He was captain of DFB-Schreck Bulgaria
At just 63 years old: 1994 World Cup hero dies
April 1, 2026 – 3:40 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
He played a major role in the German national team’s sensational quarter-final exit at the World Cup 32 years ago. Now Bulgaria’s former captain Borislav Mikhaylov has died.
A defining figure in Bulgarian football is dead: Borislaw Mikhaylov, hero of the 1994 World Cup, has died at the age of just 63. Last year he suffered a severe stroke and was in a coma for months. Michajlov died on Tuesday as a result.
The former national goalkeeper was captain of the Bulgarian team that sensationally defeated defending champions Germany 2-1 in the quarter-finals of the 1994 World Cup. Bulgaria’s Football Association, which Mikhailov led as president for a total of 16 years, described him as a “legend of Bulgarian football”. He also sat on UEFA’s executive committee for eight years.
Michajlow, known as the “goalkeeper with the toupee”, played a total of 102 international matches between 1983 and 1998. Football ran in the family: his father Bisser and his son Nikolaj also played as goalkeepers for the Bulgarian national team.
Mikhailov took part in three World Championships: 1986, 1994 and 1998. His greatest moment came in 1994 in the USA. In the round of 16 against Mexico he saved two attempts in the penalty shootout. A few days later the success against Germany followed in East Rutherford. In the end, Bulgaria took fourth place – to date, by far the best performance in the history of the country of 6.5 million inhabitants.
The 1.86 meter tall goalkeeper came from the Levski Sofia youth team, for whose professional team he played for eight years (1981-89). Later he guarded the goal for Belenenses Lisbon, for the English second division club FC Reading and, at the end of his career, for FC Zurich (1998).
