Ivan Minchev

Ivan Stoilov Minchev (Bulgarian: Иван Стоилов Минчев; born 28 May 1991) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Slavia Sofia.^[1]

Ivan Minchev

Personal information
Full name	Ivan Stoilov Minchev
Date of birth	(1991-05-28) 28 May 1991 (age 34)
Place of birth	Kazanlak, Bulgaria
Height	1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Slavia Sofia
Number	73
Youth career
2001–2005	Rozova Dolina
2005–2009	Litex Lovech
2009–2010	Lokomotiv Mezdra
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2010–2013	Lyubimets 2007	86	(6)
2014	Spartak Varna	12	(2)
2014–2016	Montana	57	(11)
2016	CSKA Sofia II	2	(0)
2016	CSKA Sofia	1	(0)
2016–2018	Slavia Sofia	52	(11)
2018–2021	Beroe	83	(8)
2021	Bregalnica Štip	4	(0)
2021–	Slavia Sofia	102	(15)
International career‡
2017–	Bulgaria	2	(0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 26 June 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 23:30, 5 September 2023 (UTC)

Club career

Early career

Minchev began his career in his local Rozova Dolina aged 7 and moved to Litex Lovech Academy aged 15.^[2] In 2009 he moved to Lokomotiv Mezdra Academy, before moving to Lyubimets 2007 a year later.

CSKA Sofia

On 14 June 2016, Minchev signed with the returning on the top-level team of CSKA Sofia^[3] He made his debut for the CSKA II team on 7 August 2016 in a match against Sozopol, won by CSKA II with 2–0 result.^[4] A week later he completed his debut for the first team in a league match against Neftochimic Burgas.^[5]

Slavia Sofia

Three months after he joined CSKA and a single appearance for the first team, Minchev moved to Slavia Sofia.^[6] He made his debut for the team in a league match on 10 September 2017 against Lokomotiv Plovdiv won by Slavia with 5–2 result.^[7] In the league match against Vereya played on 1 October he scored his first goal for the club.^[8] On 15 April 2017, Minchev was named as Man of the Match in the league match against his ex club Montana.^[9]

On 28 November 2017, Minchev was awarded as Man of the Match in the league match against Cherno More where he scored the first goal for the 2–0 win.^[10] Minchev ended his first half of the 2017–18 season with 5 goals and 5 assists in 19 league matches, attracting interest from Russian and Kazakhstan clubs.^[11]

Beroe

On 9 June 2018, Minchev signed with Beroe Stara Zagora.^[12]

International career

On 2 November 2017, Minchev received his first call-up for Bulgaria for the friendly game against Saudi Arabia.^[13] 11 days later he made his debut for the national side in a match, coming on as a substitute in added time of the second half.^[14] In August 2024, Minchev was once again called up, being selected by manager Ilian Iliev for the September UEFA Nations League matches against Belarus and Northern Ireland,^[15] earning his second cap against the former.

Career statistics

Club

As of 1 August 2020^[1]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Lyubimets 2007	2009–10	B Group	6	2	0	0	—		—		6	2
	2010–11		24	1	1	0	—		—		25	1
	2011–12		23	1	1	1	—		—		24	2
	2012–13		22	2	2	0	—		—		24	2
	2013–14	A Group	11	0	1	0	—		—		12	0
	Total		86	6	5	1	0	0	0	0	91	7
Spartak Varna	2013–14	B Group	12	2	0	0	—		—		12	2
Montana	2014–15	B Group	27	5	3	1	—		—		30	6
	2015–16	A Group	30	6	5	1	—		—		35	7
	Total		57	11	8	2	0	0	0	0	65	13
CSKA Sofia II	2016–17	Second League	2	0	–		–		–		2	0
CSKA Sofia	2016–17	First League	1	0	0	0	–		–		1	0
Slavia Sofia	2016–17	First League	23	5	1	0	0	0	3[a]	0	27	5
	2017–18		29	6	6	2	–		–		35	8
	Total		52	11	7	2	0	0	3	0	62	13
Beroe	2018–19	First League	29	0	2	0	–		–		31	0
	2019–20		29	3	2	1	–		–		31	4
	2020–21		0	0	0	0	–		–		0	0
	Total		58	3	4	1	0	0	0	0	62	4
Career total			268	33	24	6	0	0	3	0	295	39

1. Appearances in Relegation Play-offs

Honours

Slavia Sofia

• Bulgarian Cup: 2017–18