Giorgi Gocholeishvili

Giorgi Gocholeishvili  (გიორგი გოჩოლეიშვილი; born 14 February 2001) is a Georgian professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Ukrainian Premier League club Shakhtar Donetsk and Georgia national team.

He has won the Ukrainian Premier League and the Georgian Cup.

Saburtalo
Giorgi Gocholeishvili was born in Kutaisi and is a product of the Saburtalo Tbilisi academy. He made his debut for the club in the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League first qualifying round match against Cypriot club Apollon Limassol on 27 August 2020, which Saburtalo would go on to lose 5-1. He made his league debut for the club on 13 September 2020 in a 2020 Erovnuli Liga match against Merani Tbilisi, which ended in a 0-0 draw. By 2021, Gocholeishvili had become a starting player for the team and would help them win the 2021 Georgian Cup after a 1–0 win against Samgurali Tsqaltubo in the final, his first ever trophy.

At the end of 2022, Gocholeishvili was named in the best XI players of the 2022 Erovnuli Liga season.

In total he played 85 matches, scored 8 goals and assisted 12 for Saburtalo Tbilisi.

Shakhtar Donetsk
In November 2022 he signed a five-year contract with the Ukrainian Premier League giant Shakhtar Donetsk effective from 1 January 2023. He made his debut for Shakhtar Donetsk as a substitute player against Mynai on 28 February 2023.

Gocholeishvili netted his first goal for the club in a 2–2 draw against Chernomorets Odesa on 2 April 2023. In his first full UEFA Champions League game against Barcelona on 8 November, Gocholeishvili displayed an impressive performance, provided an assist for the only goal of the match and subsequently got a reward by being named in Champions League Team of the Week.

He has won the league twice with Shakhtar.

Youth
Gocholeishvili played for the Georgia national under-21 football team for the first time in a 4–1 friendly win over Belarus in March 2021. He shone in a 3–2 friendly win against England on 16 November 2021, when he netted and provided an assist. Additoonally, Gocholeishvili won an annual Goal of the Year award, given by GFF in honour of the most spectacular goal scored during the entire season.

Senior
Gocholeishvili was called up to the Georgia national football team for the first time in November 2022 by Willy Sagnol. Gocholeishvili made his debut for his country in the friendly match against Morocco on 17 November. He was called up to the Georgia team that competed in Euro 2024.

Personal life
Gocholeishvili is married to Anna Okruashvili. Their first child Aleksandre was born in March 2024.

Honours
Saburtalo Tbilisi
 * Georgian Cup: 2021

Shakhtar Donetsk
 * Ukrainian Premier League: 2022–23, 2023–24