Bulgaria’s national football team won its friendly against Finland by 2:1 on March 26 2008 in Sofia.

The win did not come easily, after Bulgaria's team struggled to come back into the game after the Finns opened the score in the 22nd minute with a penalty by veteran Yari Litmanen.

 The equaliser came with a Zdravko Lazarov goal two minutes after he took the field. The win was a result of a late goal by Stanislav Genchev in his first game for the national team.

“We had a weak first half,” Bulgarian Football  Union president Borislav Mihailov told Bulgaria’s Focus news agency after the game. “We have a lot to improve when it comes to motivation,” he said. “It is not normal for me for a player to have a walk on the field instead of playing football,” Mihailov said.

Bulgaria’s next friendly will be on August 20 2008 against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Because of its poor performance in the qualifying rounds, Bulgaria will not take part in this year's European championship in Austria and Switzerland.

The team is in qualifying group 8 for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, together with the teams of Italy, Republic of Ireland, Cyprus, Georgia and Montenegro.