Nickname(s) | ჯვაროსნები Jvarosnebi (Crusaders) |
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Association |
Georgian Football Federation (GFF) საქართველოს ფეხბურთის ფედერაცია |
Confederation | UEFA (Europe) |
Head coach | Vladimír Weiss |
Captain | Jaba Kankava |
Most caps | Levan Kobiashvili (100) |
Top scorer | Shota Arveladze (26) |
Home stadium | Boris Paichadze National Stadium |
FIFA code | GEO |
FIFA ranking | |
Current | 121 3 (12 January 2017) |
Highest | 42 (September 1998) |
Lowest | 156 (March 1994) |
Elo ranking | |
Current | 91 1 (25 January 2017) |
Highest | 49 (11 October 1995) |
Lowest | 108 (late 2009) |
First international | |
Georgia 2–2 Lithuania (Tbilisi, Georgia; May 27, 1990) |
|
Biggest win | |
Georgia 7–0 Armenia (Tbilisi, Georgia; March 30, 1997) |
|
Biggest defeat | |
Denmark 6–1 Georgia (Copenhagen, Denmark; September 7, 2005) |
The Georgia national football team (Georgian: საქართველოს ეროვნული საფეხბურთო ნაკრები, Sakartvelos erovnuli sap'ekhburt'o nakrebi) 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 1996 onwards, but have not achieved qualification yet. Home games are played at the Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena in Tbilisi.
The history of 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 May 27, 1990 on 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 April 9, 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 and Wales, but seven points behind second-placed qualifier Bulgaria.