Preview: Bulgaria vs Estonia - prediction, team news, lineups

Bulgaria welcome Estonia to the Stadion Hristo Botev on Tuesday evening for matchday two of the 2026-27 UEFA Nations League campaign.

In their first outing, the Lions fell to a disappointing 2-1 loss against Luxembourg on home soil, while the Blues held Iceland to a 1-1 draw at Laugardalsvollur.

Match preview

Following a difficult World Cup qualifying campaign against some extremely tough opposition, losing five of their six matches and finishing bottom of a group consisting of Spain, Turkey and Georgia, Bulgaria have experienced a mixed 2026 so far.

Aleksandar Dimitrov’s men started the year well, claiming wins against the Solomon Islands and Indonesia to post a perfect inaugural FIFA Series tournament, but faltered in the following friendly fixtures, losing 1-0 at home to Montenegro and surrendering a lead on two occasions to draw with Moldova at the Stadionul Zimbru.

Having narrowly missed out on promotion to League B, losing 4-2 on aggregate to the Republic of Ireland in last year’s playoff tie, the Lions will be disappointed with their start to the latest Nations League campaign too as they once again gave up an early advantage to lose against Luxembourg on matchday one.

Coming up against Estonia in their second bout, a nation that they have not lost to in any of the prior three meetings between the sides, Bulgaria will certainly be looking to bounce back fast ahead of consecutive away matches in the competition.

Despite enduring a similarly difficult World Cup bid themselves, losing six of their eight qualifying matches and finishing above only Moldova at the foot of Group I, Estonia have responded incredibly well to the disappointment.

Although they did taste defeat against Rwanda in their second FIFA Series fixture, the Blues are enjoying their best run of form since September 2022, winning each of their remaining four matches building up to this season’s Nations League campaign and triumphing over Lithuania to bag only their third ever Baltic Cup title.

Finding themselves 1-0 down at half-time of their Nations League opener against Iceland, a side who are a huge 53 places above them in the FIFA Rankings, Jurgen Henn’s men will be delighted to have maintained their unbeaten run too, with Maksim Paskoti’s goal in the second period enough to earn the Blues a point in Reykjavik on Saturday evening.

Travelling to Stadion Hristo Botev on Tuesday to face Bulgaria, whom they lost 2-0 to in their only previous away meeting, Estonia will be hoping to use their recent form to make history on matchday two and strengthen their promotion push in Group 4.

Bulgaria Nations League form:

Bulgaria form (all competitions):

Estonia Nations League form:

Estonia form (all competitions):

Team News

Bulgaria’s biggest injury miss is undoubtedly prolific Ludogorets midfielder Ivaylo Chochev, who is set to be out for each of the four remaining Nations League matches with right knee pain.

Kiril Despodov and Filip Krastev join him on the sidelines as they continue their recovery from foot and knee injuries respectively, while Petko Hristov missed out on squad selection due to a lack of match fitness.

However, the good news for the Lions is that Leeds midfielder Ilia Gruev has now recovered from a long term knee problem and played the full 90 minutes on Saturday evening.

Yoan Stoyanov has also returned to the national side after a two year absence, while 27-year-old midfielder Asen Chandarov made only his second ever Bulgaria appearance against Luxembourg and capped it with a goal.

Estonia’s second highest all time top scorer Rauno Sappinen is currently unavailable with an undisclosed injury and joins Nikita Mihhailov, Tony Varjund, Kristo Hussar and Marten-Chris Paalberg on the sidelines.

Henn is also without the services of 35-year-old striker Henri Anier, who sustained an injured thigh on September 19, while Vladislav Kreida is vacant due to health reasons.

Having suffered a season ending injury, tearing his anterior cruciate ligament when playing for FC Banik Ostrava last month, 29-year-old winger Vlasiy Sinyavskiy will be out of action for his country for the foreseeable future too.

Bulgaria possible starting lineup:

Naumov; Turitsov, K.Dimitrov, Ivanov, Velkovski; Tsenov, Gruev, Chandarov; Rusev, Petkov, Z.Dimitrov

Estonia possible starting lineup:

Hein; Peetson, Paskotsi, Kuusk, Mets, Schjonning-Larsen; Palumets, Poom, Kait; Ainsalu, Mustmaa

We say: Bulgaria 1-1 Estonia

Following a difficult start to their Nations League campaign, victory on Tuesday is imperative for Bulgaria if they want to be fighting for promotion to League B in November.

However, facing an Estonia side that have rebounded extremely well from their World Cup disappointment, we think they will struggle to respond this time around and will be pegged back once again in matchday two.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.