10 Best Georgian Soccer (Football) Players of All Time

Shota Arveladze photo by Sohei Saadatmandi-Wikimedia Commons.

10 Best Georgian Soccer (Football) Players of All Time

The history of the Georgia national football team began in 1990 when the team played its first international match against Lithuania the first country to accept the invitation.

The Georgian Football Federation became a member of both UEFA and FIFA in 1992. During the Soviet era, Georgia contributed the third largest number of players to the national team.

The leading club of the Georgian SSR was Dinamo Tbilisi. Here are the 10 best Georgian soccer players of all time.

1. Murtaz Khurtsilava

Murtaz Khurtsilava photo by Unknown-Wikimedia Commons.

He is a former Georgian association football defender and he was discovered while playing football in school.

He was part of the USSR side that finished fourth at the 1966 FIFA World Cup, third at the 1972 Summer Olympics, and second in the 1972 UEFA European Championship.  

He was one of the only two Georgians alongside Alexandre Chivadze to have captained the Soviet Union, national football team. At the club level, he played for FC Dynamo Tbilisi.

2. Temuri Ketsbaia

Temur Ketsbaia photo by George Groutas-Wikimedia Commons.

He is a Georgian former professional football player and current manager of the Cyprus national team.

He began his professional career in 1987 in Georgia with Dinamo Tbilisi Ketsbaia then played for Cypriot side Anorthosis and Greek giants AEK Athens.

His career in AEK started with great misfortune since in his first official match against Rangers for the UEFA Champions League qualifiers he seriously injured his hand.

He helped AEK a lot to play beautiful football winning the Greek Super Cup and another Greek Cup to their trophy case.

3. Georgi Kinkladze

Georgi Kinkladze photo by Maria Gorelova-Wikimedia Commons.

He is a Georgian former footballer who played as a playmaking midfielder. His first professional club was Mretebi Tbilisi and in Georgia, he won three league titles and two cups with Dinamo Tbilisi and was named national player of the year twice.

His first international prominence with his performances for the Georgian national team against Wales in 1994 and 1995.

Kinkladze transferred from Dinamo Tbilisi to English Premier club Manchester City in 1995 where his dribbling ability and spectacular goals made him a cult hero winning the club’s Player of the Year award in two consecutive seasons.

4. Shota Arveladze

Shota Arveladze photo by Sohei Saadatmandi-Wikimedia Commons.

He is a Georgian professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of EPL Championship club Hull City.

He player at Dinamo Tbilisi Trabzonspor, Ajax, Rangers, AZ and Levante. He is Georgia’s all-time top scorer with 291 goals in his 410 league games for his clubs and 26 goals in his 61 games for the national team.

His 27 goals scored in the UEFA Cup competition including qualifiers rank him third in the tournament history before it became the Europa League.

He has the best strike record in independent Georgian Football and he was nominated as the best player in Georgia as well as the best player by the Georgia Professional Football League survey.

5. Zurab Khizanishvili

Zurab Khizanishvili photo by Ultraslansi-Wikimedia Commons.

Zurab is a Georgian football coach currently the assistant manager of Georgia U-21 and a former footballer who played as a defender.

He started his career at Dinamo Tbilisi where he remained for just one season before joining FC Tbilisi to improve his chances of playing regular first-team football.

He made an impact at Den’s Park alerting fellow Scottish Premier League team Randers whom he joined on a Bosman transfer in June 2003 as a replacement for Blackburn Rovers-bound defender Lorenzo Amoruso. He played 93 matches for Georgia national football team.

6. Levan Kobiashvili

Levan Kobiashvili photo by Unknown-Wikimedia Commons.

Levan is a professional footballer and current president of the Georgian Football Federation and a member of the parliament of Georgia.

He played as a left wingback or left winger during his career and he played for Dinamo Tbilisi, Alania Vladikavkaz, Gorda Rustavi, and three German clubs SC Freiburg, Schalke 04, and Hertha BSC.

He is the most capped Georgian player for the local national football team and he won 100 caps for his home country. He scored the winning goal against Croatia in the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifier in 2011.

7. Guram Kashia

Guram Kashia photo by Jayjay297-Wikimedia Commons.

He is a Georgian professional footballer who plays as a center-back for Slovan Bratislava and captains the Georgian national team.

On a club level, he currently competes for Slovan Bratislava in the Fortuna Liga. Developed at Dinamo Tbilisi he spent most of his career at the Dutch Eredivisie club Vitesse where he was captain.

In eight years in the Netherlands, he played 292 official matches 24 goals and won the KNVB Cup in 2017.

He was named Georgian Footballer of the Year twice in 2012 and in 2013. In October 2012 he scored Georgia’s only goal against Finland in a 2014 World Cup qualifier.

8. Georgi Nemsadze

Georgi is a former professional footballer midfielder and manager he played for many European clubs such as Trabzonspor, Grasshopper Club Zurich, AC Reggiana, and Dundee.

He is revered and beloved by Dundee F.C fans for his football ability and constituency good form while at the club.

He played for the Georgian national team between 1992 and 2004 and was capped 69 times. Interestingly he was inducted into the Dundee F.C Hall of Fame and received the International Award in 2010.

9. Kakha Kaladze

Kakhaber Kaladze photo by Мельников Александр-Wikimedia Commons.

Kakhaber Kaladze is a Georgian politician and former footballer who serves as the Mayor of Tbilisi since November 2017.

He was a versatile player capable of playing both as a center back and as a left back or even as a wide midfielder. He played for the Georgia national team from 1996 to 2011.

He was voted Georgian Footballer of the Year in 2001, 2003, 2006, and 2011 and was considered one of Georgia’s most important players.

He started his football career in 1993 at Umaglesi Liga club Dinamo Tbilisi and made 82 appearances in a five-year spell.

Read more about Kakha Kaladze here.

 10. Jaba Kankava

Jaba Kankava photo by Станіслав Ведмідь-Wikimedia Commons.

Jaba is a professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Slovan Bratislava.

He has previously played for Reims, Dinamo Tbilisi, Alania Vladikavkaz, Arsenal Kyiv, and Dnipro. He started his career with Dinamo Tbilisi where Gia Geguchadze was just appointed as head coach.

He won the Georgian Cup and played in the UEFA Europa League scoring the winning goal against Slavia Prague and contributing to the qualification for the group stages.

On January 27^th, 2022 he announced his retirement from international football after appearing in 100 matches and captaining Georgia 62 times.