The 2022 Bulgarian Cup final was the final match of the

2021–22 Bulgarian Cup The 2021–22 Bulgarian Cup was the 40th official edition of the Bulgarian annual football knockout tournament. It was sponsored by ''Sesame'' and known as the Sesame Kupa na Bulgaria for sponsorship purposes. The competition began on 4 September ...

and the 82nd final of the

Bulgarian Cup The Bulgarian Cup () is a Bulgarian annual football competition. It is the country's main cup competition and all officially registered Bulgarian football teams take part in it. The tournament's format is ''single-elimination'', with all matche ...

. The final originally should have been on 11 May 2022 at the

Vasil Levski National Stadium Vasil Levski National Stadium (), named after Bulgarian Folk hero, national hero and revolutionary Vasil Levski (1837–1873), is the country's second largest stadium. The stadium has 43,230 seats and is located in the centre of Sofia, on the te ...

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

. On 28 April the date has been confirmed, but on the next day the

Bulgarian Professional Football League The Bulgarian Professional Football League (Българска професионална футболна лига) or BPFL (БПФЛ) organizes the First Professional Football League The First Professional Football League (), commonly known a ...

and the

Bulgarian Football Union The Bulgarian Football Union ( BFS) is the governing body of association football in Bulgaria, and a member of UEFA since 1954. It organizes a football league, Bulgarian Parva Liga, and fields its Bulgaria national football team in UEFA and F ...

announced a revised schedule, in which the game was set for 15 May 2022. The clubs contesting the final were

CSKA Sofia CSKA Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League. ''CSKA'' is an abbreviation for ''Central Sports Club of the Army'' ...

and

Levski Sofia PFC Levski Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded on 24 May 1914 by a group of high sc ...

. This was the 17th occasion of the Eternal derby as a cup final and the first since

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

. For CSKA, this was the third consecutive final appearance and 35th overall, whereas for Levski, it was the first since

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

and 38th overall. This was the 41st time both teams faced each other in the tournament's history. Levski Sofia won the final with a narrow 1−0 victory, claiming a record 26th Bulgarian Cup title, their first since

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, and ending a 13-year overall trophy drought, having last won the

2009 Bulgarian Supercup The 2009 Bulgarian Supercup was the seventh Bulgarian Supercup match, a football match which was contested between the 2008–09 A Professional Football Group champion, Levski Sofia, and the 2008–09 Bulgarian Cup holder, Litex Lovech. The match ...

. Iliyan Stefanov scored the winning goal in the 57th minute. By winning the cup, Levski also secured a place in the second qualifying round of the

2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League The 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League was the second season of the UEFA Europa Conference League, Europe's tertiary club football tournament organised by UEFA. The final was played at Fortuna Arena in Prague, Czech Republic. It was won ...

, giving them an opportunity to compete in European competition once again after a 3-year absence. The final was the most attended match between two Bulgarian sides since the 1998 Bulgarian Cup final.

Pre-match

Originally, 18,564 tickets were provided for Levski fans and 15,597 for CSKA fans, totaling 34,161. Due to oversold tickets resulting from a vendor system error or unauthorized fan entry, the originally designated sections reached full capacity shortly before the kick-off with hundreds of fans still waiting to enter. All walkways were occupied by fans, as well as the emergency exits, and fans were even standing in unmarked areas such as the athletic track in front of the sections, under the electronic scoreboard, and the shelters designated for television cameras. To accommodate the additional spectators, the police decided to open an extra section, part of the

buffer zone A buffer zone, also historically known as a march, is a neutral area that lies between two or more bodies of land; usually, between countries. Depending on the type of buffer zone, it may serve to separate regions or conjoin them. Common types o ...

between the two sets of fans. For security reasons, the police allowed only children accompanied by their parents to occupy these sections, as the close proximity to the opposing team's fans could have led to potential incidents if the sections were occupied by

ultras Ultras are a type of association football fans who are known for their fanatical support. The term originated in Italy, but is used worldwide to describe predominantly organised fans of association football teams. The behavioural tendency ...

. According to official police reports, the number of spectators at the stadium was 40,600.

Route to the final

Match

Details

Notes

References

{{PFC Levski Sofia matches Bulgarian Cup finals 2021–22 in Bulgarian football PFC CSKA Sofia matches PFC Levski Sofia matches Bulgarian Cup Final