Kostadinov played in the
1985 FIFA World Youth Championship scoring two goals. He was a member of the
Bulgaria national team from 1988 to 1998. He earned 70
caps in which he scored 27 goals. Kostadinov gained international prominence after scoring two goals in the last matchday of the European
1994 World Cup qualification, against the
France national team. He scored his second goal in the last second of the match with a shot with his right foot from inside the French penalty area that sent the ball into the roof of the net. That match-winning goal enabled
Bulgaria to qualify for the 1994 World Cup finals at the expense of France. After helping Bulgaria qualify for the
1994 World Cup, he was a part of the squad that reached the semi-finals in the proper tournament, again in partnership with
Hristo Stoichkov. He played all seven games but did not score. During the game against Italy in the semi-final, Kostadinov was fouled by
Alessandro Costacurta in the penalty area, who later committed a handball offence there as well. Both actions were not given penalties, which sparked a lot of controversy, as Bulgarians accused the French referee
Joël Quiniou of purposefully ignoring the situations to get "revenge" for the
decisive qualifying game between Bulgaria and France at the
Parc des Princes, which saw the former qualifying to the World Cup at the expense of the latter. He also played at the
Euro 96 and the
1998 World Cup, both tournaments in which Bulgaria did not reach the second round. He scored one (and actually the only) goal in the
1998 World Cup against
Spain in the group stages. He retired before the
qualifying campaign for Euro 2000.
International goals :''Scores and results list Bulgaria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kostadinov goal.'' ==Honours==