18–0: The perfect record facing a very different Israel
4 min read
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Some volleyball records leave very little room for interpretation. Bulgaria’s record against Israel is one of them: six official meetings, six victories, and not a single set lost. The set count stands at 18–0.
On paper, it is as one-sided a historical matchup as EuroVolley can offer. But when the two teams meet again in Sofia tonight at 19:00, those numbers may tell only half the story.
The first chapter of this rivalry dates back to the 1962 World Championship. Bulgaria won 3–0, with the three sets ending 15:3, 15:3 and 15:4. Five years later, the same result was repeated at the 1967 European Championship, before another 3–0 victory at the 1970 World Championship and a fourth straight-set win at EuroVolley 1971.
The 1970 meeting carries an interesting piece of history of its own.
Bulgaria were hosting the World Championship, and Israel came to Sofia, where the hosts won 3–0 (15:5, 15:4, 15:8).
Fifty-six years later, the two countries are meeting again in the Bulgarian capital at a major international tournament.
Then came a remarkable gap.
After the 1971 European Championship, Bulgaria and Israel did not meet in an official match for almost half a century.
Their next encounters came in January 2021, in the European Championship qualifiers.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced all Group B matches involving Bulgaria, Israel and Austria to be played consecutively in Hadera, meaning every team faced the others twice.
Bulgaria continued its perfect record against Israel, winning 3–0 (27:25, 25:16, 25:22) on January 14 and 3–0 again three days later, this time 25:20, 25:21, 25:23. Bulgaria eventually completed the qualification campaign with four wins from four matches and topped the group.
Five players from Bulgaria’s current squad were already part of that last encounter with Israel: Aleksandar Nikolov, Martin Atanasov, Asparuh Asparuhov, Alex Grozdanov and Iliya Petkov. Israel also has three players who were there that day — Viacheslav Batchkala, Iliya Goldrin and Omri Roitman.
In other words, eight players from tonight’s squads were already involved when these teams last met in January 2021.
The complete official record is therefore remarkably clean:
1962 | World Championship | Bulgaria-Israel 3-0 (15:3, 15:3, 15:4)
1967 | European Championship | Bulgaria-Israel 3–0 (15:0, 15:1, 15:6)
1970 | World Championship | Bulgaria-Israel 3-0 (15:5, 15:4, 15:8)
1971 | European Championship | Bulgaria-Israel 3-0 (15:3, 15:4, 15:3)
2021 | EuroVolley Qualification | Bulgaria-Israel 3-0 (27:25, 25:16, 25:22)
2021 | EuroVolley Qualification | Israel-Bulgaria 0-3 (20:25, 21:25, 23:25)
Six matches.
Six Bulgarian victories.
Eighteen sets won.
Zero lost.
And yet, this is precisely where history can become misleading.
Israel arrives at EuroVolley 2026 after one of the most significant summers in its recent volleyball history.
Under head coach Itamar Stein, the team reached the semifinals of the 2026 European League, finishing among the top four in the main phase and, by reaching the last four, securing qualification for the 2028 European Championship.
The semifinal itself ended with two 3–1 defeats against the Netherlands, but the opening encounter offered a clear indication of the team’s potential.
The Dutch prevailed 25:23, 28:30, 25:23, 25:19, while two of Israel’s brightest young players, 20-year-olds Shay Liberman and Mark Rura, combined for 45 of Israel’s 95 points.
That development is not happening only at senior level.
This summer, Israel reached the semifinals of the men’s U22 European Championship for the first time in its history, then claiming a Bronze Medal after a straight sets win over France, another indication that a promising generation is moving through the country’s volleyball system and beginning to approach the senior national team.
And EuroVolley itself has already provided evidence that Israel cannot simply be measured against its historical record against Bulgaria.
Israel pushed Ukraine in their opening match, taking the third set in a 3–1 defeat (22:25, 19:25, 25:22, 19:25), before securing its first victory of the championship against Portugal.
That leaves two very different trends heading into tonight’s meeting.
Bulgaria brings an extraordinary historical advantage: six wins from six, an 18–0 set record, and a group of players who already know what it means to face Israel at international level.
Israel brings something history cannot measure: momentum, youth and the confidence of a team that has spent the summer taking another step forward on the European stage.
The record still belongs entirely to Bulgaria.
But the team standing on the other side of the net in Sofia is no longer the Israel of 1962, 1970, 1971 — or even 2021.
History says Bulgaria.
The summer of 2026 suggests that this time, 18–0 may not be the most important number in the room.
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