Bulgaria are making their first ever appearance at the European U19 Championships in July.

UEFA European U19 Championships
Prague & Liberec, Czech Republic
14-26 July 2008
Click here for the full tournament details  

Next month sees England U19s head to the Czech Republic for the 2008 UEFA European U19 Championships.

After qualifying through the Elite Round games in Belarus, England will face the hosts, Italy and Greece in Group B whilst current champions Spain, Germany, Hungary and Bulgaria contest Group A.

Over the next few days, we will look at the other teams in the competition and how they qualified and today we examine Bulgaria.

They are in the European U19 Championships for the first time in their history, after progressing from their Elite Round group as winners.

Bulgaria only needed a draw from their final game with Iceland to confirm their place in the Czech Republic. Whilst both teams had won their first two games in the group, Bulgaria’s superior goal difference meant that they held the advantage for the game at the Råde Idrettspark Stadium.

They got off to a good start too, taking the lead in the 30th minute through Momchil Tsvetanov.

Whilst Iceland pushed hard in the second half in their bid to reach their first finals too, they were dealt a double blow when they had a man sent off shortly before Atanas Zehirov made it 2-0.

Iceland did manage to reduce the arrears with a penalty from Gylfi Thor Sigurdsson, but it was Bulgaria who were left celebrating at the final whistle.

Bulgaria kick-off their tournament with a game against Hungary in Zizkov, at the same time that England face the Czech Republic in Jablonec on Monday 12 July.