 Kankava in 2014 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1986-03-18)18 March 1986 (age 39) | ||
| Place of birth | Tbilisi,Georgian SSR,Soviet Union | ||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Position | Defensive midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Dinamo Tbilisi | ||
| Number | 23 | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2003–2004 | Dinamo Tbilisi | 14 | (0) |
| 2005 | Alania Vladikavkaz | 12 | (0) |
| 2005–2006 | Arsenal Kyiv | 24 | (4) |
| 2007–2015 | Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk | 91 | (4) |
| 2010–2012 | →Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih (loan) | 37 | (2) |
| 2015–2017 | Stade Reims | 47 | (0) |
| 2018–2020 | Tobol | 76 | (4) |
| 2021 | Valenciennes | 14 | (0) |
| 2021–2024 | Slovan Bratislava | 71 | (3) |
| 2025– | Dinamo Tbilisi | 26 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2002–2003 | Georgia U17 | 3 | (0) |
| 2003–2004 | Georgia U19 | 5 | (0) |
| 2004–2006 | Georgia U21 | 8 | (0) |
| 2004–2024 | Georgia | 101 | (10) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 10 December 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 14 April 2024 | |||
Jaba Kankava (Georgian:ჯაბა კანკავა,romanized:jaba k'ank'ava,pronounced[dʒabakʼankʼava]; born 18 March 1986) is aGeorgian professionalfootballer who plays as adefensive midfielder forDinamo Tbilisi.
Kankava is the three-time winner of Slovakia'sSlovak First Football League. With 101 appearances in official matches for thenational team, he is the second most-capped Georgian player afterGuram Kashia. He has been twice recognized asGeorgian Footballer of the Year.[1]
Jaba Kankava was born on 18 March 1986 in Tbilisi to Nana and Gia Kankava, and has one older brother, Levan.
He played football from a young age, joiningVake 91 when he was six in 1992. Kankava played eight years there under the management of Guram Chomakhidze before moving to Dinamo Tbilisi at the age of 14.[2]
In 2004, Kankava started his football career withDinamo Tbilisi, where Gia Geguchadze was just appointed as head coach. Geguchadze started to create a new club with youngsters and Kankava became a main member of them. In his first year, Kankava won theGeorgian Cup, and played in theUEFA Europa League scoring the winning goal againstSlavia Prague and contributing to the qualification for the group stages.
After one season at Dinamo, Kankava moved toAlania Vladikavkaz, where he played 12 matches, before signing a contract withArsenal Kyiv in 2005. At Arsenal Kyiv, he played 24 matches and scored 4 goals.
In 2007, Kankava agreed to sign a three-year contract with league rivalDnipro. Newly arrived Kankava was among the starting squad from the first games but received a red card againstDynamo Kyiv because of a tough tackle and missed several games and was among the bench players. He won the silver medals of the Ukrainian league in 2014. The next season Kankava played in a dramaticEuropa League final againstSevilla,[3] which was his last appearance for the club. In eight years at Dnipro, he played 91 matches and scored 4 goals.
In 2015, Kankava joinedLigue 1 clubReims in a deal worth €1.5 million.[4] During his second season at this club Kankava was three times named the best player of month by popular vote and eventually recognized Player of the Season.[5] In July 2017, he agreed to the termination of his contract which ran until 2018.[6]
On 22 November 2018, Kankava signed a new two-year contract withFC Tobol.[7]
On 16 January 2021,Valenciennes announced the signing of Kankava on a contract until June 2021.[8] Аt the end of this season he joinedFortuna Liga sideSlovan Bratislava.[9] In May 2022, he was selected in Team of the Season. During the next three years Kankava made 116 appearances for Slovan in all competitions and won three league titles.[10] He left the club in June 2024.[11]
On 29 December 2024,Dinamo Tbilisi announced the signing of Kankava to a one-year contract.[12]
On 8 September 2004, Kankava made his debut forGeorgia againstAlbania in the2006 FIFA World Cup qualification. Later on, he managed score a goal againstCroatia inUEFA Euro 2012 qualifying, and againstGermany inUEFA Euro 2016 qualifying. From August 2012 up to October 2021, he was the captain, leading the team in 62 matches.[13]
On 27 January 2022, Kankava announced his retirement from international football after appearing in 100 matches, captaining Georgia 62 times,[14] however he came out of retirement to feature in Georgia's qualifiers forEuro 2024.[15]
Kavkava received a call-up to the team for the European championship on 22 May 2024.[16] Two days later, he announced that he would refrain himself from taking part in the matches and travel toGermany as a fan only.[17] His decision was widely hailed as unselfish and exemplary.[18] Although not present atEuro 2024, Kankava was awarded theOrder of Honour by a presidential decree issued on 2 July 2024.[19]
Data available from 2008
| Club | Season | League | National cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Dnipro | 2008–09 | Ukrainian Premier League | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2009–10 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 1 | 0 | ||||
| 2012–13 | 17 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | – | 24 | 1 | |||
| 2013–14 | 25 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | – | 35 | 0 | |||
| 2014–15 | 15 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 1 | – | 31 | 1 | |||
| 2015–16 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 6 | 0 | ||||
| Kryvbas (loan) | 2010–11 | Ukrainian Premier League | 8 | 0 | – | – | – | 8 | 0 | |||
| 2011–12 | 23 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 24 | 0 | ||||
| 2012–13 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 7 | 2 | ||||
| Total | 38 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 2 | ||
| Stade Reims | 2015–16 | Ligue 1 | 27 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 28 | 0 | ||
| 2016–17 | Ligue 2 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 21 | 0 | |||
| Total | 47 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 0 | ||
| Tobol | 2018 | Kazakhstan Premier League | 28 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | – | 34 | 3 | |
| 2019 | 29 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 33 | 0 | |||
| 2020 | 19 | 1 | – | – | – | 19 | 1 | |||||
| Total | 76 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 86 | 4 | ||
| Valenciennes | 2020–21 | Ligue 2 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 16 | 0 | ||
| Slovan | 2021–22 | Slovak First Football League | 25 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 0 | – | 38 | 0 | |
| 2022–23 | 26 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 0 | – | 39 | 3 | |||
| 2023–24 | 20 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 16 | 0 | – | 39 | 2 | |||
| Total | 71 | 3 | 11 | 3 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 116 | 6 | ||
| Dinamo Tbilisi | 2025 | Erovnuli Liga | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 14 | 0 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Georgia | 2004 | 1 | 0 |
| 2005 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2006 | 8 | 1 | |
| 2007 | 7 | 1 | |
| 2008 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2009 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2010 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2011 | 7 | 2 | |
| 2012 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2013 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2014 | 7 | 1 | |
| 2015 | 8 | 2 | |
| 2016 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2017 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 8 | 2 | |
| 2019 | 8 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 101 | 10 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 March 2006 | Ta' Qali National Stadium,Attard, Malta |  Malta | 2–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
| 2 | 16 November 2007 | Al-Gharafa Stadium,Doha, Qatar |  Qatar | 1–0 | 2–1 | Friendly |
| 3 | 3 June 2011 | Stadion Poljud,Split, Croatia |  Croatia | 1–0 | 1–2 | UEFA Euro 2012 qualification |
| 4 | 6 September 2011 | Ta' Qali National Stadium, Attard, Malta | Malta | 1–0 | 1–1 | UEFA Euro 2012 qualification |
| 5 | 14 October 2014 | Estádio Algarve,Faro/Loulé, Portugal |  Gibraltar | 3–0 | 3–0 | UEFA Euro 2016 qualification |
| 6 | 25 March 2015 | Mikheil Meskhi Stadium,Tbilisi, Georgia | Malta | 1–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
| 7 | 12 October 2015 | Red Bull Arena,Leipzig, Germany |  Germany | 1–1 | 1–2 | UEFA Euro 2016 qualification |
| 8 | 13 October 2018 | Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena, Tbilisi, Georgia |  Andorra | 3–0 | 3–0 | 2018–19 UEFA Nations League D |
| 9 | 16 October 2018 | Daugava Stadium,Riga, Latvia |  Latvia | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2018–19 UEFA Nations League D |
| 10 | 15 October 2019 | Victoria Stadium, Gibraltar | Gibraltar | 2–0 | 3–2 | UEFA Euro 2020 qualification |
Dinamo Tbilisi
Dnipro
Tobol
Slovan Bratislava
Individual
On 30 March 2014, Kankava saved the life ofDynamo Kyiv captain,Oleh Husyev, after Husyev was briefly knocked unconscious in a collision and swallowed his tongue whichblocked his airway. Kankava reacted immediately by sticking his fingers in Husyev's mouth to dislodge his tongue andclear his airway.[22] On 12 April 2014, before Dnipro playedMetalurh Zaporizhya at theDnipro Arena, Kankava was awarded theOrder of Merit for his actions inDnipropetrovsk.[23]
