev and Olaus Skarsem all left at the end of their contracts.
The Parva Liga has started well: a 0-0 draw at Slavia Sofia on 20 July 2026, a 3-2 home win over Botev Plovdiv on 27 July, a 2-1 home win over Dunav Ruse on 2 August and a 3-0 win at Septemvri Sofia on 9 August. That is ten points from four matches, eight goals scored and three conceded, and third place. The Bulgarian Supercup against Levski is scheduled for September.
CSKA are in the Europa League third qualifying round against Maccabi Tel Aviv and hold a commanding lead. They won the first leg 3-0 on 6 August 2026 at the Adjarabet Arena in Batumi, Georgia, where Maccabi are obliged to play their home matches, in front of an announced crowd of 119. Max Ebong scored on nine minutes, Santiago Godoy on 29 and substitute Joël Zwarts in the 90th. The second leg is at the Vasil Levski National Stadium on 13 August 2026. The loser of the tie drops into the Conference League play-off round; the winner faces OFI Crete in the Europa League play-off on 20 and 27 August.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PFC_CSKA_Sofia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_PFC_CSKA_Sofia_season https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Bulgarian_Cup_final https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_UEFA_Europa_League_qualifying https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_UEFA_Conference_League_qualifying https://www.gol.bg/a/113-cska/456052-yanev-makabi-e-mnogo-silen-no-tsska-ima-shansove https://sportal.bg/news-2026080618121095107 https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/match/2049130 https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/match/2049142
Researched and written for not4quarters. Where a fact could not be established from the sources read, this page says so rather than guessing.