Georgia national football team

Georgia

Nickname(s)	ჯვაროსნები Jvarosnebi (Crusaders)
Association	Georgian Football Federation
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Temuri Ketsbaia
Captain	Kakhaber Kaladze
Most caps	Levan Kobiashvili (100)
Top scorer	Shota Arveladze (26)
Home stadium	Boris Paichadze Stadium
FIFA code	GEO
FIFA ranking	74
Highest FIFA ranking	42 (September 1998)
Lowest FIFA ranking	152 (March 1994)
Elo ranking	92
Highest Elo ranking	49 (11 October 1995)
Lowest Elo ranking	108 (late 2009)
Home colours Away colours
First international
Georgia 2–2 Lithuania (Tbilisi, Georgia; May 27, 1990)
Biggest win
Georgia 7–0 Armenia (Tbilisi, Georgia; March 30, 1997)
Biggest defeat
Denmark 6–1 Georgia (Copenhagen, Denmark; September 7, 2005)

The Georgia national football team is the national association football team of Georgia and is controlled by the Georgian Football Federation. The Georgian team's first match took place in 1990, while Georgia was still part of the Soviet Union. The team have attempted to qualify for each major tournament from Euro 96 onwards, but have not yet achieved qualification. Home games are played at the Boris Paichadze Stadium in Tbilisi.

History

The history of Georgia national football team begins in 1990,when the best Georgian footballers played their first match against Lithuania, the first country to accept an invitation. The match was held on May 27, 1990 in Boris Paichadze Stadium. Georgia's players were: Baladze, Ketashvili, Tskhadadze, Kudinovi, Pirtskhalava, Nadiradze, Ketsbaia, Z.Revishvili, O.Korghalidze, Guruli, Pantsulaia, coached by Givi Nodia. The friendly match ended in a 2–2 draw. This was the only match prior to the declaration of independence on April 9, 1991. Soon afterwards the team played another friendly match successfully against Moldova.

The Georgian Football Federation became a member of both UEFA and FIFA in 1992, enabling Georgia to play competitive matches. The first of these came in September 1994, a 1–0 defeat to Moldova as part of the qualifiers for Euro 96. Georgia finished third in their group, ahead of Moldova and Wales, but seven points behind second-placed qualifiers Bulgaria.

Georgia failed to qualify for World cup in France, obtaining 10 points and finishing in the fourth place, level on points with Poland. At this time Georgia reached forty-second place in FIFA rankings.

In the Euro 2000 qualifying Georgia national team won only one match, drew two and finished bottom of the group with five points. This marked the beginning of a period of decline for Georgian football. The team finished last in their qualifying group for Euro 2004, although they celebrated their greatest victory against Russia on a goal scored by Malkhaz Asatiani. Georgian footballers repeated identical result in the next qualifying tournament. The team overcame only Kazakhstan. The Georgian team qualified in the next Euro 2008 by defeating Scotland on goals by Levan Mchedlidze and David Siradze. Georgia repeated previous results. This year team played two friendly successful matches aganist Turkey and Uruguay. Following the qualification round FIFA 2010 was really the age of anti-record. Georgian footballers could not win any qualifying match and ended running at the bottom even though the team was trained by eminent Argentinian coach Hector Cuper.

On November 6, 2009 Temuri Ketsbaia was appointed as the coach of Georgian national football team.

World Cup record

World Cup record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
1930 to 1990	Did not enter, was part of USSR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1994	Did not enter	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1998	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2002	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2006	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2010	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2014		-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2018		-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2022		-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Manager History

Giga Norakidze (1992) Aleksandr Chivadze (1993–1996) Vladimir Gutsaev (1996) David Kipiani (1997) Vladimir Gutsaev (1998) Gigla Imnadze (1998, caretaker)

Vladimir Gutsaev (1998–1999) Johan Boskamp (1999) David Kipiani and Revaz Dzodzuashvili (2000–2001) Aleksandr Chivadze (2001–2003) Ivo Šušak (2003) Merab Jordania (2003)

Gocha Tqhebuchava (2004) Alain Giresse (2004–2005) Gayoz Darsadze (2005) Klaus Toppmöller (2006–2008) Petar Segrt (2008) Héctor Cúper (2008–2009) Temuri Ketsbaia (2009–present)

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Italy 10 7 3 0 18 7 +11 24 Republic of Ireland 10 4 6 0 12 8 +4 18 Bulgaria 10 3 5 2 17 13 +4 14 Cyprus 10 2 3 5 14 16 −2 9 Montenegro 10 1 6 3 9 14 −5 9 Georgia 10 0 3 7 7 19 −12 3

Bulgaria – 2 – 0 6 – 2 0 – 0 4 – 1 1 – 1 Cyprus 4 – 1 – 2 – 1 1 – 2 2 – 2 1 – 2 Georgia 0 – 0 1 – 1 – 0 – 2 0 – 0 1 – 2 Italy 2 – 0 3 – 2 2 – 0 – 2 – 1 1 – 1 Montenegro 2 – 2 1 – 1 2 – 1 0 – 2 – 0 – 0 Republic of Ireland 1 – 1 1 – 0 2 – 1 2 – 2 0 – 0 –

UEFA Euro 2012 qualification

Main article: UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying Group F

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Greece 10 7 3 0 14 5 +9 24 Croatia 10 7 1 2 18 7 +11 22 Israel 10 5 1 4 13 11 +2 16 Latvia 10 3 2 5 9 12 −3 11 Georgia 10 2 4 4 7 9 −2 10 Malta 10 0 1 9 4 21 −17 1

Croatia — 2–1 0–0 3–1 2–0 3–0 Georgia 1–0 — 1–2 0–0 0–1 1–0 Greece 2–0 1–1 — 2–1 1–0 3–1 Israel 1–2 1–0 0–1 — 2–1 3–1 Latvia 0–3 1–1 1–1 1–2 — 2–0 Malta 1–3 1–1 0–1 0–2 0–2 —

Most capped Georgia players

As of February 2012, the seven players with the most caps for Georgia are:

#	Name	Career	Caps	Goals
1	Levan Kobiashvili	1996–	100	12
2	Kakha Kaladze	1996–2011	83	1
3	Zurab Khizanishvili	1999–	80	1
4	Georgi Nemsadze	1992–2004	69	0
5	Alexander Iashvili	1998–	67	15
6	Gocha Jamarauli	1994–2004	62	6
7	Shota Arveladze	1997–2007	60	26

Top Georgia goalscorers

As of October 11, 2011, the eight players with the most goals for Georgia are:

#	Player	Career	Goals (Caps)
1	Shota Arveladze	1997–2007	26 (60)
2	Temuri Ketsbaia	1991–2002	18 (50)
3	Alexander Iashvili	1998–	15 (67)
4	Giorgi Demetradze	1996–2007	12 (56)
5	Levan Kobiashvili	1996–	12 (100)
6	Georgi Kinkladze	1991–2005	9 (54)
7	Mikhail Kavelashvili	1994–2002	8 (45)
=7	David Siradze	2004–	8 (24)

Recent results and fixtures

Date	Competition	Venue	Home Team	Result	Away Team	Scorers
26-03-2011	Euro 2012 Q	Boris Paichadze Stadium, Tbilisi	Georgia	1–0	Croatia	Levan Kobiashvili  90'
29-03-2011	Euro 2012 Q	Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan	Israel	1–0	Georgia
04-06-2011	Euro 2012 Q	Stadion Poljud, Split	Croatia	2–1	Georgia	Jaba Kankava  17'
10-08-2011	Friendly Match	Dialog Arena, Lubin	Poland	1–0	Georgia
02-09-2011	Euro 2012 Q	Boris Paichadze Stadium, Tbilisi	Georgia	0–1	Latvia
06-09-2011	Euro 2012 Q	Ta' Qali Stadium, Ta' Qali	Malta	1–1	Georgia	Jaba Kankava  15'
11-10-2011	Euro 2012 Q	Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi	Georgia	1–2	Greece	David Targamadze  19'
11-11-2011	Friendly Match	Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, T'bilisi	Georgia	2-0	Moldova	Aleksandr Kobakhidze  36'Jano Ananidze  45' (pen.)  39'
02-29-2012	Friendly Match	Boris Paichadze Stadium, T'bilisi	Georgia	2-1	Albania	Aleksandr Kobakhidze  47'Aleksandr Amisulashvili  88'

Current squad

The following 23-players squad were called up for the friendly match against Albania on 29 February 2012.

Caps as of 29 February 2012, after the friendly against Albania

0#0 Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Nukri Revishvili 2 March 1987 (1987-03-02) 20 0 Krasnodar 12 GK Giorgi Loria 27 January 1986 (1986-01-27) 12 0 Dinamo Tbilisi 23 GK Roin Kvaskhvadze 31 May 1989 (1989-05-31) 0 0 FC Zestafoni 3 DF Guram Kashia 4 July 1987 (1987-07-04) 13 0 Vitesse 4 DF Mamuka Kobakhidze 23 August 1992 (1992-08-23) 0 0 FC Zestafoni 6 DF Aleksandr Amisulashvili August 20, 1982 (1982-08-20) 24 2 Krasnodar 7 DF Zurab Khizanishvili 6 October 1981 (1981-10-06) 80 1 Kayserispor 13 DF Akaki Khubutia 17 March 1986 (1986-03-17) 7 0 Samsunspor 14 DF Ucha Lobjanidze 23 February 1987 (1987-02-23) 21 0 Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih 15 DF Gia Grigalava 5 October 1989 (1989-10-05) 5 0 Volga Nizhny Novgorod 2 MF Jaba Kankava 18 March 1986 (1986-03-18) 33 4 Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih 5 MF Jano Ananidze 10 October 1992 (1992-10-10) 13 2 FC Spartak Moscow 10 MF Levan Kenia 18 October 1990 (1990-10-18) 19 3 Schalke 04 11 MF David Targamadze 22 August 1989 (1989-08-22) 5 1 Illichivets Mariupol 16 MF Shota Grigalashvili 29 June 1986 (1986-06-29) 9 0 FC Zestafoni 17 MF Dato Kvirkvelia 27 June 1980 (1980-06-27) 47 0 Anorthosis Famagusta 19 MF Tornike Gorgiashvili 27 April 1988 (1988-04-27) 1 0 FC Zestafoni 20 MF Murtaz Daushvili 1 May 1989 (1989-05-01) 11 0 Karpaty Lviv 21 MF Irakli Dzaria 1 December 1988 (1988-12-01) 1 0 Dinamo Tbilisi 22 MF Aleksandr Kobakhidze 11 February 1987 (1987-02-11) 5 2 Arsenal Kyiv 8 FW Otar Martsvaladze 17 December 1985 (1985-12-17) 20 2 Krasnodar 9 FW Nikoloz Gelashvili 5 August 1985 (1985-08-05) 10 0 Bochum 18 FW Vladimer Dvalishvili 20 April 1986 (1986-04-20) 21 4 Polonia Warsaw

Recent callups

The following players have not been called up for the upcoming matches but have been called up for the team in the last 12 months.

Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club Latest Call-up GK Koka Sepiashvili 19 March 1986 (1986-03-19) 0 0 Dinamo Tbilisi v. Greece, 11 October 2011 DF Levan Kobiashvili 10 July 1977 (1977-07-10) 100 12 Hertha Berlin v. Greece, 11 October 2011 DF Kakha Kaladze (captain) 27 February 1978 (1978-02-27) 83 1 Genoa v. Greece, 11 October 2011 DF Aleksandr Kvakhadze 17 August 1984 (1984-08-17) 12 0 Torpedo Kutaisi v. Greece, 11 October 2011 DF Lasha Salukvadze 21 December 1981 (1981-12-21) 28 1 Volga Nizhny Novgorod v. Croatia, 3 June 2011 MF Alexander Guruli 9 November 1985 (1985-11-09) 4 1 Dila Gori v. Moldova, 11 November 2011 MF Davit Devdariani 28 October 1987 (1987-10-28) 4 0 AGF Aarhus v. Greece, 11 October 2011 FW Alexander Iashvili 23 October 1977 (1977-10-23) 67 15 Karlsruhe v. Greece, 11 October 2011 FW Levan Mchedlidze 24 March 1990 (1990-03-24) 13 1 Empoli v. Greece, 11 October 2011 FW David Siradze 21 October 1981 (1981-10-21) 24 8 Spartak Nalchik v. Malta, 6 September 2011

External links

• Georgian Football Federation
• RSSSF archive of results 1990–