Hristo Stoichkov

In this Bulgarian name, the patronymic is Stoichkov and the family name is Stoichkov.

Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgarian: Христо Стоичков, pronounced [ˈxristo stoˈit͡ʃkof]; born 8 February 1966) is a Bulgarian former professional footballer who is a football commentator for TUDN. A prolific forward, he is regarded as one of the best players of his generation^[2] and is regarded as the greatest Bulgarian footballer of all time. He was runner-up for the FIFA World Player of the Year award in 1992 and 1994, and received the Ballon d'Or in 1994. In 2004, Stoichkov was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.^[3]

Hristo Stoichkov

Stoichkov in 2016
Personal information
Full name	Hristo Stoichkov Stoichkov
Date of birth	(1966-02-08) 8 February 1966 (age 57)
Place of birth	Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
	Maritsa Plovdiv
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1982–1983	FC Hebros	32	(14)
1984–1990	CSKA Sofia	119	(81)
1990–1995	Barcelona	151	(76)
1995–1996	Parma	23	(5)
1996–1998	Barcelona	24	(7)
1998	Al-Nassr	2	(1)
1998–1999	Kashiwa Reysol	27	(12)
2000–2002	Chicago Fire	51	(17)
2003	D.C. United	21	(5)
Total		454	(220)
International career
1986–1987	Bulgaria U21	17	(8)
1986–1999	Bulgaria	83	(37^[1])
Managerial career
2004–2007	Bulgaria
2007	Celta Vigo
2009–2010	Mamelodi Sundowns
2012–2013	Litex Lovech
2013	CSKA Sofia
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

At club level, Stoichkov spent six years at CSKA Sofia and became the top goalscorer in Europe in 1990, receiving the European Golden Shoe. In 1990, he joined Barcelona where he earned the Spanish nickname "El Pistolero" ("The Gunslinger"), and was part of Johan Cruyff's "Dream Team" that won four consecutive La Liga titles and the 1992 European Cup. During his time at the club, he formed a prolific strike partnership with Romário. Cruyff was largely instrumental in bringing him to Barcelona where he quickly developed into one of the most prolific forwards in the world.

Stoichkov was a member of the Bulgaria national team that finished fourth at the 1994 FIFA World Cup, of which he was the top scorer with six goals and received the World Cup Golden Boot. He was ranked the third-best player at the World Cup, after Romário and Roberto Baggio, and received the World Cup Bronze Ball. Apart from his footballing talent, he was notable for his on-pitch temper.^[4] In his playing career, he was also nicknamed The Dagger (Камата).^[5]

Club career

Early career

Stoichkov was born in the city of Plovdiv.

Stoichkov began his football career playing for hometown club Maritsa Plovdiv at age 11. In 1982, he moved to Hebros Harmanli, scoring 14 goals in the third level of Bulgarian football.

CSKA Sofia

In early 1985, Stoichkov joined CSKA Sofia. At the beginning of his five-year stay at CSKA, Stoichkov (who later became famous for his short temper) became involved in a fight during the 1985 Bulgarian Cup Final, which resulted in an original lifelong ban, later reduced to an year suspension.^[6] He made his comeback for CSKA on 30 April 1986, in a 3–1 away win over Sliven in a game of the Cup of the Soviet Army. On 21 May, Stoichkov opened the scoring in the final of tournament against Lokomotiv Sofia, which CSKA won 2–0.^[7]

He continued his progress during 1986–87, becoming a regular in the left side of CSKA's attack. Stoichkov collected his first A Group title winner's medal at the end of the season. He scored 6 league goals that season.

Stoichkov managed to win the European Golden Boot with CSKA by scoring 38 goals in 30 matches during the 1989–90 A Group season.^[4]

Barcelona

After five years with CSKA, Stoichkov transferred to Barcelona. In his first season with the club, Stoichkov was suspended for two months for stomping on a referee's foot,^[8] but he still scored 14 league goals and 6 more in the European Cup Winners' Cup. He became part of manager Johan Cruyff's "Dream Team" and helped Barcelona to one of the most successful eras of the club, winning La Liga four years in a row between 1991 and 1994 and the European Cup after defeating Sampdoria in 1992.^[9] During his stay in Barcelona, he became an idol for the club's fans, and played in tandem with Romário in attack. Stoichkov was also known for making sure Romario attended training sessions on time, as the latter often indulged in late-night fiestas.^[10] Stoichkov was twice named runner up for the FIFA World Player of the Year, in 1992 and 1994, and he won the 1994 Ballon d'Or after leading his national team to the 1994 World Cup semi-finals.^[4]

Later career

Stoichkov then had a short spell in Italy with Parma scoring a total of seven goals and soon returned to FC Barcelona where he played until early '98. He also had a second stint with CSKA Sofia in the spring of 1998.^[11] In April 1998 he signed a two-match contract for Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr helping them win the Asian Cup Winners' Cup. In the semi-final against Kopetdag, he earned a penalty and assisted the winning goal and in the final against Suwon Bluewings, he scored the only goal in the 12th minute. For those two games Hristo received $200.000. He subsequently went in Japan to play with Kashiwa Reysol, before finishing his career in the United States with the Chicago Fire and D.C. United, winning the U.S. Open Cup (and scoring the first goal in the final) with the former.^[4]

International career

Stoichkov debuted for the Bulgaria national team in a UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying match against Belgium on 23 September 1987. He scored his first international goal in his fourth appearance, a 3–2 friendly defeat of Qatar in Doha.^[12]

During qualification for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, Stoichkov scored five goals to help Bulgaria qualify for its first major tournament since the 1986 World Cup. At the tournament finals, Stoichkov was awarded the World Cup Golden Boot as the joint top goal scorer of the tournament (with Oleg Salenko), with six goals, as well as earning the Bronze Ball award. He led Bulgaria past Germany in the quarter-finals 2–1, a shock result as Germany were the then-defending champions. In the semi-finals, Bulgaria lost 2–1 to Italy. They subsequently lost the third place play-off to Sweden, 4–0.^[4]

Bulgaria finished second in the qualifying group for Euro 1996 behind Germany. Stoichkov scored ten goals for his team during the qualifiers, as Bulgaria qualified as one of the best six runners-up. In the first match against Germany in Sofia, Bulgaria were 2–0 down at half-time. Stoichkov equalized with two goals from penalties and Emil Kostadinov also scored for a 3–2 win. Bulgaria lost the second match in Germany 3–1. During the finals, Bulgaria lost 3–1 in the decisive group match against a strong France side; in the other match, Spain won 2–1 against Romania and so the Bulgarians went out. In that tournament, Stoichkov scored three goals in three matches.^[4]

He was also part of the squad that was eliminated in the first round of the 1998 World Cup. Bulgaria was not nearly as strong as in previous years, earning only one point in a 0–0 draw against Paraguay and scoring only one goal through Kostadinov in a 6–1 defeat by Spain. Stoichkov retired from internationals in 1999 with 37 goals in 83 appearances.^[4] His last game was during the Euro 2000 Qualification against England which ended 1-1 and Stoichkov assisted Georgi Markov for the equalizer goal from free kick goal. In the same game he was substituted with Martin Petrov for whom it was debut with Bulgarian shirt. Ironically, both are Bulgaria's only goalscorers in a UEFA Euro Tournament, Stoichkov was the only Goalscorer in 1996 with 3 Goals while Petrov in 2004 in the 2–1 loss against Italy. Bulgaria failed to Qualify for the Euro 2000 in Belgium and the Netherlands after the game, as they needed a win to have chances to qualify.

He later served as coach of the Bulgaria national team from 2004 to April 2007.^[4]

Style of play

"That season [1993–1994] Romário and Stoichkov were a force of nature, blowing everyone and everything to bits."

— Football writer Sid Lowe on the strike partnership at Barcelona.^[10]

Stoichkov had explosive pace, and was a creative, tenacious and prolific left-footed forward who was primarily deployed as a striker, but was also capable of playing in a creative role, as an attacking midfielder, due to his ability to provide assists for teammates.^[13][14] He was also deployed as a supporting striker throughout his career, forming a strike partnership with Romário at Barcelona, and occasionally he played as a right winger during his time at the club, although he was also capable of playing on the left or through the middle.^[15][16] In his early years he also used to play as a left full-back. A powerful, physically strong and technically gifted player, Stoichkov was known for his explosive acceleration, and his dribbling ability at speed, as well as for his tendency to take unpredictable, powerful shots on goal.^[17][18] The top goalscorer at the 1994 World Cup, he was also notable at taking free-kicks and penalties,^[19] as well as being a very good crosser and passer of the ball.^[20] Manager Dimitar Dimitrov described Stoichkov as "one of the greatest players of all time" in 2006, and as a player who had "a winning mentality."^[21]

Stoichkov was criticised for his work-rate at times,^[22] and he also gained infamy because of his aggressive temper on the pitch; he could often be seen arguing with the referee, or with his opponents.^[23] At Euro 1996, after Bulgaria's final group stage match against France, he was accused by French defender Marcel Desailly of making insulting remarks about Desailly's race.^[24]

In 2006, he was sued by a former American University college student whose leg he broke with a violent tackle while playing in a friendly match for D.C. United in 2003. The case was settled out of court in 2007 with undisclosed financial terms.^[25] The student's coach called Stoichkov's challenge "criminal". Ray Hudson, who coached D.C. United for whom Stoichkov played at the time, called it a "rash tackle". Following an investigation by Major League Soccer (MLS), Stoichkov was suspended two games and fined US$2,000.^[26]

Media

Stoichkov features in EA Sports' FIFA video game series; he was included in the FIFA 15 Ultimate Team Legends.^[27][28][29]

In 2018 he published his authorized biography "Hristo Stoichkov. The Story".^[30] The official unveiling of the autobiography in November was attended by many footballers, other sportspeople, former Bulgarian presidents Petar Stoyanov, Georgi Parvanov and Rosen Plevneliev as well as former Spanish referee Idefonso Urízar Azpitarte, who had sent off Stoichkov during the first match of the 1990 Spanish Super Cup final and was given the opportunity to symbolically stomp on Stoichkov's foot.^[31]

Managing career

In the 2003–04 season, Stoichkov started a managing career, serving as a forwards coach at Barcelona. After Bulgarian national team manager Plamen Markov resigned in the wake of the team's first-round exit from Euro 2004, the Bulgarian Football Union named him as the new national team manager on 15 July.

Stoichkov's managing career got off to a poor start, with him failing to lead Bulgaria to qualification for the 2006 World Cup. He brought his bad temper from his career as a player to the bench. A couple of proven players quit the team due to personal differences with Stoichkov. The most notable scandal was on 5 September 2005, in a game against Sweden, where he was sent-off for insulting the referee.

The biggest blow to Stoichkov as a manager of the national team of Bulgaria came on 12 October 2006, when Stiliyan Petrov, the captain of the team, announced he would not play for Bulgaria so long as Stoichkov was manager.^[32] Petrov was the third player and the second captain in two years to leave the team because of differences with Stoichkov. On 17 March 2007, however, Petrov announced that he had had a private conversation with Stoichkov, in which they were able to work their differences out. As a result, Petrov would return to the team.^[33]

On 10 April 2007, the Bulgarian Football Union announced they had accepted the resignation of Stoichkov from his post with the national team. That was as a result of the poor performance of the team at the ongoing Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, followed by widely spread criticism and debate over the qualities of the manager. The specific game, which led to increased pressure on Stoichkov, was the 0–0 home draw with Albania (despite the fact that the Bulgarians generally controlled the game and hit the post twice). He had a short disappointing stint as manager at Celta Vigo, for which he was sacked following the team's slump that took them to the lower reaches of the Spanish Second Division. On 8 October 2007, he was replaced by ex-Real Madrid manager Juan Ramón López Caro. On 12 March 2009, Stoichkov visited the Manchester City training ground after requesting a visit.^[34]

On 29 June 2009, Stoichkov moved to Mamelodi Sundowns, where he replaced Henri Michel.^[35] On 16 March 2010, he quit Mamelodi Sundowns, with the former South Africa national team manager Trott Moloto named caretaker until a full-time replacement is found.^[36]

In 2011, the Vietnam Football Federation invited Stoichkov to become the head manager of Vietnam national team;^[37] however, he declined the position. In the 2011–12 season, he worked as an advisor at Russian club Rostov.^[38]

In January 2012, Stoichkov was appointed manager of Bulgarian side Litex Lovech, replacing Lyuboslav Penev, who left to become manager of the Bulgaria national team. In May 2013, Stoichkov was recognized as the A PFG manager of the season following a vote by the professional footballers in the Bulgarian league.^[39] In June 2013, he was named the manager of Bulgarian powerhouse – and former club – CSKA Sofia,^[40] but quit one month later after he lost faith in the troubled club.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition^{[41][42][43][44]}

Club	Season	League			National cup		League cup		Continental		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Hebros	1982–83	V Group	11	4							11	4
	1983–84		21	10							21	10
	Total		32	14							32	14
CSKA Sofia	1984–85	A Group	11	0	3	0					14	0
	1985–86		0	0	2	2					2	2
	1986–87		25	6	2	0	—		7	1	34	7
	1987–88		27	14	4	4	—		7	5	38	23
	1988–89		26	23	7	3	—		8	8	41	34
	1989–90		30	38	5	7	—		3	2	38	47
	Total		119	81	23	16	0	0	25	16	167	113
Barcelona	1990–91	La Liga	24	14	6	2	—		8	6	38	22
	1991–92		32	17	2	1	—		9	4	43	22
	1992–93		34	20	6	1	—		6	2	46	23
	1993–94		34	16	6	1	—		8	7	48	24
	1994–95		27	9	4	5	—		8	3	39	17
	Total		151	76	24	10	0	0	39	22	214	108
Parma (loan)	1995–96	Serie A	23	5	2	0	—		5	2	30	7
FC Barcelona	1996–97	La Liga	22	7	6	1	—		7	0	35	8
	1997–98		2	0	1	0	—		3	1	6	1
	Total		24	7	7	1	0	0	10	1	41	9
CSKA Sofia	1997–98	A Group	4	2	1	1					5	3
Al-Nassr	1997–98	Saudi Premier League							2	1	2	1
Kashiwa Reysol	1998	J1 League	16	8	1	0	0	0	—		17	8
	1999		11	4	0	0	1	1	—		12	5
	Total		27	12	1	0	1	1	—		29	13
Chicago Fire	2000	MLS	18	9	3	1					21	10
	2001		17	6	3	2					20	8
	2002		16	2	0	0					16	2
	Total		51	17	6	3					57	23
D.C. United	2003	MLS	21	5	3	1					24	6
Total			454	220	67	31	1	1	79	41	601	293

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year^[12]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Bulgaria	1987	3	0
	1988	12	4
	1989	8	1
	1990	4	0
	1991	3	2
	1992	5	2
	1993	6	4
	1994	11	9
	1995	7	7
	1996	5	5
	1997	4	1
	1998	10	1
	1999	5	1
Total		83	37

Scores and results list Bulgaria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Stoichkov goal.^[12]

List of international goals scored by Hristo Stoichkov

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	21 January 1988	Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar	Qatar	3–2	3–2	Friendly
2	9 August 1988	Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway	Norway	1–1	1–1	Friendly
3	24 August 1988	Stadion Hetman, Białystok, Poland	Poland	1–3	2–3	Friendly
4	21 September 1988	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria	Soviet Union	2–2	2–2	Friendly
5	11 October 1989	Yuri Gagarin Stadium, Varna, Bulgaria	Greece	4–0	4–0	1990 FIFA World Cup qualification
6	25 September 1991	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria	Italy	2–0	2–1	Friendly
7	16 October 1991	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria	San Marino	2–0	4–0	UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying
8	19 August 1992	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria	Mexico	1–1	1–1	Friendly
9	9 September 1992	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria	France	1–0	2–0	1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
10	28 April 1993	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria	Finland	1–0	2–0	1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
11	12 May 1993	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria	Israel	1–0	2–2	1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
12	8 September 1993	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria	Sweden	1–0	1–1	1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
13	13 October 1993	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria	Austria	2–0	4–1	1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
14	26 June 1994	Soldier Field, Chicago, United States	Greece	1–0	4–0	1994 FIFA World Cup
15				2–0
16	30 June 1994	Cotton Bowl, Dallas, United States	Argentina	1–0	2–0	1994 FIFA World Cup
17	5 July 1994	Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, United States	Mexico	1–0	1–1 (3–1 p.	1994 FIFA World Cup
18	10 July 1994	Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, United States	Germany	1–1	2–1	1994 FIFA World Cup
19	13 July 1994	Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, United States	Italy	1–2	1–2	1994 FIFA World Cup
20	16 November 1994	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria	Moldova	1–0	4–1	UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying
21				3–1
22	14 December 1994	Arms Park, Cardiff, Wales	Wales	3–0	3–0	UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying
23	26 April 1995	Stadionul Republican, Chișinău, Moldova	Moldova	2–0	3–0	UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying
24				3–0
25	7 June 1995	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria	Germany	1–2	3–2	UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying
26				2–2
27	6 September 1995	Qemal Stafa Stadium, Tirana, Albania	Albania	1–0	1–1	UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying
28	11 October 1995	Boris Paichadze National Stadium, Tbilisi, Georgia	Georgia	1–2	1–2	UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying
29	15 November 1995	Olympiastadion, Berlin, Germany	Germany	1–0	1–3	UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying
30	28 May 1996	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria	Macedonia	2–0	3–0	Friendly
31	2 June 1996	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria	United Arab Emirates	2–0	4–1	Friendly
32	9 June 1996	Elland Road, Leeds, England	Spain	1–0	1–1	UEFA Euro 1996
33	13 June 1996	St James' Park, Newcastle, England	Romania	1–0	1–0	UEFA Euro 1996
34	18 June 1996		France	1–2	1–3	UEFA Euro 1996
35	8 June 1997	Neftochimik Stadium, Burgas, Bulgaria	Luxembourg	1–0	4–0	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
36	5 June 1998	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria	Algeria	1–0	2–0	Friendly
—	19 February 1999	Mong Kok Stadium, Mong Kok, Hong Kong	Hong Kong League XI	1–0	3–0	Carlsberg Cup, considered unofficial friendly
37	31 March 1999	Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg, Luxembourg	Luxembourg	1–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying

Managerial statistics

As of 8 July 2013.

Team	From	To	Competition	Record
				G	W	D	L	Win %	GF	GA	GD
Bulgaria	15 July 2004	10 April 2007	Competitive	15	6	6	3	040.00	24	20	+4
			Friendlies^[a]	14	7	5	2	050.00	24	14	+10
			Total	29	13	11	5	044.83	48	34	+14
Celta Vigo	April 2007	8 October 2007	League	16	7	1	8	043.75	18	22	–4
			Copa del Rey	1	0	0	1	000.00	1	2	–1
			Total	17	7	1	9	041.18	19	24	–5
Mamelodi Sundowns	29 June 2009	16 March 2010	Premier Soccer League	30	16	8	6	053.33	43	24	+19
			Total	30	16	8	6	053.33	43	24	+19
Litex Lovech	5 January 2012	31 May 2013	Bulgarian A Professional Football Group	46	25	9	12	054.35	89	38	+51
			Bulgarian Cup	8	5	1	2	062.50	14	4	+10
			Total	54	30	10	14	055.56	103	42	+61
CSKA Sofia	5 June 2013	8 July 2013	Bulgarian A Professional Football Group	0	0	0	0	!—	0	0	0
			Total	0	0	0	0	!—	0	0	0
Career totals			League	92	48	18	26	052.17	150	84	+66
			Cup	9	5	1	3	055.56	15	6	+9
			Competitive	15	6	6	3	040.00	24	20	+4
			Friendlies	14	7	5	2	050.00	24	14	+10
			Total	130	66	30	34	050.77	213	124	+89

Honours

Player

CSKA Sofia^[4]

• A Group: 1986–87, 1988–89, 1989–90
• Bulgarian Cup: 1984–85, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89
• Soviet Army Cup: 1985, 1986, 1989, 1990
• Bulgarian Supercup: 1989

Barcelona^[4]

• La Liga: 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1997–98
• Copa del Rey: 1996–97, 1997–98
• Supercopa de España: 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996; Runner up:1990, 1993, 1997
• UEFA Champions League: 1991–92; Runner up:1993–94
• European Cup Winners' Cup: 1996–97; Runner up: 1990–91
• UEFA Super Cup: 1992, 1997
• Intercontinental Cup: Runner up:1992

Parma

• Supercoppa Italiana: Runner up:1995

Al-Nassr

• Asian Cup Winners' Cup: 1997–98

Kashiwa Reysol

• Japan Soccer League Cup / J.League Cup: 1999

Chicago Fire

• U.S. Open Cup: 2000
• Central Division: 2000, 2001
• MLS Cup 2000: Runner-up

Bulgaria^[4]

• FIFA World Cup Semi-finals (4th place):^[45] 1994 Bronze Medal

Individual

• Ballon d'Or: 1994^[4]
• European Golden Shoe: 1990^[4]
• European Cup Winners' Cup Top Scorer: 1989^[46]
• UNICEF European Footballer of the Season: 1991–92^[47]
• UEFA Men's Player of the Year Award / Onze d'Or: 1992^[48]
• Don Balón Award Best Foreigh Player in La Liga: 1993-94^[49]
• IFFHS World's Top Goal Scorer: 1994^[50]
• UEFA Men's Player of the Year Award / Onze d'Argent: 1994^[48]
• FIFA World Player of the Year: Runner-up: 1992,^[4] 1994^[51][52]
• FIFA World Cup Golden Shoe: 1994^[4]
• FIFA World Cup Bronze Ball: 1994^[52]
• FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 1994^[53]
• Bulgarian Footballer of the Year(5): 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994
• A Group Top scorer(2): 1988–89, 1989–90^[54]
• Bulgarian Sportsperson of the Year: 1994
• UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament: 1996^[55]
• MLS Best XI: 2000
• The Era of the 'Dream Team' (1988-1996) - Barcelona Legend^[56]
• World Soccer's 100 Greatest Players of the 20th Century: 2000^[57]
• UEFA Jubilee Awards – Greatest Bulgarian Footballer of the last 50 Years: 2004^[58]
• FIFA 100: 2004^[59]
• Golden Foot: 2007, as football legend^[60]
• Sport Movies & TV – Milano International FICTS Fest - FICTS "Hall of Fame": 2013
• UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador - UNESCO Champion for Sport: 2016' '[1]
• IFFHS: 2019, as football legend' '[2]
• Fans Award - The Best FC Barcelona Players Of All Time: 2021' '[3]' '[4]
• FourFourTwo - The 50 greatest Barcelona players of all time: 2022' '[5]
• FourFourTwo - The 100 best football players of all time: 2022' '[6]

Records

• All-time the only Football Player won Edition of the European Cup Winners' Cup and Asian Cup Winners' Cup.
• All-time Top Scorer in the Bulgarian First Professional Football League with 38 league goals in 30 games - season 1989–90.
• All-time FC Barcelona player with most red cards in the history (10 Red cards).' '[7]

Manager

Mamelodi Sundowns

• Premier Soccer League runner-up: 2009–10

Individual

• Premier Soccer League: Coach of the Month: December 2009^[61]

Further honours

• In November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee, he was selected as the Golden Player of Bulgaria by the Bulgarian Football Union as their most outstanding player of the past 50 years.^[62]
• He was named by Pelé as one of the 125 Greatest Living Footballers at a FIFA Awards ceremony in 2004.
• Eurosport made a voting in 2005 there Fans could decide who was the best Player in the 90s and Stoichkov won the Award.
• In 2011 he was named honorary consul of Bulgaria in Barcelona. In October 2017 he was removed from the position on the request of the Spanish government over his criticisms of this government (especially the deputy prime minister, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría) in relation with the Catalan independence referendum, as well as the fact that he lives mainly in the United States.^[63]

Barcelona (official)

1. Copa Generalitat: 1991, 1993
2. Trofeo Ciudad de La Línea: 1991
3. Trofeo Ciudad de Marbella: 1993
4. Teresa Herrera Trophy: 1990, 1993
5. Trofeo Ciudad de Oviedo: 1996
6. Joan Gamper Trophy: 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997

Notes

1. Includes Kirin Cup

References

1. . FIFA.com
2. "HRISTO STOICHKOV - FCBarcelona.cat". Fcbarcelona.com. Archived from the original on 3 January 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
3. "Pele's list of the greatest". BBC Sport. 4 March 2004. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
4. . FIFA.com. Retrieved 18 March 2015
5. "Hristo Stoichkov Profile of an Icon". 11 November 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
6. First XI: A burning hatred – ESPN FC 16 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Soccernet.espn.go.com (13 October 2011). Retrieved on 10 June 2013.
7. "Шампионски гол в дъжда прави Ицо символ на победата" (in Bulgarian). temasport.com. 23 March 2016.
8. The singular genius of the mad boy Hristo. heraldscotland.com (16 April 2007)
9. "Barcelona v Milan revisited: The night in 1994 the Dream died". The Guardian. 10 April 2015.
10. Lowe, Sid (2013). "Fear and Loathing in La Liga: The True Story of Barcelona and Real Madrid". p. 288. Random House
11. "Честит рожден ден на Христо Стоичков". Bulgarian Football Union. 8 February 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
12. "Hristo Stoichkov - Goals in International Matches". RSSSF. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
13. "Caclcio Dal Mundo" [Football from the World]. repubblica.it (in Italian). La Repubblica. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
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External links

•   Media related to Hristo Stoichkov at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website
• – FIFA competition record (archived)  
• Hristo Stoichkov at National-Football-Teams.com  
• Hristo Stoichkov at J.League () (in Japanese)  
• Stoichkov`s goal (FK) J.League official
• Stoichkov 30 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine Profile, stats and news
• UEFA.com – Golden Player of Bulgaria