Strahil Popov (; born 31 August 1990) is a Bulgarian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

. He mainly plays as a

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

. Popov began his professional career at Litex Lovech in 2008. After loan spells at Lokomotiv Mezdra and

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

he became a regular in their team, playing 159 total games and scoring 6 goals for Litex. He signed for Kasımpaşa in January 2016. Popov is a Bulgaria international, having represented his country at under-19 and under-21 level. He made his senior international debut in May 2014, aged 23, in a friendly match against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Club career

Born in

Blagoevgrad Blagoevgrad ( ) is List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, а town in Southwestern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Blagoevgrad Municipality and of Blagoevgrad Province. With a population of almost inhabitants, it is the economic and cultura ...

, Popov began his career playing for Pirin Blagoevgrad before departing for Pirin 2001.

Litex Lovech

In 2008, Popov joined Litex Lovech.

Lokomotiv Mezdra (loan)

On 9 July 2009, Popov joined Lokomotiv Mezdra on loan until December 2009. He made his team début on 10 July, scoring goal in a 1–2 friendly loss against

Sivasspor Sivasspor Kulübü, known as Net Global Sivasspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish sports club based in Sivas. The primary department of the club is men's football. Formed in 1967, its football department has competed in Süper Lig since t ...

Montana (loan)

On 18 January 2010, Popov was loaned out to

for the rest of the season. He made his competitive debut on 20 March in a 0–0 home league draw against Litex, coming on as a second-half substitute, and participated in only one more game to the end of the season.

Return to Litex

Popov returned to Litex at the end of the 2009–10 season. He played only three league games during a following campaign and became a regular first team player in the 2011–12 season. On 21 March 2012, Popov was sent off for the first time in his professional career in a 1–1 away draw against Beroe Stara Zagora. On 21 July 2013, Popov scored his first goal for Litex, with a header, netting the third in a 4–1 home win over Neftochimic Burgas. He then scored the winning goal in Litex's 2–1 away win against

Slavia Sofia PFC Slavia Sofia 1913 () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which currently competes in the top tier of the Bulgarian football league system, the First League. Slavia's home ground is the Stadion Aleksandar Sh ...

on 7 December. On 3 August 2014, Popov was announced as Litex's new club captain. Six days later, he added his third goal for Litex against

Botev Plovdiv Profesionalen Futbolen Klub Botev AD, commonly referred to as Botev Plovdiv (, ), or simply Botev (within its associated city), is a Bulgarian professional Association football, football club based in Plovdiv. It competes in the First Professiona ...

in a 3–3 away draw.

Kasımpaşa

On 5 January 2016, he moved to the Turkish

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

team Kasımpaşa for a reported fee of €750 000. He was given the number 90 jersey. On 27 October 2017, he scored his first league goal in a match against Göztepe.

International career

After first being called up for a friendly match against

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

in March 2014, but remaining an unused substitute, Popov made his debut for the national side on 23 May 2014, in the 1–1 draw with

. He played as a starter on 10 October 2015, in the 0–3 loss against

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

in a Euro 2016 qualifier, remaining on the pitch for the full 90 minutes. On 13 October 2018, he provided two decisive assists in a 2–1 home win against

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

, in a match for the

2018–19 UEFA Nations League The 2018–19 UEFA Nations League was the inaugural season of the UEFA Nations League, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA. The league phase of the competition ...

. He became second top assistant with four assists in all over group in the competition.Страхил Попов изпревари едни от най-големите европейски звезди в Лигата на нациите
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Statistics

Club

International

Awards

Club

;Litex Lovech * Bulgarian A PFG 2010/2011 *

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 ...

– 2009 ** Bulgarian Supercup 2010

Individual

* Best defender in A Group: 2015

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Popov, Strahil 1990 births Footballers from Blagoevgrad Living people Bulgarian men's footballers Bulgaria men's youth international footballers Bulgaria men's under-21 international footballers Bulgaria men's international footballers Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football defenders FC Lovech players FC Lokomotiv Mezdra players FC Montana players Kasımpaşa S.K. footballers Hatayspor footballers Eyüpspor footballers Ümraniyespor footballers First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Süper Lig players TFF 1. Lig players Bulgarian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey 21st-century Bulgarian sportsmen