efbet League 2026: fixtures, teams and the eternal derbies

There are sentences Bulgarian football waited seventeen whole years to hear. One of them came true at the Gerena: Levski are champions of Bulgaria. The Blues beat CSKA 1948 1-0 and sealed the title - their first since the 2008/09 season. If you're one of those people who said "next year will be better" every spring, congratulations - it finally arrived.

By a twist of fate the hero turned out to be substitute Marko Dugandzic, signed as a free agent. Sometimes the best things in football come from exactly where you weren't looking. It's the club's 27th title, and in the stands was new owner Atanas Bostandzhiev, watching Julio Velazquez's side take three points off their eternal rivals.

How it got here

The 2025/26 season was the 102nd in the history of Bulgaria's top flight. Ludogorets came in defending their 14th title and plenty of people were already talking about a potential 15th in a row. This is the moment for the little reckoning they do in the cafes: the talk of an "eternal streak" is now history. Levski broke the dominance and took the crown back after a long drought.

That the Blues were the leading force was clear as early as the 2025 calendar year. On points collected across the whole year, Levski were top with 66 and a goal difference of 63:23. Ludogorets were second, six behind on 60. The top five was completed by CSKA on 52, CSKA 1948 on 50 and Slavia on 47. The final table at the top after the championship phase was ruthlessly clear: Levski on 76 points from 32 matches - 24 wins, 4 draws, 4 defeats, 68:23.

And to make the wait even sweeter, right before the title Levski won the last eternal derby 3-1. There are matches, and then there are the ones remembered for years.

The format: this season was an odd one

If the standings looked out of step with previous years, you weren't imagining it. The 2025/26 format was 4-4-8, not the old model. The teams split like this: a first group of 4 (places 1-4), a second group of 4 (places 5-8) and a third group of 8 (places 9-16). The first two groups played six rounds each; the relegation group played seven.

The resolution at the bottom was brutal. The teams in 14th, 15th and 16th were relegated directly, and 13th played a play-off against the runner-up from the Second League. The reason for this "odd" year is straightforward: the top flight is shrinking. To get the efbet League down to 14 teams, three sides went straight down. From 2026/27 the top flight has 14 teams - so this was a transitional season.

The teams and the new faces

Sixteen teams played in the 2025/26 efbet League: Ludogorets, CSKA 1948, Levski Sofia, Botev Plovdiv, Lokomotiv Plovdiv, Cherno More, Slavia Sofia, Arda Kardzhali, Beroe, Botev Vratsa, Spartak Varna, Montana, Dobrudzha, Lokomotiv Sofia, CSKA Sofia and Septemvri Sofia.

There were only two newcomers - Dobrudzha and Montana. Lokomotiv Plovdiv, meanwhile, kept their place in the top flight after a 3-0 play-off win over Marek Dupnitsa. Sometimes staying up is worth just as much as coming up.

Schedule and dates

The season kicked off over the weekend of 18-21 July 2025, with the opening match between CSKA 1948 and Arda on 18 July. The last round of 2025 was played over the weekend of 5-8 December. The league resumed in early 2026 over the weekend of 6-9 February, and the run-in reached 29 May, when the play-off was also decided.

The stadiums: one important change

If you're still looking for CSKA at the Balgarska Armiya, it's time to refresh your memory. The old stadium has been completely demolished and closed for reconstruction. This season the Reds hosted their matches at the Vasil Levski National Stadium. That's also where the Bulgarian Cup final between CSKA and Lokomotiv Plovdiv was played.

Transfers and goals

CSKA put together a solid winter window with names like Alejandro Piedrahita, Leo Pereira and Isak Sole, while Angelo Martino, Godoy and Pastor arrived in the summer. For context - the previous season's top scorer in 2024/25 was Beroe's 24-year-old Argentine Santiago Godoy with 18 goals.

What comes next

The league is different from this season on - 14 teams and even more pressure on every place. For Levski this is the season that will be told for a long time. For everyone else - motivation to spoil it next time.

So what do you think - was the ending predictable, or did it surprise you? Test your instinct against other fans in 90+ and see whether you know more football than the expert at the next table. After every round there's always someone who says "I told you so" - why shouldn't it be you?