Nankov spent most of his career playing in the Bulgarian A PFG, but also had a spell with GKS Katowice.

[1] On 23 July 1997, Nankov was involved in arguably one of the most dramatic matches in CSKA Sofia's recent history, scoring twice to give his team a 3:1 away lead against Romanian side FC Steaua București in the first leg of a Champions League preliminary phase match, but was ultimately sent off and the Romanians succeeded in bringing the score to 3–3.

CSKA Sofia were eliminated from the competition after suffering a 0–2 home defeat in the return leg, for which Nankov was ineligible to play.

[2] He has been capped 17 times for the Bulgaria national team, scoring 1 goal, and played two games at the 1998 World Cup, receiving a red card in the first match against Paraguay, which ended in a scoreless draw.

[4] Following Mladenov's resignation, Nankov was head coach of the "redmen" in one match – a 0–0 draw with Beroe.