[[Image:Nuvola apps mozilla.png|12px]][[Image:Nuvola apps mozilla.png|12px]][[Image:Nuvola apps mozilla.png|12px]][[Image:Nuvola apps mozilla.png|12px]]"},"1":{"wt":"\n"},"location":{"wt":"[[Sofia]],[[Bulgaria]]"},"coordinates":{"wt":"{{Coord|42|41|15.30|N|23|20|7.60|E|type:landmark_region:BG-23|display=inline,title}}"},"publictransit":{"wt":"[[File:Sofia Metro Logo.svg|18px]] [[Vasil Levski Stadium Metro Station|Vasil Levski Stadium]];buses,trolleybuses,trams (see location section)"},"broke_ground":{"wt":""},"built":{"wt":""},"opened":{"wt":"5 July 1953"},"renovated":{"wt":"1966,2002,2012,2015"},"expanded":{"wt":""},"owner":{"wt":"Ministry of Physical Education and Sport of Bulgaria"},"operator":{"wt":"Ministry of Physical Education and Sport of Bulgaria"},"surface":{"wt":"[[Grass]]"},"construction_cost":{"wt":""},"architect":{"wt":"Kano Dundakov"},"structural engineer":{"wt":""},"services engineer":{"wt":""},"general_contractor":{"wt":""},"project_manager":{"wt":""},"main_contractors":{"wt":""},"former_names":{"wt":""},"tenants":{"wt":"[[PFC Levski Sofia|Levski Sofia]] (1934–1950)
[[Bulgaria national football team]] (1950–)
[[FC CSKA 1948 Sofia|CSKA 1948]] (2016–2021)
[[PFC CSKA Sofia|CSKA Sofia]] (2024–2026)"},"seating_capacity":{"wt":"43,230{{cite web |title=First Division Clubs in Europe |publisher=UEFA |date=December 2011 |url=https://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/FirstDiv/uefaorg/Publications/01/67/03/93/1670393_DOWNLOAD.pdf |access-date=27 June 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120526114424/http://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/FirstDiv/uefaorg/Publications/01/67/03/93/1670393_DOWNLOAD.pdf |archive-date=26 May 2012}}"},"dimensions":{"wt":"105 x 68"}},"i":0}}]}" id="mwBw">.mw-parser-output .infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme)>div:not(.notheme)[style]{background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme) div:not(.notheme){background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media(min-width:640px){body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table{display:table!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>caption{display:table-caption!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>tbody{display:table-row-group}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table tr{display:table-row!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table th,body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table td{padding-left:inherit;padding-right:inherit}}
Location | Sofia, Bulgaria |
---|---|
Coordinates | 42°41′15.30″N23°20′7.60″E / 42.6875833°N 23.3354444°E |
Public transit | Vasil Levski Stadium; buses, trolleybuses, trams (see location section) |
Owner | Ministry of Physical Education and Sport of Bulgaria |
Operator | Ministry of Physical Education and Sport of Bulgaria |
Capacity | 43,230 [1] |
Field size | 105 x 68 |
Surface | Grass |
Construction | |
Opened | 5 July 1953 |
Renovated | 1966, 2002, 2012, 2015 |
Architect | Kano Dundakov |
Tenants | |
Levski Sofia (1934–1950) Bulgaria national football team (1950–) CSKA 1948 (2016–2021) CSKA Sofia (2024–2026) |
Vasil Levski National Stadium (Bulgarian : Национален стадион „Васил Левски“), named after Bulgarian national hero and revolutionary Vasil Levski (1837–1873), is the country's second largest stadium. The stadium has 43,230 seats and is located in the centre of Sofia, on the territory of the city's oldest and most famous park - the Borisova gradina. The Bulgaria national football team's home matches and the Bulgarian Cup finals are held at the venue, as well as athletics competitions. It was used as the home venue for Levski Sofia's Champions League games, and is often used for important derbies between the big clubs from Sofia, instead of their own home stadiums.
Vasil Levski National Stadium was officially opened in 1953, extended in 1966 and renovated in 2002.
Prior to their demolition by the Communist authorities during the 1940s and 50s, two other stadiums stood on the ground where the current national stadium lies. One of those was Levski Sofia's club stadium, called Levski Field (Bulgarian: Igrishte Levski, completed 1934), and the other - the Yunak Stadium (built 1928), which lay partially to the southwest. The latter used to host national football team matches with its capacity of about 15,000 seats. Levski were never compensated for their loss. During the 1960s, they build a new stadium - the present day Georgi Asparuhov.
The Vasil Levski stadium was completed in 1953 with an announced capacity of 42,000. [2] Originally, only the lower tier of stands was built (roughly half the height of the current stands), and, due to the uneven lie of the land, the western end of the pitch and stands were below ground level. [3] The upper tier was built about a decade later, with the current floodlight towers built in the late 1960s.
The Vasil Levski stadium was used for athletics competitions immediately after its official opening on 5 July 1953. The first football match played there after its opening was a friendly between Dinamo Sofia and FC Wien and, a month later, it also began being used for league games. The first international was a world cup qualifier on 6 September against Czechoslovakia. [4]
The stadium offers also judo, artistic gymnastics, basketball, boxing, aerobics, fencing and table tennis halls, as well as a general physical training hall, two conference halls and three restaurants. It hosted the 1957 European basketball championship. [5]
It was the proposed venue for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies in Sofia's bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics.
In July 2011, plans were announced to build a new 40,000 all-seater national stadium in the Sofia suburbs, but was later scrapped.
The stadium has hosted music shows by a number of regional and world stars.
The biggest concert in Bulgaria ever and thus at the Vasil Levski stadium was held by Yugoslav superstar Lepa Brena on 24 July 1990 in front of 100,000 people. [6] This record remains unbroken to date. The curiosity of the concert was the way Lepa Brena arrived at the stadium - by landing from the helicopter directly to the stage with a rope.
American metal band Metallica held one of the most successful concerts in Bulgaria in the stadium as part of their 2008 European Vacation Tour, attracting 50,000 people. [7]
American superstar Madonna had a very successful concert here as part of the second European second leg of her Sticky & Sweet Tour on 29 August 2009. She performed in front of 54,000 people [8] [ citation needed ] and was warmly welcomed by her numerous fans. After the show, the grass was badly damaged, which caused some discontent amongst football fans, national team players, coaches and staff.
On 14 May 2010, Australian rock band AC/DC played the Bulgarian capital Sofia, in front of nearly 60,000 fans as part of their Black Ice World Tour.
A festival, under the name Sofia Rocks, part of Sonisphere Festival took place on the Vasil Levski National Stadium. The festival was held over 2 days on 22 and 23 June with live performances by world-renowned bands such as Rammstein, Metallica, Manowar and Alice in Chains among others.
The Big Four, Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, and Anthrax, performed all together during the Sonisphere Festival. The performance at the Sonisphere Festival in Sofia was beamed to more than 450 movie theatres in more than 140 markets in the U.S. and select cities in Europe, Canada and South America on 22 June 2010. The live video was later released on DVD and Blu-ray in October 2010, entitled The Big 4 Live from Sofia, Bulgaria .
On 30 October, the North American rock band Bon Jovi announced that they will perform live at Levski during their Because We Can tour on 14 May 2013.[ needs update ]
On 30 July 2023, the North American pop rock band Imagine Dragons performed live at Levski as part of their Mercury World Tour
Concerts at Vasil Levski National Stadium | |||
---|---|---|---|
Date | Artist | Tour | Attendance |
24 July 1990 | Lepa Brena | — | 120,000 |
14 September 2006 | Ceca | Grom Tour | 500 |
2 October 2003 | Azis | — | 50,000 |
24 July 2008 | Metallica | 2008 European Vacation Tour | 50,000 |
29 August 2009 | Madonna | Sticky & Sweet Tour | 53,660 |
14 May 2010 | AC/DC | Black Ice World Tour | 60,000 |
22 June 2010 | Megadeth, Anthrax, Slayer, Metallica | Sonisphere Festival | 50,000 |
23 June 2010 | Rammstein | Liebe ist für alle da Tour | 35,000 |
8 July 2012 | Guns N' Roses | Up Close and Personal Tour | 10,000 |
14 May 2013 | Bon Jovi | Because We Can: The Tour | 47,266 |
26 July 2013 | Rammstein | Made in Germany 1995–2011 (tour) | N/A |
30 August 2013 | Roger Waters | The Wall Live (concert tour) | 31,371 |
25 September 2015 | Slavi Trifonov | — | 70,000 |
30 July 2023 | Imagine Dragons | Mercury World Tour | 44,000 |
31 August 2024 | Ed Sheeran | +–=÷× Tour | 60,000 |
14 September 2024 | Andrea Bocelli | Andrea Bocelli 30: The Celebration | 30,000 |
21 July 2025 | Guns N' Roses | 2025 Tour | N/A |
28 September 2025 | Robbie Williams | Live 2025 Tour | N/A |
The stadium is located in the city centre. It can be reached by bus (lines 9, 72, 75, 76, 84, 94, 184, 204, 213, 304, 604), trolleybus (lines 1, 2, 5, 8), tram (lines 10, 12, 18) or via the Vasil Levski Stadium metro station.
Fahreta Živojinović, known by her stage name Lepa Brena, is a Yugoslav singer, actress, and businesswoman. With around 40 million sold records, she is regarded as the commercially most successful recording artist from the former Yugoslavia. Brena is also often credited with creating the turbo-folk genre with her first two albums Čačak, Čačak (1982) and Mile voli disko (1982).
PFC Levski Sofia is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded on 24 May 1914 by a group of high school students, and is named after Vasil Levski, a Bulgarian revolutionary renowned as the national hero of the country.
CSKA Sofia is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League. CSKA is an abbreviation for Central Sports Club of the Army, named after the Bulgarian Army. CSKA is the most successful football club of Bulgaria according to the Europe's Club of the Century ranking of the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS).
Georgi Asparuhov Stadium, nicknamed Gerena, is a multi-purpose stadium situated in the Suhata reka neighbourhood of the Bulgarian capital Sofia. Named after the legendary Bulgarian footballer Georgi Asparuhov (1943–1971), it has been the home ground of Bulgarian association football club Levski Sofia since its opening in 1963.
Stadion Plovdiv is a multi-purpose stadium in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. It is currently used mostly for athletics championships. The stadium holds 55,000 since 2008. The stadium was built in 1950.
Stadion Balgarska Armia is a stadium of the Bulgarian football club CSKA Sofia. It's situated in the Borisova gradina in the centre of Sofia. Until 2024 the stadium had four sectors and a total of 22,995 (18,495) seats, of which 2,100 are covered; the pitch length was 106 meters and the width was 66 meters.
The Eternal derby of Bulgarian football or simply The Eternal derby is the name of the local derby football match between the two most popular and successful football clubs in Sofia and Bulgaria: Levski Sofia and CSKA Sofia. The dominant forces in Bulgarian football have won 26 and 31 national championship titles and 26 and 21 Bulgarian Cup titles, involved into 13 and 11 Doubles, respectively. The rivalry was chosen by COPA90 as the 2nd Maddest Derby in Eastern Europe.
The World Magnetic Tour was a 2008–2010 concert tour by American heavy metal band Metallica in support of the band's ninth studio album, Death Magnetic, which was released on September 12, 2008.
The Sonisphere Festival was a touring rock music festival which took place across Europe between the months of June and August. The festival was owned by John Jackson and Kilimanjaro Live. It was jointly promoted by K2 and Kilimanjaro Live. It hosted heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden, Metallica, Mötley Crüe, Slayer, Judas Priest, Megadeth, Avenged Sevenfold and Babymetal.
Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski Metro Station is a station on the Sofia Metro in Bulgaria. It was introduced into service on September 7, 2009. On 26 August 2020, transfer to Orlov Most on M3 line was opened.
Vasil Levski Stadium Metro Station is a station on the Sofia Metro in Bulgaria. It was introduced into service on 8 May 2009. It serves the Vasil Levski National Stadium and New CSKA Sofia Stadium. The architectural layout was created by architects Kr. Andreev and D. Mushev.
The Big Four: Live from Sofia, Bulgaria is a live video with performances by Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax, the "big four" of American thrash metal. The concert took place on June 22, 2010, at the Sonisphere Festival at Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria. It was shown at 450 movie theaters in the United States and over 350 movie theaters across Europe, Canada, and Latin America on June 22, 2010.
Yunak Stadium, was a multi-use stadium in central Sofia, Bulgaria. It was located at the north-western corner of Knyaz Boris's Garden, on the southern bank of the Perlovska river. It was the largest stadium in Bulgaria until the middle of the 20th century, with a capacity of 35,000 spectators, and was initially used as the main stadium for Bulgaria national football team matches. The pitch was almost exactly square-shaped, with four straight rows of stands on all sides.
The Maiden England World Tour was a concert tour by Iron Maiden, which began on 21 June 2012 in Charlotte, North Carolina and ended on 5 July 2014 with a performance at the Sonisphere Festival at Knebworth, UK. The tour's setlist was largely based on the original 1989 concert video of the same name, shot during the Seventh Tour of a Seventh Tour in 1988, which was re-released in 2013. Because of this, the tour's setlist consisted almost entirely of the band's 1980s material, with a particular focus on their 1988 album, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. The stage show was also based on the original tour and featured numerous pyrotechnic effects in addition to multiple appearances by the band's mascot, Eddie. Following 2005's Eddie Rips Up the World Tour and 2008–2009's Somewhere Back in Time World Tour, this was the group's third tour inspired by a particular period of their history.
The Začarani krug Tour was a tour by Serbian singer Lepa Brena, and was staged in support of her sixteenth studio album, Začarani krug (2011). Comprising 104 shows, the tour visited Europe and North America. It began on October 20, 2011, in Belgrade, Serbia, at the Kombank Arena and concluded on September 29, 2017, in London, England at Troxy. During the tour she held the biggest concert of her career. The concert in Prilep was attended by more than 200,000 people. It was officially announced in May 2011, with dates for Balkan venues revealed. The tour was also included some festival concerts.
The 1953 Bulgarian Cup final was the 13th final of the Bulgarian Cup, and was contested between Lokomotiv Sofia and Levski Sofia on 25 November 1953 at Vasil Levski National Stadium in Sofia. Lokomotiv won the final 2–1, claiming their second national cup title.
The 1953 Bulgarian Cup was the 13th season of the Bulgarian Cup. Lokomotiv Sofia won the competition, beating Levski Sofia 2–1 in the final at the Vasil Levski National Stadium in Sofia.
The 1987–88 Bulgarian Cup was the 48th season of the Bulgarian Cup. CSKA Sofia won the competition, beating Levski Sofia 4–1 in the final at the Vasil Levski National Stadium in Sofia.
The 2018 Bulgarian Cup final was the final match of the 2017–18 Bulgarian Cup and the 78th final of the Bulgarian Cup. The final took place on 9 May 2018 at Vasil Levski National Stadium in Sofia. It was refereed by Nikola Popov.
The 2022 Bulgarian Cup final was the final match of the 2021–22 Bulgarian Cup and the 82nd final of the Bulgarian Cup. The final originally should have been on 11 May 2022 at the Vasil Levski National Stadium in Sofia. On 28 April the date has been confirmed, but on the next day the Bulgarian Professional Football League and the Bulgarian Football Union announced a revised schedule, in which the game was set for 15 May 2022.