Georgia national football team

The Georgia national football team (საქართველოს ეროვნული საფეხბურთო ნაკრები) represents Georgia in men's international football matches, and is controlled by the Georgian Football Federation, the governing body for football in Georgia. It is a member of UEFA in Europe and FIFA in global competitions.

The Georgian team's first match took place on 27 May 1990 against Lithuania, while Georgia was still part of the Soviet Union. The team have attempted to qualify for each major tournament from Euro 1996 onwards. Their efforts culminated in their first successful qualification for UEFA Euro 2024, secured with a win against Greece in the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying play-off final.

The team is colloquially referred to as Jvarosnebi (The Crusaders) and has adopted Saint George as their symbol, which is a patron of Georgia.

Upon its admission into FIFA ranked 156th, Georgia ascended to their peak World Ranking of 42nd in 1998. The team plays their home games at the Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena in Tbilisi.

20th century
From 1923 to 1990, Georgian football players were part of the USSR national team, with two of them, Murtaz Khurtsilava and Aleksandre Chivadze, serving as captains at different times. During the early Soviet era, Georgia competed in the Trans-Caucasian Championship, hosting the 1926 edition. Georgia's first game came against Azerbaijan in Tbilisi, losing 4–2 in Tbilisi. The Georgian SSR's first win came in their second game, beating Armenia 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.

During this period, the USSR national team included players from various Soviet republics, including Georgian SSR. Georgian players made significant contributions to the team, with several becoming key figures and achieving notable success, such as Slava Metreveli scoring in the 1960 European Nations' Cup final. 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 the 1966 FIFA World Cup, where the USSR finished in fourth place. Another prominent player was Vitaly Daraselia, known for his performances in the 1980s, along with David Kipiani.

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 against Lithuania, the first country to accept an invitation. The match was held on 27 May 1990 at the national stadium. Georgia were 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 9 April 1991. Soon afterwards the team played another friendly match 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 1996. Georgia finished third in their group, ahead of Moldova, Wales and Albania, but seven points behind second-placed qualifier Bulgaria.

Georgia failed to qualify for the 1998 World Cup in France, obtaining 10 points and finishing in fourth place, level on points with Poland. At this time Georgia reached 42nd place in the FIFA World Ranking.

21st century
During UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying 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 qualifying group for Euro 2004, although they defeated Russia with a goal scored by Malkhaz Asatiani.

In the 2006 World Cup qualifiers Georgia beat Albania 2–0 at home and Kazakhstan away 2–1. They finished sixth of seven with ten points in Group 2.

Georgia were sixth out of seven teams in the Euro 2008 qualifying group with ten points. They defeated Scotland 2–0 at home and the Faroe Islands 6–0 away and 3–1 at home.

Héctor Cúper became the manager of Georgia in August 2008. During the qualification round for the 2010 FIFA World Cup Georgia failed to win any matches and finished sixth (and last) with three points. 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 the Euro 2016 qualifiers on 14 November 2014, having previously stated he would do so before the match regardless of the result. In June 2016, Georgia beat the two-time reigning European champions Spain 1–0 in their final pre-Euro 2016 friendly.

In 2018, they were the first team to earn promotion in the new UEFA Nations League. They scored the event's first goal in a UEFA Nations League D game in Kazakhstan before beating Latvia twice and Andorra, with two games still to spare and earned their first-ever playoff berth. In the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying, Georgia had a disappointing run, with their only two wins came over Gibraltar. In the Path D playoff semi-final, Georgia managed to beat Belarus 1–0 and thus the hope to qualify for UEFA Euro 2020 increased, but it went in vain after the Georgians suffered a heartbreaking home defeat to North Macedonia in the decisive match and thus missed the opportunity to make a historic debut in a major competition. Georgia showed improvements with a strong 2–0 win over Sweden at the 2022 World Cup qualification on 11 November 2021. They continued their improvement by winning the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League C Group 4, getting promoted to 2024-25 UEFA Nations League B, and qualified for their second-ever play-off berth. Georgia won 2–0 against Luxembourg, earning them a spot in the final of the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying play-offs. They defeated Greece 4–2 on penalties after a 0–0 draw in the playoff final, which guaranteed Georgia's qualification for Euro 2024 and their first ever international tournament.

During Euro 2024, Georgia were placed in Group F; they subsequently lost 3–1 in the match against Turkey, where Georges Mikautadze scored the first-ever goal in Georgia's history in the Euros, and drew 1–1 against the Czech Republic. Their 2–0 victory against Portugal was considered one of the biggest upsets in European Championship history, and was enough to propel Georgia to the round of 16 in their first international tournament appearance. Georgia subsequently played eventual Champions Spain in the Round of 16, and lost by a score of 4–1. Georgia's Georges Mikautadze finished the Euro 2024 campaign as the joint-UEFA European Football Championship Top Goalscorer.

Results and fixtures
The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

Coaching history
As of 1 July 2024

Current squad
The following 26 players were named in the squad for the UEFA Euro 2024, as well as the pre-tournament friendly against Montenegro on 9 June 2024.

Caps and goals correct as of 30 June 2024, after the match against Spain.

Recent call-ups
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.

Records

 * Players in bold are still active with Georgia.

Statistics
The following table shows Georgia‘a all-time international record, correct as of 30 June 2024.