TheGeorgia national football team (Georgian:საქართველოს ეროვნული საფეხბურთო ნაკრები,romanized:sakartvelos erovnuli sapekhburto nak'rebi) representsGeorgia in men's internationalfootball matches, and is controlled by theGeorgian Football Federation, the governing body forfootball in Georgia. It is a member ofUEFA in Europe andFIFA in global competitions.
The Georgian team's first match took place on 27 May 1990 againstLithuania, while Georgia was still part of theSoviet Union. The team have attempted to qualify for each major tournament fromEuro 1996 onwards. Their efforts culminated in their first successful qualification for a major tournament, theUEFA Euro 2024, secured with a win againstGreece in theUEFA Euro 2024 qualifying play-off final.
The team is colloquially referred to as Jvarosnebi (The Crusaders) and has adoptedSaint George as their symbol, which is apatron of Georgia.
Football was introduced to Georgia byEnglish sailors in early 20th century.British ships that docked at the harbors ofPoti andBatumi frequently hosted football matches among their crew, attracting the attention ofLelo burti players, who quickly embraced and adapted the sport. While the exact date of the first football match in Georgia remains uncertain, football was first mentioned in the Georgian press in 1890.[3]
From 1923 to 1990, Georgian football players were part of theUSSR national team, with two of them,Murtaz Khurtsilava andAleksandre Chivadze, serving as captains at different times.[4] During the early Soviet era, Georgia competed in the Trans-Caucasian Championship, hosting the 1926 edition. Georgia's first game came againstAzerbaijan in Tbilisi, losing 4–2 inTbilisi. The Georgian SSR's first win came in their second game, beatingArmenia 7–0. Georgia would later host the 1927 and 1928 editions of the Trans-Caucasian Championship, winning the latter edition after a 5–1 and 6–0 win over Armenia and Azerbaijan respectively. After a six year hiatus, Georgia played in the 1934 competition in Azerbaijan, before once against hosting the 1935 Trans-Caucasian Championship, winning it once again.[5][6]
During this period, the USSR national team included players from variousSoviet republics, includingGeorgian SSR. Georgian players made significant contributions to the team, with several becoming key figures and achieving notable success, such asSlava Metreveli scoring in the1960 European Nations' Cup final.[7] One of the most famous Georgian footballers who played for the USSR national team was Murtaz Khurtsilava, who captained the team and played a crucial role in the1966 FIFA World Cup, where the USSR finished in fourth place. Another prominent player wasVitaly Daraselia, known for his performances in the 1980s, along withDavid Kipiani,Ramaz Shengelia andVladimir Gutsaev.[8]
Following Soviet rule in Georgia, the contemporary history of the Georgia national football team began in 1990, when the team played their first international match againstLithuania, the first country to accept an invitation. The match was held on 27 May 1990 at thenational stadium.[9] Georgia were coached byGivi Nodia. The friendly match ended in a 2–2 draw. This was the only match prior to the declaration ofindependence on 9 April 1991. Soon afterwards the team played another friendly match againstMoldova.
TheGeorgian Football Federation became a member of bothUEFA andFIFA in 1992,[10] enabling Georgia to play competitive matches. The first of these came in September 1994, a 1–0 defeat toMoldova[9] as part of thequalifiers forEuro 1996. Georgia finished third in their group, ahead of Moldova,Wales andAlbania, but seven points behind second-placed qualifierBulgaria.
Georgia failed toqualify for the1998 World Cup in France, obtaining 10 points and finishing in fourth place, level on points withPoland. At this time Georgia reached 42nd place in theFIFA World Ranking.
DuringUEFA Euro 2000qualifying the Georgia national team won one match, drew two and finished at the bottom of the group with five points.
The team finished fifth (and last) with seven points in their qualifyinggroup forEuro 2004, although they defeatedRussia with a goal scored byMalkhaz Asatiani.
Héctor Cúper became the manager of Georgia in August 2008. During thequalification round for the2010 FIFA World Cup Georgia failed to win any matches and finished sixth (and last) with three points.[11] Cuper didn't extend his contract, and on 6 November 2009,Temur Ketsbaia was appointed as the new manager of the Georgian national team. Ketsbaia resigned as manager after a 4–0 defeat at home to Poland in theEuro 2016qualifiers on 14 November 2014, having previously stated he would do so before the match regardless of the result.[12][13]
Georgian fans in the Batumi fan zone celebrating their first goal vsTurkey inEuro 2024, their first goal in the history of the tournament.
In June 2016, Georgia beat the two-time reigning European championsSpain 1–0 in their final pre-Euro 2016 friendly.[14]
In 2018, they were the first team to earn promotion in the newUEFA Nations League. They scored the event's first goal in aUEFA Nations League D game inKazakhstan before beatingLatvia twice andAndorra, with two games still to spare and earned their first-ever playoff berth.[15][16] In theUEFA Euro 2020 qualifying, Georgia had a disappointing run, with their only two wins came overGibraltar. In the Path D playoff semi-final, Georgia managed to beatBelarus 1–0 and thus the hope to qualify forUEFA Euro 2020 increased,[17] but it went in vain after the Georgians suffered a heartbreaking home defeat toNorth Macedonia in the decisive match and thus missed the opportunity to make a historic debut in a major competition.[18][19]
During Euro 2024, Georgia were placed in Group F; they subsequently lost 3–1 in the match againstTurkey, whereGeorges Mikautadze scored the first-ever goal in Georgia's history in the Euros, and drew 1–1 against theCzech Republic. Their 2–0 victory againstPortugal was considered one of the biggest upsets in European Championship history,[34] and was enough to propel Georgia to the round of 16 in their first international tournament appearance. Georgia subsequently played eventualChampionsSpain in the Round of 16, and lost by a score of 4–1.[35]Georges Mikautadze finished the Euro 2024 campaign as the joint-UEFA European Football Championship Top Goalscorer.
^FIFA adopted a decision not to allow the national teams of those former Soviet republics that did not participate in the qualification draw on 8 December 1991 to participate in the 1994 FIFA World Cup .[41] A proposition by Ukraine, supported by Georgia and Armenia, to arrange a separate tournament for all successor states of the Soviet Union was blocked by Russia.[42]
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