Martin Minchev
Bulgarian footballer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Martin Yankov Minchev (Bulgarian: Мартин Янков Минчев; born 22 April 2001) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a winger or forward for Ekstraklasa club Cracovia and the Bulgaria national team.
|
Minchev in 2025 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Martin Yankov Minchev | ||
| Date of birth | 22 April 2001 | ||
| Place of birth | Varna, Bulgaria | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1] | ||
| Positions | |||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Cracovia | ||
| Number | 17 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2008–2018 | Cherno More | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2017–2020 | Cherno More | 78 | (10) |
| 2020–2023 | Sparta Prague | 70 | (10) |
| 2020–2023 | Sparta Prague B | 10 | (7) |
| 2023–2025 | Çaykur Rizespor | 38 | (3) |
| 2025– | Cracovia | 40 | (5) |
| 2025 | Cracovia II | 2 | (2) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2017 | Bulgaria U17 | 4 | (1) |
| 2017–2018 | Bulgaria U18 | 4 | (3) |
| 2018–2019 | Bulgaria U19 | 4 | (0) |
| 2019–2022 | Bulgaria U21 | 14 | (2) |
| 2019– | Bulgaria | 31 | (0) |
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 17:01, 29 May 2026 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 21:14, 5 June 2026 (UTC) | |||
Career
Cherno More
Born in Varna, Minchev joined Cherno More's youth academy at the age of seven in 2008 and progressed through the age groups.[2]
On 23 April 2017, a day after his 16th birthday, Minchev was given his professional debut by manager Georgi Ivanov in a 3–2 league victory over Lokomotiv Plovdiv, replacing Ivan Kokonov in the 76th minute.[3] In doing so, he became Cherno More's youngest-ever first team player in the Bulgarian league, aged 16 years and one day.[4] In the beginning of June 2017 he spent five days on trial at Serie A club Torino, where he trained with the U17 team and took part in one friendly match, scoring a hat-trick.[5]
Minchev began to establish himself in the Cherno More first team during the 2017–18 season. On 30 March 2018, he scored his first competitive goal for the club, netting Cherno More's first in a 2–1 league victory against Pirin Blagoevgrad.[6]
Sparta Prague
On 26 June 2020, Minchev moved abroad, signing a four-year contract with Sparta Prague.[7]
Çaykur Rizespor
On 10 September 2023, Minchev signed a three-year contract with Turkish club Çaykur Rizespor.[8]
Cracovia
On 19 February 2025, Minchev moved to Polish club Cracovia on a three-and-a-half-year deal for an undisclosed fee.[9]
International career
Youth teams
Minchev made his Bulgaria under-18 debut at the age of 15 in January 2017 during the 2017 Granatkin Memorial Cup. He scored his first goal in the Bulgaria's fifth game of the tournament against Slovakia on 18 January.
On 19 September 2017, Minchev made his debut for Bulgaria U17 in a friendly against Turkey U17, scoring the second consolation goal in a 2–5 home defeat.[10]
In August 2018, Minchev took part in the Vaclav Jezek Tournament with Bulgaria U18. He scored three goals during the tournament in Vrchlabí, Czech Republic, and was named Player of the Tournament.[11]
National team
After a good run of form with Cherno More, on 11 March 2019 Minchev was called up by manager Petar Hubchev to the Bulgaria squad for the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying matches against Montenegro and Kosovo.[12] He made his first senior appearance for Bulgaria in a 1–1 home draw against Montenegro on 22 March at the Vasil Levski National Stadium, coming on as a substitute for Spas Delev in the 82nd minute.[13] Minutes later he had a great opportunity to score a winning goal, but the ball ran inches wide.[14]
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 23 May 2026
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | Continental | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Cherno More | 2016–17 | First League | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | |
| 2017–18 | First League | 22 | 2 | 5 | 0 | — | 27 | 2 | ||
| 2018–19 | First League | 27 | 2 | 3 | 1 | — | 30 | 3 | ||
| 2019–20 | First League | 25 | 6 | 2 | 1 | — | 27 | 7 | ||
| Total | 78 | 10 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 88 | 12 | ||
| Sparta Prague | 2020–21 | Czech First League | 14 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4[b] | 0 | 21 | 0 |
| 2021–22 | Czech First League | 24 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 7[c] | 0 | 36 | 5 | |
| 2022–23 | Czech First League | 29 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2[d] | 0 | 35 | 7 | |
| 2023–24 | Czech First League | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3[e] | 0 | 6 | 1 | |
| Total | 70 | 10 | 12 | 3 | 16 | 0 | 98 | 13 | ||
| Sparta Prague B | 2020–21 | ČFL | 1 | 1 | — | — | 1 | 1 | ||
| 2021–22 | FNL | 5 | 5 | — | — | 5 | 5 | |||
| 2022–23 | FNL | 4 | 1 | — | — | 4 | 1 | |||
| Total | 10 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 7 | ||
| Çaykur Rizespor | 2023–24 | Süper Lig | 33 | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | 34 | 3 | |
| 2024–25 | Süper Lig | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | ||
| Total | 38 | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | 41 | 3 | |||
| Cracovia | 2024–25 | Ekstraklasa | 11 | 1 | — | — | 11 | 1 | ||
| 2025–26 | Ekstraklasa | 29 | 4 | 1 | 2 | — | 30 | 6 | ||
| Total | 40 | 5 | 1 | 2 | — | 41 | 7 | |||
| Cracovia II | 2024–25[15] | IV liga Lesser Poland | 2 | 2 | — | — | 2 | 2 | ||
| Career total | 238 | 37 | 26 | 7 | 16 | 0 | 280 | 44 | ||
- Includes Bulgarian Cup, Czech Cup, Turkish Cup, Polish Cup
- Appearances in UEFA Europa League
- One appearance in UEFA Champions League, five appearances in UEFA Europa League, one appearance in UEFA Europa Conference League
- Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
- Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, one appearance in UEFA Europa League
International
- As of match played 5 June 2026[16]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bulgaria | 2019 | 3 | 0 |
| 2020 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2025 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2026 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 31 | 0 | |
