Ivan Ivanov

Early career

Born in Zlatitsa, Ivanov was inspired to become a footballer after watching the Bulgaria national football team's performance during their 1994 FIFA World Cup campaign. He made his debut with Pirin 1922, before moving to CSKA Sofia in 2005. With CSKA, he was a Bulgarian Cup winner in 2006 and Bulgarian Supercup winner in the same year. In August 2007, Ivanov went on loan to Lokomotiv Plovdiv. In the winter of 2008, local media reported that he was a target for English side Derby County, but problems with the work permit stopped the transfer.

CSKA Sofia

After many departures from the club in the 2008 summer transfer window, Ivanov became an integral part of CSKA's defence, together with Kiril Kotev. He was in the starting line-up against Litex Lovech in the 2008 Bulgarian Supercup, which they won 2–1. On 19 September 2008, Ivanov scored his first goal for CSKA against Minyor Pernik, a header after a corner kick in the 67th minute. On 18 March 2009, Ivanov scored against his former club Lokomotiv Plovdiv to secure a 3–1 win for CSKA. He continued his goalscoring run on 21 March 2009, in a 2–0 win against Spartak Varna. In total, Ivanov scored five league goals in the 2008–09 season. On 15 August 2009, Ivanov scored his first goal of the 2009–10 season, in a 3–0 home win against Beroe Stara Zagora. On 27 August 2009, Ivanov scored the winning goal against Dynamo Moscow in the Europa League play-off round, helping his team to a 2–1 aggregate win…

Youth

Ivanov represented Bulgaria at all national levels, including U-17, U-19 and U-21 teams. On 10 June 2009, he scored his only goal for the under-21 side in a 4–3 loss against Israel U-21. Ivanov also served as team captain in the absence of Nikolay Mihaylov.

Senior

Ivanov made his debut for the senior national team on 20 August 2008, in a 2–1 win against Bosnia and Herzegovina, during which he entered the match as a substitute in the 67th minute. He also came on as a substitute for the naturalized Brazilian Lúcio Wagner in a World Cup qualifier against Italy on 10 October 2008. He played the full 90 minutes in another World Cup qualifier against Georgia five days later, which also ended in a scoreless draw. On 10 October 2009, Ivanov earned his fourth cap in a 4–1 away loss against Cyprus, attracting some criticism from the media for defensive mistakes. Nonetheless, he played in the next match against Georgia. On 6 September 2011, Ivanov netted his first national team goal, opening the scoring in a 3–1 away loss against Switzerland in a Euro 2012 qualifier. He became an integral part of the national team in the following years. After missing the qualifiers for Euro 2016 through injury, Ivanov made his return to the team on 6 September 2016, in the 4–3 win over Luxembourg in a 2018 World Cup qualification match.

Club

As of 17 March 2018

International

As of 9 September 2016

Scores and results list Bulgaria's goal tally first.

CSKA Sofia

Bulgarian Cup: 2005–06 Bulgarian Supercup: 2006, 2008 Partizan

Serbian SuperLiga: 2011–12, 2012–13 Basel

Swiss Super League: 2013–14, 2014–15 Swiss Cup runner-up: 2013–14, 2014–15 Individual

FK Partizan Player of the Year: 2012 Serbian SuperLiga Team of the Season: 2012–13 Bulgarian Footballer of the Year: 2013