Stanislav Kostov

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Stanislav Kostov

| image = stanislav_kostov_2018.jpg

| upright =

| caption =

| full_name = Stanislav Yordanov Kostov

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1991|10|2|df=y}}

| birth_place = Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria

| height = 1.81 m

| position = Forward

| currentclub = Pirin Blagoevgrad

| clubnumber = 29

| youthyears1 = {{0|0000}}–2009

| youthclubs1 = Pirin 2001

| youthyears2 = 2010

| youthclubs2 = Pirin Blagoevgrad

| years1 = 2010

| clubs1 = Pirin Blagoevgrad

| caps1 = 12

| goals1 = 2

| years2 = 2011–2012

| clubs2 = CSKA Sofia

| caps2 = 26

| goals2 = 3

| years3 = 2012–2013

| clubs3 = Botev Plovdiv

| caps3 = 35

| goals3 = 3

| years4 = 2014–2016

| clubs4 = Beroe

| caps4 = 42

| goals4 = 4

| years5 = 2016–2017

| clubs5 = Pirin Blagoevgrad

| caps5 = 51

| goals5 = 16

| years6 = 2018–2020

| clubs6 = Levski Sofia

| caps6 = 62

| goals6 = 27

| years7 = 2020–2021

| clubs7 = Olympiakos Nicosia

| caps7 = 20

| goals7 = 1

| years8 = 2021–2023

| clubs8 = Pirin Blagoevgrad

| caps8 = 45

| goals8 = 7

| years9 = 2023

| clubs9 = Lokomotiv Sofia

| caps9 = 18

| goals9 = 1

| years10 = 2023–

| clubs10 = Pirin Blagoevgrad

| caps10 = 24

| goals10 = 0

| nationalyears1 = 2010–2012

| nationalteam1 = Bulgaria U21

| nationalcaps1 = 6

| nationalgoals1 = 0

| nationalyears2 = 2018–

| nationalteam2 = Bulgaria

| nationalcaps2 = 3

| nationalgoals2 = 0

| club-update = 20 June 2024

| nationalteam-update = 12 May 2019

}}

Stanislav Kostov ({{langx|bg|Станислав Костов}}; born 2 October 1991) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Pirin Blagoevgrad.

Club career

=Pirin Blagoevgrad=

Born in Blagoevgrad, Kostov began his career at Pirin 2001 as an important part of their youth team. In January 2010 he was scouted by Pirin Blagoevgrad. Kostov made his first-team debut in the 2010–11 season as a substitute against Sliven 2000 in a 2–1 league win on 7 August 2010. He netted his first goal, as he scored the winning strike in a 2–1 home victory over Lokomotiv Sofia on 11 September. In the game, he also assisted Boris Kondev for the first goal and won the Man of the Match award. On 25 September 2010, in a home match versus Minyor Pernik, Stanislav scored the only goal for Pirin in a 1–1 draw. On 16 October he assisted Boris Kondev for the opening goal in a match against Levski Sofia, but Pirin went on to lose the game 4–1.

=CSKA Sofia=

After a good first half of the season with Pirin, Kostov caught the eye of the major Bulgarian clubs CSKA Sofia and Levski Sofia. After a tough transfer battle for the youngster, Kostov finally decided to sign with CSKA. He made 21 appearances for CSKA, scoring 3 goals.

=Botev Plovdiv=

On 22 June 2012, Botev Plovdiv signed Kostov on a season-long loan deal,{{Cite web|url=http://gong.bg/view_article.php?article_id=278691|publisher=gong.bg|title=Ботев Пд взе Станислав Костов от ЦСКА|accessdate=22 June 2012|language=Bulgarian}} with the option of making the move permanent. On 10 August, Botev exercised the option to buy 100% of Kostov's contract.{{Cite web|url=http://www.novsport.com/news242821_1045.html|publisher=novsport.com|title=Ботев откупи правата на Станислав Костов от ЦСКА|accessdate=10 August 2012|language=Bulgarian}} He signed a two-year contract. The following day, Kostov made his debut in a 3–0 win over Slavia Sofia, coming on as a substitute for Vander. His first goals came on 24 November, in a 6–1 home win over FC Eurocollege in the Bulgarian Cup, scoring a hat-trick.

=Beroe=

In February 2014, Kostov signed a contract with Beroe Stara Zagora.{{cite web | url = http://www.sportal.bg/news.php?news=471322| title = Станислав Костов: избрах Берое заради треньора и града| language = Bulgarian | publisher = sportal.bg| date= 8 February 2014 |accessdate = 4 May 2016}}

=Pirin Blagoevgrad=

Kostov returned to his home club in the season 2016/17. Scoring 16 goals in 51 games, he was the team's top striker and an unchangeable starter. During the winter break of the 2017–18 season he left for Levski Sofia.

=Levski Sofia=

After coming to Sofia, Kostov had a disappointing half a season in Levski Sofia. But during the second season of his spell there he started the season with 13 goals in just 14 appearances, the likes of which no other Bulgarian striker has done in the past 12 years since Georgi Ivanov, thus converting himself into a regular starter. Kostov scored 24 goals in 38 matches with Levski by the end of his second season and became the top scorer of the league.

International career

Kostov earned his first cap for Bulgaria on 16 November 2018, coming on as a late second half substitute for Simeon Slavchev in the 1–1 away draw with Cyprus in a UEFA Nations League match.{{cite web| url = https://int.soccerway.com/matches/2018/11/16/europe/uefa-nations-league/cyprus/bulgaria/2720495/| title = Cyprus NT vs. Bulgaria NT 1:1| language = en| publisher = Soccerway| date = 16 November 2018 | access-date = 21 February 2021}}

Personal life

Kostov became a father of a daughter in 2019.{{Cite web|url=https://topsport.bg/levski/stanislav-kostov-otkazal-transfer-v-tim-ot-sauditska-arabiya.html|publisher=topsport.bg|title=Станислав Костов отказал трансфер в тим от Саудитска Арабия|date=31 August 2019|accessdate=2 September 2019|language=Bulgarian}}

Career statistics

rowspan="2"\|Club !rowspan="2"\|Season !colspan="2"\|League !colspan="2"\|Cup !colspan="2"\|Europe !colspan="2"\|Other !colspan="2"\|Total
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" \|+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Apps !Goals !Apps !Goals !Apps !Goals !Apps !Goals !Apps !Goals
Pirin Blagoevgrad \|2010–11 \|12	1	1	0	–	–	–	–	13	1
rowspan="3"\|CSKA Sofia \|2010–11 \|3	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	4	1
2011–12 \|18	2	2	0	1	0	–	–	21	2
Total !21	3	2	0	1	0	0	0	25	3
rowspan="3"\|Botev Plovdiv \|2012–13 \|22	2	1	0	–	–	–	–	23	2
2013–14 \|13	0	3	2	4	0	–	–	20	2
Total !35	2	4	2	4	0	0	0	43	4
rowspan="4"\|Beroe Stara Zagora \|2013–14 \|6	0	0	0	–	–	–	–	6	0
2014–15 \|20	2	3	1	–	–	–	–	23	3
2015–16 \|16	2	4	1	1	0	–	–	21	3
Total !42	4	7	2	1	0	0	0	49	6
rowspan="3"\|Pirin Blagoevgrad \|2016–17 \|32	10	2	0	–	–	–	–	34	10
2017–18 \|19	6	1	0	–	–	–	–	20	6
Total !51	16	3	0	0	0	0	0	54	16
rowspan="4"\|Levski Sofia \|2017–18 \|12	3	0	0	0	0	–	–	12	3
2018–19 \|35	24	1	0	2	0	–	–	38	24
2019–20 \|15	0	2	0	2	0	–	–	19	0
Total !62	27	3	0	4	0	0	0	69	27
Olympiakos Nicosia \|2020–21 \|20	1	5	1	–	–	–	–	25	2
rowspan=3\|Pirin Blagoevgrad \|2021–22 \|30	6	2	0	–	–	–	–	32	6
2022–23 \|15	1	1	0	–	–	–	–	16	1
Total !45	7	3	0	0	0	0	0	48	7
Lokomotiv Sofia \|2022–23 \|18	1	3	0	–	–	–	–	21	1
Pirin Blagoevgrad \|2023–24 \|16	0	1	0	–	–	–	–	17	0
colspan="2"\|Career total !310	58	31	5	10	0	1	0	365	63