This is Bulgaria's first appearance at the World Championship since 2002, when they finished eighth after losing to Brazil in their classification match. In total Bulgaria have competed in 10 editions of the World Championship, including five consecutive tournaments between 1970 and 1986. Their best result was a fourth place finish in 1952 where they finished behind the Soviet Union, Poland and Czechoslovakia. They repeated the feat 10 years later in 1962 in Moscow.

Bulgaria head to Italy full of optimism. At the 2014 World Grand Prix the team won all of their matches to claim the Group 3 title. The victory earns the team promotion to Group 2 for next year’s edition. Last year Bulgaria finished ninth in their debut appearance at the World Grand Prix, winning six matches, the highlight a 3-1 victory against eventual winners Brazil. Bulgaria's greatest successes came more than 30 years ago when they took the bronze medal at the Moscow 1980 Olympic Games and gold on home soil at the 1981 European Championship. Their two most recent successes were bronze at the 2001 European Championship and bronze in the 2013 European League.

They face a difficult task at the 2014 World Championship, as they are the lowest-ranked team drawn into Pool B and their opponents include 2010 runners-up and world No.1 Brazil.