Georgi Kostadinov (footballer)
Bulgarian footballer (born 1990)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Georgi Georgiev Kostadinov (Bulgarian: Георги Георгиев Костадинов; born 7 September 1990) is a Bulgarian former professional footballer.
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Kostadinov with Arsenal Tula in 2018 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Georgi Georgiev Kostadinov | ||
| Date of birth | 7 September 1990 | ||
| Place of birth | Tsarevo, Bulgaria | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Position | Defensive midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2004–2008 | Naftex Burgas | ||
| 2008–2009 | Chernomorets Burgas | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2007–2008 | Naftex Burgas | 10 | (0) |
| 2009–2011 | Pomorie | 53 | (4) |
| 2012–2013 | Ludogorets Razgrad | 12 | (2) |
| 2013–2015 | Beroe | 49 | (8) |
| 2015–2017 | Levski Sofia | 49 | (8) |
| 2017–2018 | Maccabi Haifa | 24 | (2) |
| 2018–2022 | Arsenal Tula | 95 | (1) |
| 2022–2025 | APOEL | 66 | (4) |
| 2025–2026 | Levski Sofia | 39 | (2) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2011–2012 | Bulgaria U21 | 6 | (1) |
| 2016–2024 | Bulgaria | 44 | (3) |
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 25 May 2026 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 15 October 2024 | |||
Career
Early career
Born in Tsarevo, Kostadinov began his career with Naftex Burgas. In 2007–08, he helped Naftex win the Bulgarian U19 Championship, scoring the only goal in the final against CSKA Sofia.[1]
In June 2009, Kostadinov joined Pomorie.
Ludogorets
On 16 January 2012, Kostadinov signed for Ludogorets Razgrad.[2] His A Group debut was on 18 March, as a substitute against Svetkavitsa, replacing Stanislav Genchev in the 78th minute. Six minutes later he scored his first goal, netting the fourth in a 5–0 victory.
Kostadinov won two Bulgarian League titles, a Bulgarian Cup and the Bulgarian Supercup for Ludogorets, but struggled to hold down a place in the first team, totalling 13 games and two goals.
Beroe
On 19 August 2013, Kostadinov joined Beroe Stara Zagora as a free agent.[3] He signed a two-year contract with the club and was given the number 70 shirt. Kostadinov made his debut in the same day in a 0–0 home draw against Cherno More, coming on as an 85th-minute substitute for Élio Martins.[4] He scored his first Beroe goal on 9 March 2014, in a 3–1 away win over Chernomorets Burgas. Kostadinov spent two seasons with the club, where he scored 8 goals in 49 league matches.
Levski Sofia
After his contract with Beroe expired, Kostadinov joined Levski Sofia. On 3 July 2015, he signed a two-year contract with Levski.[5] His competitive debut came against Botev Plovdiv in the opening game of the Bulgarian League season on 18 July, and scored his first goal for the club in a 1–1 away draw.[6]
After two successful individual campaigns with Levski, he left the club at the end of his contract in May 2017.[7]
Maccabi Haifa
On 22 June 2017, Kostadinov signed as a free agent for Israeli Premier League club Maccabi Haifa on a two-year contract.[8] He made his competitive debut for the club on 29 July, playing full 90 minutes of a 2017–18 Toto Cup Al match against Bnei Sakhnin at Acre Municipal Stadium; Maccabi won 4–1. Kostadinov played his first Israeli Premier League match on the opening day of the season during their 2–0 away defeat against Bnei Yehuda on 21 August.
On 16 September 2017, Kostadinov scored his first goals in a 4–2 home win over Hapoel Ra'anana.[9] He scored his second Maccabi goal on 5 May 2018 in a 1–1 draw at Bnei Sakhnin.[10]
Arsenal Tula
On 1 July 2018, Kostadinov joined Russian Premier League club Arsenal Tula on a 2+1-year contract, for an undisclosed fee reported to be €200,000.[11] On 29 July, he made his competitive debut in their season opener against Dynamo Moscow by replacing Kantemir Berkhamov for the final 32 minutes of a 0–0 home draw. On 5 October 2018, he scored his first Russian Premier League goal in a 1–1 home draw against FC Ufa.
APOEL
On 26 July 2022, Kostadinov signed with APOEL in Cyprus.[12] He scored his first goal for the club on 17 September 2022, in a 2–0 away win over Olympiakos Nicosia.
Levski Sofia (second spell)
In February 2025, he returned to Levski Sofia, signing a contract until the summer of 2026.[13]
International career
He was called up to the senior Bulgaria squad by Ivaylo Petev for a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Luxembourg in September 2016.[14] Kostadinov earned his first cap on 7 October under new manager Petar Hubchev, playing the full 90 minutes in the 1–4 away loss against France in another qualification match for the 2018 World Cup.[15]
On 31 August 2017, Kostadinov scored his second international goal in a 3–2 home win against Sweden.[16]
Career statistics
Club
- As of 7 August 2025
| Club | Season | League | Cup[a] | Europe | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Naftex Burgas | 2008–09 | B Group | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 10 | 0 | |
| Chernomorets Pomorie | 2009–10 | B Group | 24 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | 27 | 1 | |
| 2010–11 | B Group | 18 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | 19 | 2 | ||
| 2011–12 | B Group | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 11 | 1 | ||
| Total | 53 | 4 | 4 | 0 | — | 57 | 4 | |||
| Ludogorets Razgrad | 2011–12 | A Group | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 5 | 2 | |
| 2012–13 | A Group | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2013–14 | A Group | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 12 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 2 | ||
| Beroe Stara Zagora | 2013–14 | A Group | 19 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 6 |
| 2014–15 | A Group | 30 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | 31 | 2 | ||
| Total | 49 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 8 | ||
| Levski Sofia | 2015–16 | A Group | 29 | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | 31 | 4 | |
| 2016–17 | First League | 20 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2[b] | 0 | 24 | 4 | |
| Total | 49 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 55 | 8 | ||
| Maccabi Haifa | 2017–18 | Israeli Premier League | 24 | 2 | 8 | 0 | — | 32 | 2 | |
| Arsenal Tula | 2018–19 | Russian Premier League | 26 | 1 | 5 | 0 | — | 31 | 1 | |
| 2019–20 | Russian Premier League | 24 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2[b] | 0 | 27 | 1 | |
| 2020–21 | Russian Premier League | 20 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 22 | 0 | ||
| 2021–22 | Russian Premier League | 25 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 27 | 0 | ||
| Total | 95 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 107 | 2 | ||
| APOEL | 2022–23 | Cypriot First Division | 25 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3[c] | 0 | 30 | 2 |
| 2023–24 | Cypriot First Division | 31 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6[c] | 0 | 38 | 3 | |
| 2024–25 | Cypriot First Division | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10[d] | 1 | 21 | 1 | |
| Total | 66 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 19 | 1 | 89 | 6 | ||
| Levski Sofia | 2024–25 | First League | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 12 | 1 | |
| 2025–26 | First League | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4[b] | 0 | 6 | 0 | |
| Total | 13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 18 | 1 | ||
| Career total | 371 | 30 | 33 | 2 | 27 | 1 | 431 | 33 | ||
- Appearances in UEFA Europa League
- Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
- Four appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League, four appearances and one goal in UEFA Conference League
International
- As of match played 15 October 2024[17]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bulgaria | |||
| 2016 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2017 | 6 | 3 | |
| 2018 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 7 | 0 | |
| Total | 44 | 3 | |
- Scores and results list Bulgaria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kostadinov goal.[18]
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 June 2017 | Borisov Arena, Borisov, Belarus |  Belarus | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 2 | 31 August 2017 | Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria |  Sweden | 2–1 | 3–2 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 3 | 3 September 2017 | Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam, Netherlands |  Netherlands | 1–2 | 1–3 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification |
Honours
Ludogorets
APOEL
Levski Sofia