Historically one of the most consistent teams to compete in the tournament, Bulgaria made their debut at the inaugural World Championship in 1949. The Bulgarians have subsequently accrued five podium finishes spanning five different decades. They have taken bronze four times (1949, 1952, 1986, 2006) and silver in 1970 to mark the team’s best World Championship to date. Furthermore, Bulgaria have competed in 16 of the 17 World Championships held to date – missing 1960 – only once falling outside the top 10 (in 2002).
The strong Bulgarian squad will still harbour hopes of a sixth medal in the competition to make up for a string of recent near misses, despite another recent coaching change. The team finished fourth in the 2012 and 2013 World League, the 2013 European Championship and the 2012 Olympic Games but to challenge for a medal in Poland they will need to significantly improve on their 2014 World League campaign which saw them win only one game out of 11.
Bulgaria installed former playing legend Plamen Konstantinov as coach to replace Camillo Placi in July. The move has echoes of 2012, when former manager Nayden Naydenov led the team to fourth place at London 2012 having only been appointed several weeks before the start.