Bulgaria hosts the Republic of Ireland at the Hristo Botev Stadium in Plovdiv in what could be a tense UEFA Nations League play-off match.
Date: 20/03/2025
Location: Hristo Botev Stadium
Time: 7:45pm
As previously mentioned, the last meeting between these two countries produced a goalless draw back in November 2020, while the last time there was a goal in this fixture was just two months prior to that, as Bulgaria and the Republic of Ireland drew 1-1 in Sofia, as Shane Duffy scored a 90th-minute equaliser following Bozhidar Kraev’s 56th-minute opener.
Bulgaria failed to qualify for Euro 2024 as they had an embarrassing qualification campaign in Group G, as they accumulated just four points from eight matches, with all of their points coming via draws. This resulted in theme finishing bottom of the standings behind the likes of Hungary, Serbia, Montenegro and Lithuania.
Their Nations League Group Stage performance was a slight improvement, as they finished second behind Northern Ireland in League C Group 3 with nine points from six matches, seeing them sit above Belarus and Luxembourg.
On the other hand, the Republic of Ireland were under the management of Stephen Kenny for their Euro 2024 qualifiers. The Boys in Green had a dismal campaign, as they earned six points from eight matches, with both of their victories coming at the expense of Gibraltar, having suffered defeats to Greece (2), the Netherlands (2) and France (2).
The Republic of Ireland were slightly toothless in their League B Group 2 of the Nations League, as their only wins came against Finland, as they finished on six points from six matches having suffered defeats to England (2) and Greece (2).
Nations League - League B - Group 2 
