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 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

UEFA European U-21 Championship

Year	Round	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
2023	Quarterfinals	4	1	3	0	5	3

Note:

*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Qualification

Runners-up Third place 0000 Tournament held on home soil

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

Results and fixtures

Win Draw Loss

2023

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

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

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)

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)

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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)

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)

2024

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

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 Attendance: 211 Referee: J.Sundberg (Denmark)

6 June 2024 (2024-06-06) Friendly	Georgia	0–0	Kazakhstan	Tbilisi
19:00 GEO		Report		Stadium: Mikheil Meskhi Stadium

5 September 2024 (2024-09-05) UEFA Euro QR	Georgia	3–0	Moldova	Batumi
20:00 GEO Time	G.Mamageishvili 17' Kvernadze 49' Abuashvili 72'	Report		Stadium: Batumi Stadium Attendance: 5,250 Referee: Radoslav Gidzhenov (Bulgaria)

9 September 2024 (2024-09-09) UEFA Euro QR	Netherlands	3–1	Georgia	Venlo
22:00 GEO Time	Emegha 4', 18' Ohio 71'	Report	O.Mamageishvili 30'	Stadium: Covebo Stadion – De Koel Attendance: 3,458 Referee: Robert Schröder (Germany)

10 October 2024 (2024-10-10) UEFA Euro QR	Sweden	3–2	Georgia	Jönköping
20:00 GEO Time	Ondrejka 23' Swedberg 38' Erabi 50'	Report	Lominadze 12' Dovin 51' (o.g.)	Stadium: Stadsparksvallen Attendance: 1,620 Referee: Iwan Arwel Griffith (Wales)

15 October 2024 (2024-10-15) UEFA Euro QR	Georgia	2–1	North Macedonia	Kutaisi
20:00 GEO Time	Gordeziani 61' Lominadze 71'	Report	Isaki 52'	Stadium: Ramaz Shengelia Stadium Referee: Viktor Shimusik (Belarus)

15 November 2024 UEFA Euro play-off 1st leg	Georgia	1–0	Croatia	Tbilisi
19:00 GEO Time	Soldo (o.g.) 4'	Report		Stadium: Mikheil Meskhi Stadium Referee: Adam Ladebäck (Sweden)

19 November 2024 UEFA Euro play-off 2nd leg	Croatia	v	Georgia	Rijeka
22:00 GEO Time		Report		Stadium: Stadion HNK Rijeka

Source

2025 European Championship

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Netherlands	10	10	0	0	32	3	+29	30	Final tournament	—	3–1	3–0	5–0	3–0	1–0
2	Georgia	10	6	1	3	14	10	+4	19	Play-offs	0–3	—	0–0	2–1	3–0	2–0
3	Sweden	10	5	2	3	25	10	+15	17		2–4	3–2	—	0–1	4–0	9–0
4	North Macedonia	10	4	0	6	8	15	−7	12		0–2	0–1	0–2	—	2–1	1–0
5	Moldova	10	2	1	7	7	20	−13	7		0–3	0–1	0–0	2–1	—	1–2
6	Gibraltar	10	1	0	9	3	31	−28	3		0–5	0–2	0–5	0–2	1–3	—

Source: UEFA

Current team

Coaching staff

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

The following players born in or after 2002 were called up for two Euro 2025 play-off games against Croatia in November 2024.^[4]

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

Caps and goals correct as of 15 October 2024, after the match against North Macedonia.^[5]

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Mikheil Makatsaria	(2004-06-11) 11 June 2004 (age 20)	1	0	Dinamo Tbilisi
23	1GK	Luka Kharatishvili	(2003-01-13) 13 January 2003 (age 21)	11	0	Dinamo Batumi
12	1GK	Levan Tandilashvili	(2003-02-27) 27 February 2003 (age 21)	1	0	Telavi

16	2DF	Irakli Azarovi	(2002-02-21) 21 February 2002 (age 22)	11	0	Shakhtar Donetsk
4	2DF	Saba Khvadagiani	(2003-01-30) 30 January 2003 (age 21)	24	2	Dinamo Tbilisi
5	2DF	Nikoloz Ugrekhelidze	(2003-08-15) 15 August 2003 (age 21)	5	0	Dinamo Tbilisi
13	2DF	Saba Mamatsashvili	(2003-08-23) 23 August 2003 (age 21)	10	1	Sirius
18	2DF	Giorgi Maisuradze	(2002-01-31) 31 January 2002 (age 22)	11	0	Polissya
3	2DF	Lado Odishvili	(2003-05-28) 28 May 2003 (age 21)	2	0	Telavi
15	2DF	Luka Latsabidze	(2004-03-18) 18 March 2004 (age 20)	0	0	Chernomorets
	2DF	Irakli Iakobidze	(2002-01-15) 15 January 2002 (age 22)	0	0	Gagra
19	2DF	Tornike Morchiladze	(2002-01-10) 10 January 2002 (age 22)	6	0	Telavi

10	3MF	Luka Gagnidze	(2003-02-28) 28 February 2003 (age 21)	17	0	Dynamo Moscow
14	3MF	Levan Osikmashvili	(2002-04-20) 20 April 2002 (age 22)	10	0	Dinamo Tbilisi
8	3MF	Otar Mamageishvili	(2003-01-15) 15 January 2003 (age 21)	16	2	Iberia 1999
11	3MF	Gizo Mamageishvili	(2003-01-15) 15 January 2003 (age 21)	7	1	Iberia 1999
21	3MF	Irakli Yegoian	(2004-03-19) 19 March 2004 (age 20)	7	0	Vitesse
6	3MF	Nodar Lominadze	(2002-04-04) 4 April 2002 (age 22)	15	2	Dila
	3MF	Dachi Lordkipanidze	(2005-03-01) 1 March 2005 (age 19)	0	0	Cremonese
	3MF	Gabriel Sigua	(2005-06-30) 30 June 2005 (age 19)	5	0	Basel

20	4FW	Giorgi Abuashvili	(2003-02-08) 8 February 2003 (age 21)	11	2	Kolkheti 1913
9	4FW	Giorgi Kvernadze	(2003-02-07) 7 February 2003 (age 21)	16	2	Frosinone
22	4FW	Vasilios Gordeziani	(2002-01-29) 29 January 2002 (age 22)	9	2	Dinamo Tbilisi
7	4FW	Lasha Odisharia	(2002-10-23) 23 October 2002 (age 22)	12	1	Rigas FS

Recent call-up

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	Zurab Rukhadze	(2003-07-30) 30 July 2003 (age 21)	5	0	Dila	v. North Macedonia, 15 October 2024
FW	Davit Gotsiridze	(2004-09-06) 6 September 2004 (age 20)	1	0	Dinamo Tbilisi	v. North Macedonia, 15 October 2024
DF	Davit Zurabiani	(2002-02-22) 22 February 2002 (age 22)	4	0	Kolkheti 1913	v. Netherlands, 9 September 2024
DF	Saba Sazonov	(2002-02-01) 1 February 2002 (age 22)	9	1	Empoli	v. Netherlands, 9 September 2024
DF	Davit Gogotishvili	(2003-01-24) 24 January 2003 (age 21)	1	0	Telavi	v. Netherlands, 9 September 2024
FW	Jaduli Iobashvili	(2004-01-01) 1 January 2004 (age 20)	4	1	Dinamo Tbilisi	v. Netherlands, 9 September 2024
DF	Lasha Kvaratskhelia	(2002-02-27) 27 February 2002 (age 22)	1	0	Samtredia	v. Kazakhstan, 6 June 2024
MF	Shalva Ogbaidze	(2002-01-08) 8 January 2002 (age 22)	6	0	Den Bosch	v. Kazakhstan, 6 June 2024
MF	Giorgi Kharebava	(2004-02-26) 26 February 2004 (age 20)	1	0	Kolkheti 1913	v. Kazakhstan, 6 June 2024
FW	Vakhtang Salia	(2007-07-30) 30 July 2007 (age 17)	1	0	Dinamo Tbilisi	v. Kazakhstan, 6 June 2024
DF	Saba Goglichidze	(2004-06-25) 25 June 2004 (age 20)	7	0	Empoli	v. Gibraltar, 26 March 2024
DF	Luka Salukvadze	(2003-01-28) 28 January 2003 (age 21)	2	0	Dinamo Tbilisi	v. Gibraltar, 26 March 2024
MF	Nikoloz Sikharulashvili	(2003-10-07) 7 October 2003 (age 21)	2	0	Dinamo Tbilisi	v. Gibraltar, 26 March 2024
MF	Nikoloz Tskhovrebashvili	(2004-01-07) 7 January 2004 (age 20)	3	0	Liepaja	v. Gibraltar, 26 March 2024
MF	Demetre Gvasalia	(2002-02-28) 28 February 2002 (age 22)	0	0	Kolkheti 1913	v. North Macedonia, 16 November 2023

Past squads

2023 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship squad

Statistics

Last update: 15 October 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	5	2	2	1	5	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	5	2	1	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	8	5	2	1	12	4
Montenegro	2	0	1	1	2	3
Netherlands	5	1	1	3	3	13
North Macedonia	2	2	0	0	3	1
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	4	0	2	2	4	7
Turkey	6	2	1	3	6	5
Ukraine	5	0	3	2	7	16
Wales	4	0	2	2	5	10
Total	180	58	40	82	225	310

Luxemburg were awarded a 3–0 win^[7]

Most capped players

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

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

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

Managerial history

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]

Media coverage

Georgia Euro qualifiers and international friendlies are currently shown by the Public Broadcaster.

References

^ "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.
^ "21-წლამდელების შემადგენლობა ნოემბრის პლეი-ოფის მატჩებისთვის" (in Georgian). საქართველოს ფეხბურთის ფედერაცია. 7 November 2024. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
^ "Squad". nakrebi.ge (in Georgian). Retrieved 11 October 2024.
^ "U21 statistics". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 9 September 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

Team Profile & Squad at UEFA.com

[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.

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

[4] "21-წლამდელების შემადგენლობა ნოემბრის პლეი-ოფის მატჩებისთვის" (in Georgian). საქართველოს ფეხბურთის ფედერაცია. 7 November 2024. Retrieved 7 November 2024.

[5] "Squad". nakrebi.ge (in Georgian). Retrieved 11 October 2024.

[6] "U21 statistics". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 9 September 2024.

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

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

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

v t e Football in Georgia
Georgian Football Federation
National teams	Men results Women U-21 U-19 U-17 Futsal
League competitions	Erovnuli Liga playoffs Erovnuli Liga 2 Liga 3 Liga 4 Regionuli Liga Women's football championship Futsal League
Cup competitions	Georgian Cup Georgian Super Cup
Clubs Venues Footballer of the Year Erovnuli Liga awards Clubs in European competitions

v t e National sports teams of Georgia
Men	Baseball Basketball U-20 U-18 U-16 Floorball U-19 Football U-21 U-19 U-17 Futsal Handball Ice hockey Rugby league Rugby union U-20 U-18 7's Tennis Water polo
Women	Basketball U-20 U-18 U-16 Floorball U-19 Football Tennis Volleyball
Mixed	Badminton
Olympic Paralympics European Games

Competitive record

UEFA European U-21 Championship

Qualification

Results and fixtures

2023

2024

2025 European Championship

Current team

Coaching staff

Players

Recent call-up

Past squads

Statistics

Most capped players

Top goalscorers

Notable results

Notable former players

Managerial history

Media coverage

See also

References

External links