Luxembourg Beat Bulgaria in Winning Start to Nations League Campaign

On Saturday 26 September 2026, Luxembourg’s national football team opened their 2026/27 UEFA Nations League Group C4 campaign with an away victory over Bulgaria at the Hristo Botev Stadium in Plovdiv.

Jeff Strasser’s team entered the match without two key players, defender Seid Korac and midfielder Christopher Martins.

Luxembourg created two opportunities within the opening five minutes. Danel Sinani first failed to connect with a cross at the far post, before Leandro Barreiro sent an effort narrowly wide of the far post.

Bulgaria responded with attempts from Kristian Dimitrov and captain Zdravko Dimitrov, but Anthony Moris made saves on both occasions to keep the match goalless.

The hosts made the breakthrough in the seventeenth minute. Bulgaria worked the ball down the left side of the penalty area, where Dimitar Velkovski delivered a low cross towards the near post and Asen Chandarov converted with a first-time finish past Moris to give his side a 1-0 lead.

Anthony Moris made another save four minutes after the opening goal and was called into action again in the 33rd minute, when Emil Tsenov came close to scoring.

Luxembourg then made their first shot on target count. From several metres outside the penalty area, Leandro Barreiro played the ball to Hamza Kadamani and received a first-time return pass around eleven metres from goal before finishing past Daniel Naumov to make it 1-1 in the 37th minute.

Jeff Strasser’s team had to wait until midway through the second half for their second goal. Bulgaria first came close to restoring their lead in the 57th minute, but Tsenov’s header following a corner went wide of the far post. The visitors then made their own corner count. After the ball was delivered towards the near post, it took a touch off Bulgaria goalkeeper Daniel Naumov and fell to Vincent Thill, who struck it first time into the top corner to put Luxembourg 2-1 ahead.

The score remained unchanged until the final whistle, although both teams created further opportunities. Moris finished the match with six saves, while Naumov recorded five.

Luxembourg finished with more possession (53% to Bulgaria’s 47%) and more attempts (fifteen to eleven). The visitors also held a narrow advantage in passing accuracy (83% to 82%) and completed 354 passes compared with Bulgaria’s 335, while the hosts recorded more corners (five to four).

The victory moved the Red Lions to the top of Group C4 with three points after the other match in the group ended in a 1-1 draw between Iceland and Estonia.

Iceland will be Luxembourg’s next opponents in the UEFA Nations League, with the match scheduled to kick off at 20:45 at the Stade de Luxembourg on Tuesday 29 September 2026.

Starting lineups:

Bulgaria: Daniel Naumov (GK); Ivan Turitsov; Kristian Dimitrov (C); Teodor Ivanov; Dimitar Velkovski; Emil Tsenov; Ilia Gruev; Asen Chandarov; Georgi Rusev; Lukas Petkov; Zdravko Dimitrov.

Luxembourg: Anthony Moris (GK); Laurent Jans (C); Florian Bohnert; Dirk Carlson; Enes Mahmutovic; Tomas Moreira; Leandro Barreiro; Danel Sinani; Aiman Dardari; Vincent Thill; Hamza Kadamani.