Georgia national under-21 football team

Georgia Under-21
Nickname(s)	ჯვაროსნები ; Jvarosnebi (Crusaders)
Association	Georgian Football Federation
Confederation	UEFA
Head coach	Ramaz Svanadze
Captain	Saba Khvadagiani
Most caps	Nika Kvekveskiri (20 games)
Top scorer	Beka Gotsiridze (9 goals)
FIFA code	GEO
First colours	Second colours
First international
	Georgia 3–0 Moldova ; (Tbilisi, 27 May 1994)
Biggest win
	Georgia 7–1 Malaysia ; (Vienna, 26 March 2013)
Biggest defeat
	Ukraine 6–0 Georgia ; (Chervonohrad, 12 October 2004)
UEFA U-21 Championship
Appearances	1 (first in 2023)
Best result	Quarter-finals (2023)
Website	nakrebi.ge

The Georgia national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Georgia and is controlled by the Georgian Football Federation. It is considered to be the feeder team for the senior Georgian national football team. The team competes in the European Under-21 Championship, held every two years.

The current team is for Georgian players aged under 21 at the start of the calendar year in which a two-year European Under-21 Football Championship campaign begins, so some players can remain with the squad until the age of 23. As long as they are eligible, players can play for Georgia at any level, making it possible to play for the U21s, senior side, and again for the U21s. This has been the case for several senior team players like Jano Ananidze and Levan Kakubava.

Although the breakup of the Soviet Union occurred officially on 25 December 1991, the under-21 team continued as Soviet Union until the 1992 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. After that, Georgia and the other countries who split from the Soviet Union like Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova and Ukraine became separate footballing entities.

Georgia held its first official game in a 1996 UEFA European U21 Championship qualification campaign against Moldova and achieved the best result in the next round by coming second in their group. Since the establishment of the Georgian under-21 side, it never reached a final tournament of the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, until the 2023 edition for which they automatically qualified as a co-host nation.

Despite the lowest rating points among the 2023 Championship teams, Georgia produced a main surprise on the tournament. They finished the group on top of the table and remained unbeaten after 120 minutes of a quarter-final clash with Israel as well, before eventually losing on penalties.^[1]

Georgia U21s do not have a permanent home ground and play in stadiums of Erovnuli Liga clubs across the country. The record attendance for their match was set on 1 July 2023 when Georgia played Israel in quarter-final of the European Championship in front of 44,338 spectators.^[2]

Competitive record[edit]

Georgia Under 21 at European Championship[edit]

Year	Round	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
2023	1/4 f.	4	1	3	0	5	3

Note:

*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

UEFA European U-21 Championship qualification[edit]

Year	Group	Place	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1996	Group 7	5th	8	1	0	7	7	17
1998	Group 2	2nd	8	3	3	2	10	10
2000	Group 2	3rd	8	2	5	3	11	13
2002	Group 8	5th	8	1	0	7	9	17
2004	Group 10	5th	8	1	2	5	7	16
2006	Group 2	5th	12	3	2	7	7	22
2007	Group 3	3rd	2	0	0	2	1	4
2009	Group 4	5th	8	2	0	6	6	22
2011	Group 2	3rd	10	4	3	3	12	9
2013	Group 5	3rd	8	3	1	4	8	18
2015	Group 3	4th	8	3	1	4	8	15
2017	Group 6	4th	10	4	1	5	17	17
2019	Group 3	3rd	8	3	3	4	11	19
2021	Group 2	3rd	10	5	0	5	17	14
2023	Qualified as hosts
2025	Group C

2025 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification[edit]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Netherlands	7	7	0	0	21	2	+19	21	Final tournament	—	9 Sep '24	14 Oct '24	3–0	5 Sep '24	1–0
2	Georgia	6	4	1	1	6	3	+3	13	Play-offs	0–3	—	0–0	5 Sep '24	15 Oct '24	2–0
3	Sweden	6	3	1	2	13	5	+8	10		2–4	10 Oct '24	—	4–0	0–1	6 Sep '24
4	Moldova (Y)	7	2	0	5	6	15	−9	6^[a]		0–3	0–1	10 Sep '24	—	2–1	1–2
5	North Macedonia (Y)	6	2	0	4	3	7	−4	6^[a]		0–2	0–1	0–2	11 Oct '24	—	1–0
6	Gibraltar (E)	8	1	0	7	3	20	−17	3		0–5	0–2	0–5	1–3	9 Sep '24	—

Updated to match(es) played on 26 March 2024. Source: UEFA
(E) Eliminated; (Y) Cannot qualify directly, but may still qualify through play-offs
Notes:

^ ^a ^b Ranked on head-to-head points: Moldova 3, North Macedonia 0.

Results and fixtures[edit]

Win Draw Loss

2024[edit]

26 March 2024 (2024-03-26) UEFA Euro QR	Gibraltar	0–2	Georgia	Gibraltar
17:00 GEO		Report	Odisharia 22' Kvernadze 75' (pen.)	Stadium: Victoria Stadium Referee: J.Sundberg (Denmark)

22 March 2024 (2024-03-22) Friendly	Turkey	2–1	Georgia	Istanbul, Turkey
21:30 GET	Kilicsoy 16' Yildirim 55' (pen.)	Report	Abuashvili 58'	Stadium: Pendik Stadyumu

2023[edit]

16 November 2023 (2023-11-16) UEFA Euro QR	North Macedonia	0–1	Georgia	Skopje, North Macedonia
16:00 GET		Report	Mamatsashvili 54'	Stadium: FFM Training Centre Referee: Rauf Jabarov (Azerbaijan)

17 October 2023 (2023-10-17) UEFA Euro QR	Georgia	0–0	Sweden	Batumi, Georgia
19:00 GET		Report		Stadium: Batumi Stadium Referee: Michael Fabbri (Italy)

12 October 2023 (2023-10-12) UEFA Euro QR	Georgia	0–3	Netherlands	Batumi, Georgia
18:00 GET		Report	Meijer 26', 45+1' Ohio 57'	Stadium: Batumi Stadium Referee: Alessandro Dudic (Switzerland)

12 September 2023 (2023-09-12) UEFA Euro QR	Moldova	0–1	Georgia	Chisinau, Moldova
20:00		Report	Iobashvili 84'	Stadium: Stadionul Zimbru Referee: Antti Munukka (Finland)

6 September 2023 (2023-09-06) UEFA Euro QR	Georgia	2–0	Gibraltar	Kutaisi, Georgia
20:00	Mamageishvili 10' Gordeziani 17'	Report		Stadium: Ramaz Shengelia Stadium Referee: Daniyar Sakhi (Kazakhstan)

1 July 2023 (2023-07-01) UEFA Euro U21 Quarterfinal	Georgia	0–0 (a.e.t.) (3–4 p)	Israel	Tbilisi, Georgia
20:00		Report		Stadium: Boris Paichadze Stadium Attendance: 44,338 Referee: Espen Eskås (Norway)
	Penalties
	Azarov Davitashvili Gagua Moistsrapishvili Khvadagiani		Cohen Gandelman Khalaily Gloukh

27 June 2023 (2023-06-27) UEFA Euro U21	Netherlands	1–1	Georgia	Tbilisi, Georgia
20:00	Taylor 45+6'	Report	Davitashvili 42'	Stadium: Boris Paichadze Stadium Attendance: 43,004 Referee: Rade Obrenović (Slovenia)

24 June 2023 (2023-06-24) UEFA Euro U21	Georgia	2–2	Belgium	Tbilisi, Georgia
20:00	Tsitaishvili 51' Guliashvili 87'	Report	De Cuyper 15' Ramazani 38'	Stadium: Boris Paichadze Stadium Attendance: 41,886 Referee: Duje Strukan (Croatia)

21 June 2023 (2023-06-21) UEFA Euro U21	Georgia	2–0	Portugal	Tbilisi, Georgia
20:00	Gagua 37' Sazonov 45+1'	Report		Stadium: Boris Paichadze Stadium Attendance: 24,447 Referee: Espen Eskås (Norway)

15 June 2023 (2023-06-15) Friendly	Georgia	2–0	Cyprus	Tbilisi, Georgia
	Tsitaishvili 3' Khvadagiani 51'			Stadium: Mikheil Meskhi Stadium

26 March 2023 (2023-03-26) Friendly	Latvia	0–1	Georgia	Belek, Turkey
			Guliashvili 21'

2022[edit]

21 November 2022 (2022-11-21) Friendly	Georgia	1–1	Ukraine	Gori, Georgia
	Khvadagiani 70'		Kashchuk 63'	Stadium: Tengiz Burjanadze Stadium

16 November 2022 (2022-11-16) Friendly	Georgia	1–2	Israel	Gori, Georgia
	N.Khorkheli 84'		Lemkin 49' Kanaan 56'	Stadium: Tengiz Burjanadze Stadium

27 September 2022 (2022-09-27) Friendly	Turkey	1–0	Georgia	Istanbul, Turkey
	Beyaz 41' (pen.)			Stadium: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Stadium

24 September 2022 (2022-09-24) Friendly	Portugal	4–1	Georgia	Covilhã, Portugal
	Bernardo 15' Costa 22' Araujo 62' Sousa 76'		Moistsrapishvili 53'	Stadium: Estádio Municipal José dos Santos Pinto

3 June 2022 (2022-06-03) Friendly	Georgia	2–0	Romania	Gori, Georgia
	Kapanadze 68', 74'			Stadium: Tengiz Burjanadze Stadium

29 March 2022 (2022-03-29) Friendly	Georgia	4–1	Estonia	Gori, Georgia
	Moistsrapishvili 34', 54' Dartsmelia 90+2' Shekiladze 90+6'		Tamm 75'	Stadium: Tengiz Burjanadze Stadium

Source

Current team[edit]

Coaching staff[edit]

As of June 2023^[3]


Position	Name
Head Coach	Ramaz Svanadze
Assistant coach	Giorgi Adamia Zaur Svanadze Aleksandre Amisulashvili
Goalkeeper coach	Temur Charkviani
Fitness coach	Bondo Gotsiridze
Video analyst	Jumber Burjanadze

Players[edit]

The following players born in or after 2002 were called up for a friendly game against Turkey and 2025 UEFA European under-21 championship qualification match against Gibraltar in March 2024.^[4]

Note: Names in italics denote players that have been called up to the senior team.

Caps and goals correct as of 26 March 2024, after the match against Gibraltar.^[5]

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
23	1GK	Luka Kharatishvili	(2003-01-13) 13 January 2003 (age 21)	6	0	Dinamo Batumi
1	1GK	Mikheil Makatsaria	(2004-06-11) 11 June 2004 (age 19)	1	0	Dinamo Tbilisi
12	1GK	Levan Tandilashvili	(2003-02-27) 27 February 2003 (age 21)	0	0	Telavi

4	2DF	Saba Khvadagiani	(2003-01-30) 30 January 2003 (age 21)	19	2	Maccabi Netanya
3	2DF	Saba Goglichidze	(2004-06-25) 25 June 2004 (age 19)	6	0	Empoli
13	2DF	Saba Mamatsashvili	(2003-08-23) 23 August 2003 (age 20)	6	1	Iberia 1999
2	2DF	Zurab Rukhadze	(2003-07-30) 30 July 2003 (age 20)	3	0	Dila
5	2DF	Nikoloz Ugrekhelidze	(2003-08-15) 15 August 2003 (age 20)	1	0	Dinamo Tbilisi
18	2DF	Luka Salukvadze	(2003-01-28) 28 January 2003 (age 21)	2	0	Dinamo Tbilisi
	2DF	Luka Latsabidze	(2004-03-18) 18 March 2004 (age 20)	0	0	Shakhtar
16	2DF	Davit Zurabiani	(2002-02-22) 22 February 2002 (age 22)	2	0	Kolkheti 1913

10	3MF	Luka Gagnidze	(2003-02-28) 28 February 2003 (age 21)	13	0	Dynamo Moscow
8	3MF	Otar Mamageishvili	(2003-01-15) 15 January 2003 (age 21)	12	1	Iberia 1999
14	3MF	Levan Osikmashvili	(2002-04-20) 20 April 2002 (age 21)	6	0	Dinamo Tbilisi
7	3MF	Lasha Odisharia	(2002-10-23) 23 October 2002 (age 21)	7	1	RFS Riga
11	3MF	Gizo Mamageishvili	(2003-01-15) 15 January 2003 (age 21)	4	0	Iberia 1999
19	3MF	Tornike Morchiladze	(2002-01-10) 10 January 2002 (age 22)	4	0	TelaviTskhovrebashvili N.
17	3MF	Shalva Ogbaidze	(2002-01-08) 8 January 2002 (age 22)	5	0	Den Bosch
	3MF	Gabriel Sigua	(2005-06-30) 30 June 2005 (age 18)	5	0	Basel
15	3MF	Nikoloz Sikharulashvili	(2003-10-07) 7 October 2003 (age 20)	2	0	Dinamo Tbilisi
21	3MF	Irakli Egoian	(2004-03-19) 19 March 2004 (age 20)	4	0	Twente
6	3MF	Nikoloz Tskhovrebashvili	(2004-01-07) 7 January 2004 (age 20)	2	0	Liepaja

9	4FW	Giorgi Kvernadze	(2003-02-07) 7 February 2003 (age 21)	10	1	Frosinone
20	4FW	Giorgi Abuashvili	(2003-02-08) 8 February 2003 (age 21)	6	1	Kolkheti 1913
22	4FW	Vasilios Gordeziani	(2002-01-29) 29 January 2002 (age 22)	4	1	Dinamo Tbilisi

Recent call-up[edit]

The following players have been called up within the last twelve months and are still eligible for selection.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
DF	Saba Sazonov	(2002-02-01) 1 February 2002 (age 22)	8	1	Torino	v. North Macedonia, 16 November 2023
DF	Giorgi Maisuradze	(2002-01-31) 31 January 2002 (age 22)	8	0	Dinamo Tbilisi	v. North Macedonia, 16 November 2023
DF	Irakli Azarovi	(2002-02-21) 21 February 2002 (age 22)	7	0	Shakhtar Donetsk	v. Israel, 1 July 2023
MF	Gegi Geguchadze	(2003-12-30) 30 December 2003 (age 20)	1	0	Locomotive Tbilisi	v. Netherlands, 17 October 2023
DF	Mukhran Bagrationi	(2004-02-13) 13 February 2004 (age 20)	0	0	Dinamo Batumi	v. Netherlands, 17 October 2023

MF	Demetre Gvasalia	(2002-02-28) 28 February 2002 (age 22)	0	0	Kolkheti 1913	v. North Macedonia, 16 November 2023

FW	Giorgi Gvishiani	(2003-11-19) 19 November 2003 (age 20)	0	0	Samtredia	v. Latvia, 26 March 2023
FW	Jaduli Iobashvili	(2004-01-01) 1 January 2004 (age 20)	3	1	Dinamo Tbilisi	v. North Macedonia, 16 November 2023

Statistics[edit]

Last update: 26 March 2024^[6]

Note: Includes friendly matches

Opponent	Matches	Wins	Draws	Losses	GF	GA
Albania	8	3	1	4	7	10
Armenia	2	1	0	1	3	4
Azerbaijan	3	2	1	0	5	1
Belarus	2	1	0	1	4	2
Belgium	1	0	1	0	2	2
Bulgaria	3	0	0	3	1	4
Croatia	4	1	2	1	4	4
Cyprus	3	1	2	0	4	2
Denmark	5	0	1	4	7	15
England	4	1	1	2	4	9
Estonia	7	6	0	1	14	5
Faroe Islands	2	1	0	1	2	3
Finland	2	1	1	0	4	3
France	3	0	0	3	3	10
Germany	3	0	1	2	2	7
Gibraltar	2	2	0	0	4	0
Greece	5	0	2	3	4	11
Hungary	2	0	0	2	1	4
Iceland	2	1	1	0	7	5
Republic of Ireland	4	0	4	0	4	4
Israel	4	1	1	2	3	5
Italy	4	1	0	3	4	11
Kazakhstan	4	2	0	2	4	6
Latvia	4	4	0	0	11	3
Liechtenstein	2	2	0	0	6	0
Lithuania	6	3	1	2	9	6
Luxembourg	2	1	0	1*	3	3
Malta	3	3	0	0	9	4
Moldova	7	4	2	1	9	4
Montenegro	2	0	1	1	2	3
Netherlands	4	1	1	2	2	10
North Macedonia	1	1	0	0	1	0
Norway	2	0	1	1	0	3
Poland	6	1	1	4	8	17
Portugal	2	1	0	1	3	4
Romania	5	1	1	3	5	8
Russia	4	1	0	3	4	10
San Marino	2	2	0	0	7	0
Scotland	2	1	1	0	3	2
Serbia	1	0	0	1	1	3
Slovakia	4	1	0	3	5	8
Slovenia	4	1	3	0	6	3
Spain	6	0	0	6	4	24
Switzerland	8	0	1	7	1	16
Sweden	3	0	1	2	2	4
Turkey	6	2	1	3	6	5
Ukraine	5	0	3	2	7	16
Wales	4	0	2	2	5	10
Total	174	55	39	80	216	303

Luxemburg were awarded a 3–0 win^[7]

Most capped players[edit]

Note: Competitive matches only

#	Name	Career	Caps	Goals
1	Nika Kvekveskiri	2009–2014	20	2
2	Gulverd Tomashvili	2008–2010	18	0
3	Giorgi Khidesheli	2005–2010	16	1
4	Davit Ubilava	2013–2016	15	0
5	Mikheil Ashvetia	1997–1999	14	6
5	Solomon Kverkvelia	2011–2013	14	0

Last updated: 16 June 2023

Source: UEFA

Top goalscorers[edit]

Note: Competitive matches only

#	Player	Career	Goals
1	Mikheil Ashvetia	1997–1999	6
1	Nika Kacharava	2013–2016	6
3	Rati Aleksidze	1997–1999	4
	Vladimir Akhalaia	2002–2003
	Beka Mikeltadze	2017–2018

Last updated: 16 June 2023

Source: UEFA

Notable results[edit]

Date	Tournament	Venue	Team	Result	Team
10 September 1997	Euro 1998	Rustavi	Georgia	2–0	Italy
20 November 2007	Euro 2009	Tbilisi	Georgia	2–0	Russia
9 September 2009	Euro 2011	Zestafoni	Georgia	4–0	Turkey
3 June 2011	Euro 2013	Dugopolje	Croatia	0–1	Georgia
4 September 2014	Euro 2015	Deventer	Netherlands	0–1	Georgia
16 November 2021	Friendly	Batumi	Georgia	3–2	England
21 June 2023	Euro 2023	Tbilisi	Georgia	2–0	Portugal

Notable former players[edit]

Managerial history[edit]

Shota Cheishvili (1994–97)
Vladimir Gutsaev (1997–1998)
Gigla Imnadze (1998–1999)
Murtaz Khurtsilava (1999–2001)
Vakhtang Kopaleishvili (2001–2003)
Revaz Arveladze (2003–2004)
Gocha Tkebuchava (2004–2005)
Koba Zhorzhikashvili (2005–2006)
Ralf Minge (2006–2007)
Petar Segrt (2007–2009)
Kakha Tskhadadze (2009)
Otar Gabelia (2009–2011)
Soso Chedia (2011–2012)
Aleksandre Chivadze (2012–2016)
Gia Geguchadze (2016–2017)
Giorgi Tsetsadze (2017–2019)
Vasil Maisuradze (2020)
Ramaz Svanadze (2021–present)

Source^[8]

References[edit]

^ "Georgia loses to Israel in penalty shootout of UEFA U21 European Championship quarter-finals". agenda.ge. 2 July 2023.
^ "Under-21 EURO finals attendance record broken". uefa.com. UEFA. 1 July 2023.
^ "U21 coaches". nakrebi.ge (in Georgian). Retrieved 3 June 2023.
^ "წლის ბოლო მატჩი სკოპიეში - ახალგაზრდულის შემადგენლობა და განრიგი" (in Georgian). საქართველოს ფეხბურთის ფედერაცია. 14 March 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
^ "Squad". nakrebi.ge (in Georgian). Retrieved 26 March 2024.
^ "U21 statistics". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
^ "Georgia vs Luxemburg". uefa.com. UEFA. 5 March 2014.
^ "ახალგაზრდული ნაკრების ყველა მატჩი". 1tv.ge (in Georgian), p.33. Retrieved 29 June 2023.

External links[edit]

Team Profile & Squad at UEFA.com

[table_hth_MDA0.88748630270711-3] Ranked on head-to-head points: Moldova 3, North Macedonia 0.

[1] "Georgia loses to Israel in penalty shootout of UEFA U21 European Championship quarter-finals". agenda.ge. 2 July 2023.

[2] "Under-21 EURO finals attendance record broken". uefa.com. UEFA. 1 July 2023.

[4] "U21 coaches". nakrebi.ge (in Georgian). Retrieved 3 June 2023.

[5] "წლის ბოლო მატჩი სკოპიეში - ახალგაზრდულის შემადგენლობა და განრიგი" (in Georgian). საქართველოს ფეხბურთის ფედერაცია. 14 March 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2024.

[6] "Squad". nakrebi.ge (in Georgian). Retrieved 26 March 2024.

[7] "U21 statistics". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 26 March 2024.

[8] "Georgia vs Luxemburg". uefa.com. UEFA. 5 March 2014.

[9] "ახალგაზრდული ნაკრების ყველა მატჩი". 1tv.ge (in Georgian), p.33. Retrieved 29 June 2023.

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v t e Football in Georgia
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v t e National sports teams of Georgia
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