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. Georgia's home games are played at the Boris Paichadze Stadium in Tblisi. [edit] History Prior to 1990, Georgian players played for the USSR national football team. The first match played by the Georgian national team occurred while Georgia was still part of the Soviet Union, when they played Lithuania on May 27, 1990, a match which ended in a 2-2 draw.(Curious fact:The match was between the two clubs FC Dinamo Tbilisi and Žalgiris Vilnius, but some time later, around 1992/93, officials football federations of these countries decided to change the status of the game to international. The decision was due to the fact that the clubs contained the best Georgian and Lithuanian players, so the countries designated the clubs their official teams). This was the Georgian team's only match prior to independence, which was declared on April 9, 1991.[2] The Georgian Football Federation became a member of both UEFA and FIFA in 1992[3], 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 96. Georgia finished third in their group, ahead of Moldova and Wales, but seven points behind second-placed qualifiers Bulgaria. Georgia have subsequently finished bottom of their group in qualification for the 2000 and 2004 European Championships, and have finished third, fourth and sixth in World Cup qualifying groups. Consequently, Georgia has never qualified for the finals of a major tournament. However, recently they have shown relative success on the international scene by beating twice World Cup winners Uruguay and well established Turkey both in friendly matches. [edit] World Cup record [edit] European Championship record [edit] Manager History [edit] FIFA World Cup qualification
[edit] Most capped Georgia players As of March 27, 2008, the ten players with the most caps for Georgia are: [edit] Top Georgia goalscorers As of March 27, 2008, the seven players with the most goals for Georgia are: [edit] Current squad The following players were called up for 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) against Montenegro and Bulgaria.[1] - Caps as of 10 October 2009 (included Montenegro)
| No. | Pos. | Player | DoB (Age) | Caps | Goals | Club | | 1 | GK | Giorgi Lomaia | August 28, 1979 (1979-08-28) (age 30) | 43 | 0 |  Inter Baku | | 2 | DF | Ucha Lobjanidze | February 23, 1987 (1987-02-23) (age 22) | 13 | 0 |  Zestaponi | | 3 | DF | Aleksandr Kvakhadze | August 17, 1984 (1984-08-17) (age 25) | 12 | 0 | WIT Georgia | | 4 | DF | Kakha Kaladze (captain) | February 27, 1978 (1978-02-27) (age 31) | 67 | 1 |  Milan | | 5 | DF | Amiran Sanaia | September 3, 1989 (1989-09-03) (age 20) | 5 | 0 |  Le Mans | | 6 | DF | Giorgi Popkhadze | September 25, 1986 (1986-09-25) (age 23) | 7 | 0 |  Viborg | | 7 | MF | Levan Tskitishvili | October 10, 1976 (1976-10-10) (age 33) | 58 | 1 | unattached | | 8 | MF | Levan Khmaladze | April 6, 1985 (1985-04-06) (age 24) | 8 | 0 | Dinamo Tbilisi | | 9 | FW | Alexander Iashvili | October 23, 1977 (1977-10-23) (age 32) | 52 | 13 |  Karlsruhe | | 10 | FW | Giorgi Merebashvili | August 15, 1986 (1986-08-15) (age 23) | 9 | 0 | Dinamo Tbilisi | | 11 | FW | Vladimir Dvalishvili | April 20, 1986 (1986-04-20) (age 23) | 6 | 4 |  Maccabi Haifa | | 12 | GK | Zurab Mamaladze | October 2, 1982 (1982-10-02) (age 27) | 2 | 0 | Zestaponi | | 13 | DF | Zurab Khizanishvili | October 6, 1981 (1981-10-06) (age 28) | 63 | 1 |  Newcastle United | | 14 | DF | Guram Kashia | April 7, 1987 (1987-04-07) (age 22) | 4 | 0 | Dinamo Tbilisi | | 15 | MF | Jaba Lipartia | | 1 | 0 | WIT Georgia | | 16 | MF | Luka Razmadze | December 30, 1983 (1983-12-30) (age 26) | 10 | 0 | WIT Georgia | | 17 | FW | Nikoloz Gelashvili | August 5, 1985 (1985-08-05) (age 24) | 4 | 0 | Zestaponi | | 18 | MF | David Odikadze | April 14, 1981 (1981-04-14) (age 28) | 13 | 0 |  Győri ETO | | GK | Grigol Bediashvili | February 7, 1980 (1980-02-07) (age 29) | 1 | 0 | WIT Georgia | | MF | Levan Kobiashvili | July 10, 1977 (1977-07-10) (age 32) | 85 | 9 | Schalke 04 | | MF | Levan Kenia | October 18, 1990 (1990-10-18) (age 19) | 17 | 3 | Schalke 04 | | MF | Davit Devdariani | October 28, 1987 (1987-10-28) (age 22) | 4 | 0 | AGF | | FW | Levan Mchedlidze | March 24, 1990 (1990-03-24) (age 19) | 12 | 1 | Palermo | | [edit] Recent call-up | No. | Pos. | Player | DoB (Age) | Caps | Goals | Club | | DF | Teymuraz Gongadze (vs  Iceland 8 September 2009, friendly) | May 21, 1985 (1985-05-21) (age 24) | 2 | 0 | Simurq | | MF | Giorgi Seturidze (vs Iceland 8 September 2009, friendly) | April 8, 1985 (1985-04-08) (age 24) | 5 | 0 | Olimpi Rustavi | | MF | Zhano Ananidze (vs Iceland 8 September 2009, friendly) | October 10, 1992 (1992-10-10) (age 17) | 1 | 0 |  Spartak Moscow | | MF | Zurab Menteshashvili (vs Iceland 8 September 2009, friendly) | January 30, 1980 (1980-01-30) (age 29) | 38 | 1 | Hapoel Tel Aviv | | FW | Otar Martsvaladze (vs Iceland 8 September 2009, friendly) | July 14, 1984 (1984-07-14) (age 25) | 12 | 2 | Anzhi Makhachkala | | FW | Mate Vatsadze (vs Iceland 8 September 2009, friendly) | December 17, 1988 (1988-12-17) (age 21) | 1 | 0 | Dinamo Tbilisi | | DF | Mate Gvinianidze (vs  Malta 12 August 2009, friendly) | December 10, 1986 (1986-12-10) (age 23) | 7 | 0 | 1860 Munich | | DF | Giorgi Shashiashvili (vs  Moldova 11 June 2009, friendly) | September 1, 1979 (1979-09-01) (age 30) | 30 | 1 |  Ergotelis | | DF | Dato Kvirkvelia (vs Moldova 11 June 2009, friendly) | June 27, 1980 (1980-06-27) (age 29) | 37 | 0 | Rubin Kazan | | DF | Davit Gigauri (vs Moldova 11 June 2009, friendly) | January 15, 1986 (1986-01-15) (age 23) | 0 | 0 | Gagra-Tbilisi | | MF | Murtaz Daushvili (vs Moldova 11 June 2009, friendly) | May 1, 1989 (1989-05-01) (age 20) | 3 | 0 | Zestaponi
| | FW | Irakli Klimiashvili (vs Moldova 11 June 2009, friendly) | May 30, 1988 (1988-05-30) (age 21) | 5 | 0 | WIT Georgia | | FW | Rati Aleksidze (vs Moldova 11 June 2009, friendly) | August 3, 1978 (1978-08-03) (age 31) | 28 | 2 | Győri ETO | | FW | Beka Gotsiridze (vs Moldova 11 June 2009, friendly) | February 21, 1988 (1988-02-21) (age 21) | 11 | 1 |  Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk | | DF | Lasha Salukvadze (vs  Montenegro 1 April 2009, WCQ) | December 21, 1981 (1981-12-21) (age 28) | 24 | 1 | Rubin Kazan
| | FW | David Siradze (vs Montenegro 1 April 2009, WCQ) | October 21, 1981 (1981-10-21) (age 28) | 18 | 4 | Spartak Nalchik | | GK | Roin Kvaskhvadze (vs  Republic of Ireland 11 February 2009, WCQ) | May 31, 1989 (1989-05-31) (age 20) | 0 | 0 | Zestaponi | | GK | Revaz Tevdoradze (vs  Romania 19 November 2008, friendly) | | 0 | 0 | Gagra Tbilisi | | GK | Mirza Merlani (vs Romania 19 November 2008, friendly) | | 0 | 0 | Olimpi Rustavi | | DF | Ilia Kandelaki (vs Romania 19 November 2008, friendly) | December 26, 1981 (1981-12-26) (age 28) | 13 | 0 |  Sturm Graz | | DF | Malkhaz Asatiani (vs Romania 19 November 2008, friendly) | August 4, 1981 (1981-08-04) (age 28) | 35 | 4 | Lokomotiv Moscow | | DF | Zaali Eliava (vs  Bulgaria 15 October 2008, WCQ) | | | | Zestaponi | | GK | Giorgi Loria (vs Italy 10 September 2008, WCQ) | January 27, 1986 (1986-01-27) (age 23) | 5 | 0 | Dinamo Tbilisi | | [edit] External links |
