Ivaylo Chochev

In this Bulgarian name, the patronymic is Lyudmilov and the family name is Chochev.

Ivaylo Lyudmilov Chochev (Bulgarian: Ивайло Людмилов Чочев; born 18 February 1993) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Ludogorets Razgrad and the Bulgarian national team.

Ivaylo Chochev

Chochev playing for CSKA in 2013
Personal information
Full name	Ivaylo Lyudmilov Chochev
Date of birth	(1993-02-18) 18 February 1993 (age 32)
Place of birth	Pleven, Bulgaria
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Position	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Ludogorets Razgrad
Number	18
Youth career
1999–2008	Spartak Pleven
2008–2010	Chavdar Etropole
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2010–2012	Chavdar Etropole	61	(17)
2013–2014	CSKA Sofia	50	(8)
2014–2019	Palermo	116	(12)
2019–2020	Pescara	0	(0)
2020–2024	CSKA 1948	94	(43)
2024–	Ludogorets Razgrad	65	(17)
International career‡
2009	Bulgaria U17	3	(0)
2010–2011	Bulgaria U19	5	(0)
2012–2014	Bulgaria U21	9	(3)
2015–	Bulgaria	51	(4)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 08:36, 23 December 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 18 November 2024

Career

Early career

Born in Pleven, Chochev began his career with local club Spartak Pleven, before moving to Chavdar Etropole in 2008.^[2]

CSKA Sofia

On 16 January 2013, Chochev joined A Group club CSKA Sofia.^[3] He made his debut in a 2–0 home win against Chernomorets Burgas on 10 March 2013.^[4]

Chochev swiftly became a regular starter. During 2013–14 season he established himself as a key member of the team. On 12 February 2014, it was officially announced that Chochev had signed a new three-year contract and doubled his previous salary.^[5]

Palermo

On 11 July 2014, Chochev moved to Serie A club Palermo, signing a three-year contract.^[6] Monaco and Wolfsburg were also keen on signing him but were not able to come to an agreement in time. Chochev scored his first goal for Palermo on 8 August, netting the tenth in a 12–0 pre-season friendly win over Calciochiese. He made his Serie A debut on 5 October against Empoli, coming on for the last 18 minutes in place of Franco Vázquez as Palermo lost 1–0 at Stadio Carlo Castellani. On 19 October, Chochev started for first time, playing 66 minutes in a 2–1 home win over Cesena. He scored his first Serie A goal on 12 April 2015, in a 3–1 away win over Udinese at Stadio Friuli. A week later on 19 April 2015, he scored another two goals against Genoa in a 2–1 home victory. His outstanding performances, both against Udinese and Genoa, saw him being named Man of the Match twice. On 22 June 2015, Chochev signed a new five-year contract.^[7]

On 25 September 2017, he provided two assists in a 2–1 home win over Pro Vercelli. He scored his first league goal of the season and received the man of the match award in a 2–2 away draw against Pescara on 3 November. He scored a volley from outside the box on 19 May 2018, in the last match of the regular season against Salernitana, in a 0-2 away win.

Pescara

In June 2019 Chochev joined Pescara, but never played because of his long recovery process from an injury he sustained in March 2019.

CSKA 1948

In the summer of 2020, Chochev returned to Bulgaria to sign with the newly promoted to First League team CSKA 1948. He returned in play on 18 October 2020, more than a year and a half after his injury.^[8]

Ludogorets

On 15 February, Chochev signed for Bulgarian champions Ludogorets Razgrad for a reported fee in the region of a million.^[9]

International career

Chochev made his debut with the Under 21 national team during the Under-21 European Championship qualifying category in 2013.

He was called up to the senior national team for a friendly against Canada on 23 May 2014. He made his debut with the national team on 8 June 2015 in a 4–0 friendly loss against Turkey.^[10] He made his first start playing the full 90 minutes on 3 September 2015 as Bulgaria lost 0–1 to Norway in Sofia.

Chochev scored his first goal with the national team on June 3, 2016 during the 2016 Kirin Cup in a 2–7 defeat to Japan.^[11]

On 31 August 2017, Chochev scored the winning goal for the 3–2 win over Sweden.^[12]

On 22 March 2019, Chochev received a heavy injury in a qualification match against Montenegro.

After initially not being in new manager Mladen Krstajić's plans, Chochev was recalled to the national side for the June 2023 Euro qualifiers against Lithuania and Serbia.^[13]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 23 December 2025

Club	Season	League			National cup[a]		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Chavdar Etropole	2010–11	B Group	27	3	0	0	–		–		27	3
	2011–12		21	6	0	0	–		–		21	6
	2012–13		13	8	1	0	–		–		14	8
	Total		61	17	1	0	–		–		62	17
CSKA Sofia	2012–13	A Group	10	0	2	0	0	0	–		12	0
	2013–14		35	7	3	1	–		–		38	8
	Total		45	7	5	1	0	0	–		50	8
Palermo	2014–15	Serie A	18	3	0	0	–		–		18	3
	2015–16		27	0	1	0	–		–		28	0
	2016–17		30	3	1	1	–		–		31	4
	2017–18	Serie B	29	5	2	0	–		–		31	5
	2018–19		12	1	0	0	–		–		12	1
	Total		116	12	4	1	–		–		120	13
Pescara	2019–20	Serie B	0	0	0	0	–		–		0	0
CSKA 1948	2020–21	Bulgarian First League	16	3	2	1	–		–		18	4
	2021–22		30	13	1	0	–		–		31	13
	2022–23		31	21	5	3	–		–		36	24
	2023–24		17	6	3	1	0	0	–		20	7
	Total		94	43	11	5	0	0	–		105	48
Ludogorets Razgrad	2023–24	Bulgarian First League	14	1	2	1	0	0	–		16	2
	2024–25		32	5	4	1	14[b]	1	1[c]	1	51	8
	2025–26		19	11	2	1	12[d]	3	0	0	33	15
	Total		65	17	8	3	26	4	1	1	100	25
Career total			381	96	29	10	26	4	1	1	437	111

1. Includes Bulgarian Cup, Coppa Italia
2. Six appearances in UEFA Champions League, eight appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
3. Appearance in Bulgarian Supercup
4. Four appearances and one goal in UEFA Champions League, eight appearances and two goals in UEFA Europa League

International

As of 18 November 2025

Bulgaria
Year	Apps	Goals
2015	4	0
2016	8	1
2017	7	2
2018	2	0
2019	1	0
2020	0	0
2021	9	1
2022	4	0
2023	7	0
2024	4	0
2025	5	0
Total	51	4

As of match played 5 September 2021. Bulgaria score listed first, score column indicates score after each Chochev goal.^[14]

International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition

No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	3 June 2016	Toyota Stadium, Toyota, Japan	7	Japan	2–7	2–7	2016 Kirin Cup
2	31 August 2017	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria	13	Sweden	3–2	3–2	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
3	10 October 2017	Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg	15	Luxembourg	1–1	1–1
4	5 September 2021	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria	26	Lithuania	1–0	1–0	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Ludogorets Razgrad

• Bulgarian First League: 2023–24, 2024–25
• Bulgarian Cup: 2024–25^[15]
• Bulgarian Supercup: 2024^[16]

Indidvidual

• Best midfielder in Bulgarian football: 2021^[17]
• Bulgarian First League Top Scorer: 2022–23^[18]
• Bulgarian Footballer of the Year second place: 2015; third place: 2022, 2023^[19]