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 73
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.

Contents

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,[1] enabling Georgia to play competitive matches. The first of these came in September 1994, a 1–0 defeat to Moldova[2] 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

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

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
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 October 2011, the seven players with the most caps for Georgia are:

# Name Career Caps Goals
1 Levan Kobiashvili 1996– 100 12
2 Kakha Kaladze 1996– 83 1
3 Zurab Khizanishvili 1999– 77 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
2010-03-03 Friendly Boris Paichadze Stadium, Tbilisi  Georgia 2–1  Estonia Levan Kobiashvili  45' (pen.) David Siradze  90+4'
2010-05-25 Friendly Linzer Stadion, Linz  Georgia 0–0  Cameroon
2010-08-11 Friendly Zimbru Stadium, Chişinău  Moldova 0–0  Georgia
2010-09-03 Euro 2012 Q Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus  Greece 1–1  Georgia Aleksandr Iashvili  3'
2010-09-07 Euro 2012 Q Boris Paichadze Stadium, Tbilisi  Georgia 0–0  Israel
2010-10-08 Euro 2012 Q Boris Paichadze Stadium, Tbilisi  Georgia 1–0  Malta David Siradze  90+1'
2010-10-12 Euro 2012 Q Skonto Stadions, Riga  Latvia 1–1  Georgia David Siradze  74'
2010-11-17 Friendly Match Slovenia, Koper  Slovenia 1–2  Georgia Sandro Guruli  67'Jano Ananidze  68'
09-02-2011 Friendly Match Tsirion Stadium, Limassol  Armenia 1–2  Georgia Aleksandr Iashvili  22'David Siradze  34'
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'

Current squad

The following 23-players squad were called up for the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifier against Greece scheduled for 11 October 2011.

Caps as of 11 October 2011, after the friendly against Greece
0#0 Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club
1 GK Nukri Revishvili 2 March 1987 (1987-03-02) (age 24) 19 0 Anzhi Makhachkala
12 GK Roin Kvaskhvadze 31 May 1989 (1989-05-31) (age 22) 0 0 FC Zestafoni
22 GK Koka Sepiashvili 19 March 1986 (1986-03-19) (age 25) 0 0 FC Gagra
3 DF Guram Kashia 4 July 1987 (1987-07-04) (age 24) 11 0 Vitesse
4 DF Kakha Kaladze (captain) 27 February 1978 (1978-02-27) (age 33) 83 1 Genoa
5 DF Aleksandr Amisulashvili August 20, 1982 (1982-08-20) (age 29) 22 1 Krasnodar
6 DF Zurab Khizanishvili 6 October 1981 (1981-10-06) (age 30) 78 1 Kayserispor
14 DF Akaki Khubutia 17 March 1986 (1986-03-17) (age 25) 6 0 Gaz Metan Mediaş
16 DF Ucha Lobjanidze 23 February 1987 (1987-02-23) (age 24) 21 0 Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih
18 DF Gia Grigalava 5 October 1989 (1989-10-05) (age 22) 3 0 Volga Nizhny Novgorod
19 DF Aleksandr Kvakhadze 17 August 1984 (1984-08-17) (age 27) 12 0 Metalurgi Rustavi
2 MF Shota Grigalashvili 29 June 1986 (1986-06-29) (age 25) 7 0 FC Zestafoni
8 MF Jaba Kankava 18 March 1986 (1986-03-18) (age 25) 32 4 Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih
11 MF David Targamadze 22 August 1989 (1989-08-22) (age 22) 4 1 Oleksandria
13 MF Aleqsandr Kobakhidze 11 February 1987 (1987-02-11) (age 25) 3 0 Arsenal Kyiv
15 MF Levan Kobiashvili 10 July 1977 (1977-07-10) (age 34) 100 12 Hertha Berlin
20 MF Alexander Guruli 9 November 1985 (1985-11-09) (age 26) 3 1 Karpaty Lviv
21 MF Murtaz Daushvili 1 May 1989 (1989-05-01) (age 22) 10 0 Karpaty Lviv
23 MF Davit Devdariani 28 October 1987 (1987-10-28) (age 24) 4 0 AGF Aarhus
7 FW Otar Martsvaladze 17 December 1985 (1985-12-17) (age 26) 19 2 Krasnodar
9 FW Levan Mchedlidze 24 March 1990 (1990-03-24) (age 21) 13 1 Empoli
10 FW Alexander Iashvili 23 October 1977 (1977-10-23) (age 34) 67 15 Karlsruhe
17 FW Vladimer Dvalishvili 20 April 1986 (1986-04-20) (age 25) 19 4 Maccabi Haifa

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 Giorgi Loria 27 January 1986 (1986-01-27) (age 26) 10 0 Dinamo Tbilisi v.  Malta, 6 September 2011
DF Lasha Salukvadze 21 December 1981 (1981-12-21) (age 30) 28 1 Volga Nizhny Novgorod v.  Croatia, 3 June 2011
MF Dato Kvirkvelia 27 June 1980 (1980-06-27) (age 31) 43 0 Panionios v.  Malta, 6 September 2011
MF Jano Ananidze 10 October 1992 (1992-10-10) (age 19) 11 1 FC Spartak Moscow v.  Malta, 6 September 2011
FW David Siradze 21 October 1981 (1981-10-21) (age 30) 24 8 Spartak Nalchik v.  Malta, 6 September 2011

Footnotes

  1. ^ "Georgian Football Federation". UEFA. http://www.uefa.com/footballEurope/countries/country=GEO/Association=57157/index.html. Retrieved December 30, 2006. 
  2. ^ "Georgia – International Results". RSSSF. http://www.rsssf.com/tablesg/geor-intres.html. Retrieved December 30, 2006. 

External links

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