Bulgaria beat Slovenia 13-7, completed a 5-0 tournament and qualified for the 2027 European Baseball Championship.
Bulgaria Reaches First European Baseball Championship
Bulgaria beat Slovenia 13-7 in Blagoevgrad to win the 2026 B Pool qualifier and claim a place at the 2027 championship.
The story continues
Bulgaria secures spot in 2027 baseball championship
30 September 2026An unbeaten qualifying run sends the national team into a tournament group with Italy, Croatia and Austria.
Who's involved
Bulgaria men’s national baseball team
The host team in Europe’s second-tier qualifier
goal → Win the tournament and reach its first senior European championship
Slovenia men’s national baseball team
Bulgaria’s round-robin rival and final opponent
goal → Return to Europe’s top championship after last appearing in the 1990s
Evgenii Chernozemsky
A Bulgarian veteran who pitched and hit
goal → Halt Slovenia’s early attack and drive Bulgaria’s comeback
Nikolay Karashtranov
A Bulgarian batter credited with two runs batted in during the final
goal → Extend Bulgaria’s lead in the decisive innings
WBSC Europe
The governing body that runs European baseball
goal → Decide the remaining entrants for the 2027 championship
In short
Bulgaria will play in the senior European Baseball Championship for the first time, joining the continent’s leading national teams.
The next step is the 2027 tournament draw, schedule and Bulgarian roster. Bulgaria’s place is near-certain because qualification is complete.
Five teams—Bulgaria, Slovenia, Serbia, Romania and Finland—played in Blagoevgrad for one berth. Bulgaria won all four round-robin games, then recovered from 3-0 down to beat Slovenia 13-7 in the final and finish 5-0.
How it unfolded
Five teams begin chase for one European place
WBSC Europe scheduled the tournament in Blagoevgrad from July 27 to August 1. The teams would play one another once, with the top two meeting in a final for the only place at the 2027 European championship. Gabriel Fidler’s July 26 preview for Mister Baseball was the earliest report found explaining that format. Wider attention came during Bulgaria’s final.
Bulgaria rallies past Serbia
Bulgaria opened against Serbia and recovered after losing an early lead. Martin Mitev started as pitcher, and Evgenii Chernozemsky followed with four scoreless innings. Bulgaria won 10-5, beginning the tournament alongside Romania at 1-0. Slovenia entered a day later by beating Finland heavily.
Unbeaten Bulgaria takes control
Bulgaria beat Slovenia 6-3 as Panayot Zhaltov pitched eight strong innings, moving the hosts alone to 2-0. Finland then built a five-run lead, but Dimitar Nassapov tied the game with a grand slam and Michael Tchavdarov added another home run. Bulgaria won 10-8 and reached 3-0, making a place in the final more likely.
Perfect round robin sets Slovenia rematch
Slovenia beat Serbia 17-6 to claim the second place in the final. Bulgaria then defeated Romania 22-7 and completed the round robin at 4-0. The hosts had led the field, but qualification still required another victory over Slovenia.
Bulgaria overturns deficit and qualifies
Slovenia led 3-0 in the first inning, and Bulgaria replaced starting pitcher Panayot Zhaltov after one out. Chernozemsky took over for the rest of the game and hit a second-inning grand slam. Bulgaria moved ahead, held off Slovenia and widened its lead.
INTLBaseball24 reported at 13:25 UTC that Karashtranov had doubled home a run for an 11-5 lead. That play was not independently confirmed in an accessible official record, though Bulgarian reports credited him with two RBI. The account announced qualification at 14:36 UTC. Bulgarian National Television later confirmed the 13-7 victory, Chernozemsky’s performance and Bulgaria’s first berth.
Where things stand
Bulgaria won the Blagoevgrad B Pool, beat Slovenia 13-7 in the final and finished 5-0. It became the 23rd country to reach the senior European Baseball Championship and one of the 16 entrants for the 2027 event.
The result is settled and independently reported. Only the precise Karashtranov double described in the live X post remains unconfirmed in an accessible official record. The next developments will be the 2027 draw, schedule and Bulgaria’s roster for the championship in Germany.