Ilian Dimov Iliev (; born 2 July 1968) is a Bulgarian professional football manager and former player.Iliev: sonhos na Luz desfeitos por Manuel José maisfutebol.iol.pt He is the head coach at Bulgarian First League club Cherno More.
He is best known for having played for Portuguese club Benfica and Bulgarian sides Cherno More and Levski Sofia. In his professional career as a footballer, he received 34 international caps for the Bulgaria national team.
Club career Iliev was born in Varna and started to play football at his hometown club Cherno More. In his youth he was also a talented wrestler, but chose to dedicate himself to football. After his good performances in the Cherno More youth teams were caught, he was promoted into the first team in 1986. For five seasons, between 1986 and 1991, Iliev made 123 appearances and scored 31 goals for the club. He was transferred to Levski Sofia in the 1991–92 season, winning three times the Bulgarian A PFG and one Bulgarian Cup in five years with the club.
In 1995, Iliev moved to Benfica and won the Taça de Portugal in the 1995–96 season. In his career he also played for Slavia Sofia and the Turkish Bursaspor
On 31 July 1998 Iliev was transferred to the Greek side AEK Athens for a fee of 300 million drachmas. He failed to establish himself in the squad and on 31 December his contract was terminated and returned to Levski Sofia. Afterwards he played the Portuguese clubs Marítimo and Salgueiros. He finished his career at his first club Cherno More Varna in 2004.
International career Iliev earned his first cap with Bulgaria in a friendly match against Turkey on 21 August 1991 in Stara Zagora. He registered 34 caps for his country, scoring three goals. Iliev was part of the Bulgarian squad at the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, where he played in three games.
Managerial career After retiring in 2004, Iliev pursued a career as a manager. In June 2004, he was appointed in his first club Cherno More Varna. However, on 3 March 2006, after a two years spell at the Sailors, he resigned after a home 0–1 loss against Rodopa Smolyan. Since 2006, he serves as the manager of Beroe Stara Zagora, making him one of the longest serving manager in a Bulgarian football club. Under his management in the 2009–10 season, Beroe won a historical first Bulgarian Cup and consequently achieved a participation in the UEFA Europa League qualification stages. Iliev has been voted best manager in the Bulgarian championship for the season 2009–10 by the association of Bulgarian football players.
On 6 April 2012 it was announced that Iliev will be the new manager of Levski Sofia. He was to complete the season with Beroe and then start his new job at the beginning of the 2012–13 season. His contract will be until June 2015.
On 12 April 2013, he was fired by Levski Sofia and was replaced by Nikolay Mitov.
In mid May 2014, Iliev held final talks to become the manager of Angolan club Inter Luanda. Compatriot Petar Kostadinov was announced as his assistant. He returned to his country in 2016, being appointed as manager of Loko Plovdiv. Iliev came close to securing European club football for the team, as the "smurfs" finished in 5th place in the standings during the 2015/2016 A PFG. On 17 October 2016, following a 1–2 defeat by Lokomotiv GO, Iliev announced that he is leaving Lokomotiv Plovdiv. In early 2017, Iliev signed a contract to manage newly promoted Altai Semey from the Kazakhstan Premier League, but stepped down in February 2017, as the club eventually did not receive a license for the top division.
On 9 June 2017, Iliev was appointed as manager of First League club Vereya. Following a successful stint with Vereya, in December 2017 he returned as head manager to his hometown club Cherno More.
On 1 November 2023, Iliev was officially announced as the new manager of Bulgaria while remaining in charge of his club team Cherno More. In September 2025, he left his position as head manager of the national team by mutual consent following an unsuccessful start to the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
As of 22 September 2025, together with Dimitar Dimitrov he holds the record for the most matches as manager in the top flight of Bulgarian football - 491.
Career statistics Club Club performanceLeagueCupContinentalTotalClubLeagueSeasonAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsCherno More A Group1988–8911200–1121989–9029351–344B Group1990–91351310–3613 Total751861008119Levski Sofia A Group1991–9230482204061992–932547120345Altay (loan)Süper Lig1993–9412221–143Levski Sofia A Group1993–94701100811994–95231131202812 Total85191956011024Benfica Primeira Liga1995–9619150002411996–972132040273 Total4047040514Slavia Sofia A Group1997–98111??–111BursasporSüper Lig1997–9815320–173AEK Athens Alpha Ethniki1998–9980??20100Levski SofiaA Group1998–9911000–110Marítimo Primeira Liga1999–0032400–3242000–0126250–3122001–021806020260 Total76611020896SalgueirosSegunda Liga2002–0324000–240Cherno More A Group2003–04182??–182Career statistics 374 55 47 7 14 0 435 62
International Bulgaria national teamYearAppsGoals199110199230199310199400199500199621199750199890199971200061Total343
International goals
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1. 14 December 1996 Tsirio Stadium, Limassol 3–1 3–1 World Cup 1998 Qualification 2. 3 March 1999 Stadion Beroe, Stara Zagora 1–0 2–0 Friendly 3. 16 August 2000 Stadion Vivacom Arena – Georgi Asparuhov, Sofia 1–3 1–3 Friendly
Managerial statistics
TeamFromToRecordGWDLWin %GFGAGD Cherno More Varna4 June 20044 March 20064860-12 Beroe8 June 200623 March 20072921+87 January 20084 May 2012157148+9 Levski Sofia1 June 201212 April 20135217+35 Loko Plovdiv26 February 201617 October 20164839+9 Vereya9 June 201728 December 20172223-1 Cherno More Varna28 December 2017present402327+75 Bulgaria1 November 20238 September 20251531-16Total774667+107
Honours Player Levski Sofia Bulgarian League: 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95 Bulgarian Cup: 1991–92, 1993–94
Benfica Portuguese Cup: 1995–96
Manager Beroe Bulgarian Cup: 2009–10 Bulgarian League Coach of the Season: 2009–10
Individual Manager of the Year in Bulgarian football - 2021, 2023
References
External links
Profile at LevskiSofia.info