Ivelin Popov

Youth career

Born in Sofia, Popov started to play football in Septemvri Sofia's academy. Then he played for the youth formations of Levski Sofia from 1999 to 2004. In 2005, he trained for four months with Feyenoord but did not sign with the team because he was not 18 years old. After that, he returned to Bulgaria and played in a tournament for Beroe's youth team and there he was spotted by the Litex Lovech scouts. On 14 July 2005, he even scored a goal for Beroe in a friendly game.

Litex Lovech

Popov signed his first professional contract with Litex Lovech in December 2005. He made his European debut in the first leg of Round of 32 Stage in a 0–0 draw against Strasbourg; he made his official debut in the Bulgarian top division in a match against CSKA Sofia on 12 March 2006. He played 59 minutes. The result of the match was a 1–1 draw. On 9 April 2006, he scored his first goal in professional football against Lokomotiv Sofia. The result of the match was a 3–1 win for Litex. The same season, Popov played in 11 matches and scored five goals. In two consecutive seasons, Popov was third placed in the voting for Young player of the year award in 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons. In the 2007–08 UEFA Cup, Popov scored a brace, in a first leg of second round, in a 3–0 win over Besa Kavajë. Eventually, Litex Lovech advanced to the next round, losing to Hamburger SV in two's leg. On 18 September 2008, Popov scored a goal in the first round of the UEFA Cup against Aston…

In August 2007, Dimitar Penev called-up Popov in the Bulgaria national team for the friendly match with Wales. On 11 February 2009, he scored his first goal for Bulgaria against Switzerland. On 2 April 2009, Popov scored the first of two goals for Bulgaria in the 2–0 win against Cyprus. On 17 September 2010, during a friendly match against Serbia, he became the youngest player to captain the national side. On 9 February 2011, Popov scored twice from the penalty spot in a 2–2 friendly draw with Estonia, but the result was subsequently declared void by FIFA and expunged from the records due to suspicions of match fixing with the involvement of the game officials. He captained the national team during the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification, providing his team with two goals, including a 25-yard free kick goal against Armenia, throughout a tough campaign, having to face strong national teams like those of Italy, the Czech Republic and Denmark. In 2015, Popov was a crucial figure in the 2–2 home draw versus Italy. He hit the back of the net to tie the score at 1–1 in the 11th minute, raising the spirits of his compatriots after a disappointing own-goal in the 4th minute. This resulted in a series of swift attacks from the home team which saw them grab the lead in the 17th minute. They were able to keep their lead until the 84th minute, but in the end had to settle for a 2–2 draw after a late equalizer. In the next official match, he once again proved his worth after the only goal…

Club

As of match played 24 October 2025

International

Scores and results list Bulgaria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Popov goal.

Litex Lovech

Bulgarian Cup: 2007–08, 2008–09 Bulgarian Supercup: 2010 Spartak Moscow

Russian Premier League: 2016–17 Russian Super Cup: 2017 Botev Plovdiv

Bulgarian Cup: 2023–24 Individual

Bulgarian Players' Player of the Year: 2009–10 Bulgarian Footballer of the Year: 2015, 2016, 2017 List of 33 top players of the Russian league: 2013–14 Russian Premier League Player of the Month: September 2015