Birsent Karagaren

In this Bulgarian name, the patronymic is Hamdi and the family name is Karagaren.

Birsent Hamdi Karagaren (Bulgarian: Бирсент Хамди Карагарен; born 6 December 1992) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Arda Kardzhali and the Bulgaria national team. He made his debut for his country in October 2019.

Birsent Karagaren

Personal information
Full name	Birsent Hamdi Karagaren
Date of birth	(1992-12-06) 6 December 1992 (age 32)
Place of birth	Asenovgrad, Bulgaria
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Position(s)	Winger
Team information
Current team	Arda Kardzhali
Number	99
Youth career
	Asenovets
0000–2011	Lokomotiv Plovdiv
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2011–2012	Asenovets	26	(5)
2012	Shumen	12	(0)
2013	Etar 1924	2	(0)
2013–2014	Vereya	28	(23)
2014–2016	Lokomotiv Plovdiv	62	(9)
2017–2018	Dunav Ruse	48	(11)
2018–2023	Lokomotiv Plovdiv	139	(23)
2023–2025	CSKA 1948	79	(9)
2025	CSKA 1948 II	1	(0)
2025–	Arda Kardzhali	1	(0)
International career‡
2019–	Bulgaria	13	(0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 18:59, 18 July 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 20:15, 15 November 2021 (UTC)

Career

Early career

Born in Asenovgrad, Karagaren played as a youth for local club Asenovets and Lokomotiv Plovdiv. He also spent time in Shumen, Etar 1924 and Vereya, before joined Lokomotiv Plovdiv in 2014.

Dunav Ruse

On 19 January 2017 Karagaren signed for Dunav Ruse from Lokomotiv Plovdiv.^[2] He made his debut for the team on 17 February 2017 in a 0:4 loss to Beroe.^[3] In the next match for the league on 24 February, he scored both goals for the 2:0 win against Botev Plovdiv, becoming a man of the match.^[4] He scored again in the match against Levski Sofia on 28 February 2017.^[5]

CSKA 1948

On 25 July 2024, he scored the only goal in the 1:0 victory at home against Montenegrin team Budućnost Podgorica in a UEFA Conference League qualifying match, securing CSKA 1948's first ever win in a European club tournament.^[6]

Arda Kardzhali

On 31 July 2025, Karagaren netted the equalizing goal for his team in the 2:2 second leg away draw with Finnish team HJK in a UEFA Conference League qualifying match, which was decided in Arda's favour following a penalty shootout. This was the first match in which Arda managed to find the net in European tournaments and also the first time in which it was able to eliminate an opponent and advance to a further round.^[7]

International career

Karagaren received his first call-up for senior Bulgarian squad in October 2019 for the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying matches against Montenegro and England on 11 and 14 October.^[8] He made his debut on 11 October 2019 in a game against Montenegro. He substituted Wanderson in the 77th minute.^[9]

Career statistics

Club

As of 23 October 2021^[10]

Club	Season	Division	League		Cup[a]		Europe		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Asenovets	2011–12	Third League	26	5	0	0	–		26	5
Shumen 2010	2012–13	Second League	12	0	0	0	–		12	0
Etar 1924	2012–13	First League	2	0	0	0	–		2	0
Vereya	2013–14	Third League	28	23	0	0	–		28	23
Lokomotiv Plovdiv	2014–15	First League	30	5	5	1	–		35	6
	2015–16		26	3	2	0	–		28	3
	2016–17		6	1	1	1	–		7	2
Dunav Ruse			17	5	1	0	–		18	5
	2017–18		31	6	0	0	2	0	33	6
Lokomotiv Plovdiv	2018–19		32	3	3	1	–		35	4
	2019–20		28	7	6	2	4	0	38	9
	2020–21		31	4	4	1	2	0	37	5
	2021–22		12	0	1	0	3	0	16	0
Career total			283	62	23	6	11	0	317	68

1. Includes Bulgarian Supercup matches.

Honours

Club

Lokomotiv Plovdiv

• Bulgarian Cup (2): 2018–19, 2019–20
• Bulgarian Supercup: 2020