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]
Note:
Win Draw Loss
Source
As of June 2023[3]
The following players born in or after 2002 were called up for games against Moldova and Netherlands in September 2024.[4]
Note: Names in italics denote players that have been called up to the senior team.
Caps and goals correct as of 9 September 2024, after the friendly match against Netherlands.[5]
The following players have been called up within the last twelve months and are still eligible for selection.
Last update: 9 September 2024[6]
Note: Includes friendly matches
Note: Competitive matches only
Last updated: 16 June 2023
Source: UEFA
Note: Competitive matches only
Last updated: 16 June 2023
Source: UEFA
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]
Georgia Euro qualifiers and international friendlies are currently shown by the Public Broadcaster.
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