Bulgaria has more than 120 registered volleyball clubs and over 5,500 players. The Bulgarian men's team has enjoyed success in World and European Championships, Olympic Games and other international tournaments for almost 50 years. In their first appearance in the World Championship in 1949 the side finished third. The team took silver in 1970, bronze in 1952, 1986 and 2006, and were seventh in Italy last year. In the European Championship, Bulgaria were second in 1951 and claimed bronze medals in 1955, 1981 and 1983. They took bronze again in the last European Championship in Izmir in 2009. Bulgaria played in the first Olympic tournament in Tokyo in 1964 (finishing fifth) and won the silver in Moscow in 1980. They were fifth in Beijing in 2008. In the most recent World Cup in 2007, they came in third. Bulgaria has been a regular participant in the World League since 1994. In 2010, they finished seventh, narrowly missing out on a Final Round spot. Among the star players on the team are Hristo Tsvetanov, Andrey Zhekov, Matey Kaziyski, Vladimir Nikolov and 2009 European Championship Best Blocker Viktor Yosifov. Kaziyski was named MVP in the 2009 Club World Championships and 2009 European Champions League, and was Best Spiker in the 2011 Indesit European Champions League.

Radostin Stoychev was appointed coach of the Bulgarian national team in February 2011. Stoychev's coaching career began at Slavia Sofia, who won the Bulgarian Cup in 2003. From 2005 to 2007, Stoychev was assistant coach at VC Dynamo Moscow. His team won the national championship in 2006 and the national cup in 2007. In 2007, Stoychev became head coach of Trentino BetClic, and the team won the Italian Championship in his debut season. The following season – Trentino’s first in the CEV Champions League – Stoychev led the club to Europe’s biggest club prize. Under Stoychev, Trentino have won three European titles and two Club World Championships.