Strahil Popov

In this Bulgarian name, the patronymic is Venkov and the family name is Popov.

Strahil Popov (Bulgarian: Страхил Попов; born 31 August 1990) is a Bulgarian professional footballer. He mainly plays as a right back.

Strahil Popov

Personal information
Full name	Strahil Venkov Popov[1]
Date of birth	(1990-08-31) 31 August 1990 (age 34)
Place of birth	Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Right back
Youth career
	Pirin Blagoevgrad
	Pirin 2001
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2008–2016	Litex Lovech	138	(6)
2009	→ Lokomotiv Mezdra (loan)	14	(0)
2010	→ Montana (loan)	2	(0)
2016–2020	Kasımpaşa	125	(1)
2020–2021	Hatayspor	57	(0)
2022	Eyüpspor	16	(0)
2022–2024	Ümraniyespor	46	(2)
International career‡
2008	Bulgaria U19	3	(0)
2009–2012	Bulgaria U21	3	(0)
2014–2021	Bulgaria	35	(0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 07:50, 1 June 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 21:29, 25 March 2021 (UTC)

Popov began his professional career at Litex Lovech in 2008. After loan spells at Lokomotiv Mezdra and Montana he became a regular in their team, playing 159 total games and scoring 6 goals for Litex. He signed for Kasımpaşa in January 2016.

Popov is a Bulgaria international, having represented his country at under-19 and under-21 level. He made his senior international debut in May 2014, aged 23, in a friendly match against Canada.

Club career

Born in Blagoevgrad, Popov began his career playing for Pirin Blagoevgrad before departing for Pirin 2001.^[2]

Litex Lovech

In 2008, Popov joined Litex Lovech.^[3]

Lokomotiv Mezdra (loan)

On 9 July 2009, Popov joined Lokomotiv Mezdra on loan until December 2009.^[4] He made his team début on 10 July, scoring goal in a 1–2 friendly loss against Sivasspor.

Montana (loan)

On 18 January 2010, Popov was loaned out to Montana for the rest of the season.^[5] He made his competitive debut on 20 March in a 0–0 home league draw against Litex, coming on as a second-half substitute, and participated in only one more game to the end of the season.

Return to Litex

Popov returned to Litex at the end of the 2009–10 season. He played only three league games during a following campaign and became a regular first team player in the 2011–12 season. On 21 March 2012, Popov was sent off for the first time in his professional career in a 1–1 away draw against Beroe Stara Zagora.

On 21 July 2013, Popov scored his first goal for Litex, with a header, netting the third in a 4–1 home win over Neftochimic Burgas. He then scored the winning goal in Litex's 2–1 away win against Slavia Sofia on 7 December.

On 3 August 2014, Popov was announced as Litex's new club captain.^[6] Six days later, he added his third goal for Litex against Botev Plovdiv in a 3–3 away draw.

Kasımpaşa

On 5 January 2016, he moved to the Turkish Süper Lig team Kasımpaşa for a reported fee of €750 000. He was given the number 90 jersey.^[7]

On 27 October 2017, he scored his first league goal in a match against Göztepe.^[8]

International career

After first being called up for a friendly match against Belarus in March 2014, but remaining an unused substitute,^[9] Popov made his debut for the national side on 23 May 2014, in the 1–1 draw with Canada.^[10] He played as a starter on 10 October 2015, in the 0–3 loss against Croatia in a Euro 2016 qualifier, remaining on the pitch for the full 90 minutes.^[11]

On 13 October 2018, he provided two decisive assists in a 2–1 home win against Cyprus, in a match for the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League. He became second top assistant with four assists in all over group in the competition.^[12]

Statistics

Club

As of 25 December 2019^[13]

Club performance			League		Cup		Continental		Other		Total
Club	League	Season	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Bulgaria			League		Bulgarian Cup		Europe		Other[a]		Total
Litex Lovech	A Group	2008–09	3	0	0	0	0	0	–		3	0
Lokomotiv Mezdra (loan)		2009–10	14	0	0	0	–		–		14	0
Montana (loan)			2	0	0	0	–		–		2	0
Litex Lovech		2010–11	3	0	0	0	0	0	–		3	0
		2011–12	18	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	21	0
		2012–13	27	0	3	0	–		–		30	0
		2013–14	37	2	3	0	–		–		40	2
		2014–15	31	3	4	0	4	0	–		39	3
		2015–16	19	1	2	0	2	0	–		23	1
	Total		138	6	14	0	6	0	1	0	159	6
Turkey			League		Turkish Cup		Europe		Other[b]		Total
Kasımpaşa	Süper Lig	2015–16	13	0	0	0	–		–		13	0
		2016–17	33	0	7	1	–		–		40	1
		2017–18	32	1	0	0	–		–		32	1
		2018–19	33	0	3	0	–		–		36	0
		2019–20	14	0	0	0	–		–		14	0
	Total		125	1	10	1	0	0	0	0	135	2
Career statistics			280	7	25	1	6	0	1	0	312	8

International

As of 22 November 2018

Team	Year	Tournament		Friendly		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Bulgaria
	2014	0	0	1	0	1	0
	2015	1	0	0	0	1	0
	2016	4	0	4	0	8	0
	2017	6	0	0	0	6	0
	2018	4	0	2	0	6	0
Total		15	0	7	0	22	0
Career total		21	0	8	0	29	0

1. Includes Bulgarian Supercup matches.
2. Includes Turkish Super Cup matches.

Awards

Club

Litex Lovech

• Bulgarian A PFG 2010/2011
• Bulgarian Cup – 2009
  • Bulgarian Supercup 2010

Individual

• Best defender in A Group: 2015