20th century Football was introduced to Georgia by
English sailors in early 20th century.
British ships that docked at the harbors of
Poti and
Batumi frequently hosted football matches among their crew, attracting the attention of
Lelo burti players, who quickly embraced and adapted the sport. While the exact date of the first football match in Georgia remains uncertain, football was first mentioned in the Georgian press in 1890. From 1923 to 1990, Georgian football players were part of the
USSR national team, with two of them,
Murtaz Khurtsilava and
Aleksandre Chivadze, serving as captains at different times. During the early Soviet era, Georgia competed in the Trans-Caucasian Championship, hosting the 1926 edition. Georgia's first game came against
Azerbaijan in Tbilisi, losing 4–2 in
Tbilisi. The Georgian SSR's first win came in their second game, beating
Armenia 7–0. Georgia would later host the 1927 and 1928 editions of the Trans-Caucasian Championship, winning the latter edition after a 5–1 and 6–0 win over Armenia and Azerbaijan respectively. After a six year hiatus, Georgia played in the 1934 competition in Azerbaijan, before once against hosting the 1935 Trans-Caucasian Championship, winning it once again. During this period, the USSR national team included players from various
Soviet republics, including
Georgian SSR. Georgian players made significant contributions to the team, with several becoming key figures and achieving notable success, such as
Slava Metreveli scoring in the
1960 European Nations' Cup final. One of the most famous Georgian footballers who played for the USSR national team was Murtaz Khurtsilava, who captained the team and played a crucial role in the
1966 FIFA World Cup, where the USSR finished in fourth place. Another prominent player was
Vitaly Daraselia, known for his performances in the 1980s, along with
David Kipiani,
Ramaz Shengelia and
Vladimir Gutsaev. Following Soviet rule in Georgia, the contemporary history of the 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 27 May 1990 at the
national stadium. 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,
Wales and
Albania, but seven points behind second-placed qualifier
Bulgaria. Georgia failed to
qualify for the
1998 World Cup in France, obtaining 10 points and finishing in fourth place, level on points with
Poland. At this time Georgia reached 42nd place in the
FIFA World Ranking.
21st century During
UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying the Georgia national team won one match, drew two and finished at the bottom of the group with five points. The team finished fifth (and last) with seven points in their qualifying
group for
Euro 2004, although they defeated
Russia with a goal scored by
Malkhaz Asatiani. In the
2006 World Cup qualifiers Georgia beat
Albania 2–0 at home and
Kazakhstan away 2–1. They finished sixth of seven with ten points in Group 2. Georgia were sixth out of seven teams in the
Euro 2008 qualifying group with ten points. They defeated
Scotland 2–0 at home and the
Faroe Islands 6–0 away and 3–1 at home.
Héctor Cúper became the manager of Georgia in August 2008. During the
qualification round for the
2010 FIFA World Cup Georgia failed to win any matches and finished sixth (and last) with three points. Cuper didn't extend his contract, and on 6 November 2009,
Temur Ketsbaia was appointed as the new manager of the Georgian national team. Ketsbaia resigned as manager after a 4–0 defeat at home to Poland in the
Euro 2016 qualifiers on 14 November 2014, having previously stated he would do so before the match regardless of the result. in
Euro 2024, their first goal in the history of the tournament. In June 2016, Georgia beat the two-time reigning European champions
Spain 1–0 in their final pre-Euro 2016 friendly. In 2018, they were the first team to earn promotion in the new
UEFA Nations League. They scored the event's first goal in a
UEFA Nations League D game in
Kazakhstan before beating
Latvia twice and
Andorra, with two games still to spare and earned their first-ever playoff berth. In the
UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying, Georgia had a disappointing run, with their only two wins came over
Gibraltar. In the Path D playoff semi-final, Georgia managed to beat
Belarus 1–0 and thus the hope to qualify for
UEFA Euro 2020 increased, but it went in vain after the Georgians suffered a heartbreaking home defeat to
North Macedonia in the decisive match and thus missed the opportunity to make a historic debut in a major competition.Georgia showed improvements with a strong 2–0 win over
Sweden at the
2022 World Cup qualification on 11 November 2021. They continued their improvement by winning the
2022–23 UEFA Nations League C Group 4, getting promoted to
2024-25 UEFA Nations League B, and qualified for their second-ever
play-off berth. Georgia won 2–0 against
Luxembourg, earning them a spot in the final of the
UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying play-offs. They defeated
Greece 4–2 on penalties after a 0–0 draw in the playoff final, which guaranteed Georgia's qualification for their first ever international tournament at
Euro 2024. During Euro 2024, Georgia were placed in Group F; they subsequently lost 3–1 in the match against
Turkey, where
Georges Mikautadze scored the first-ever goal in Georgia's history in the Euros, and drew 1–1 against the
Czech Republic. Their 2–0 victory against
Portugal was considered one of the biggest upsets in European Championship history, and was enough to propel Georgia to the round of 16 in their first international tournament appearance. Georgia subsequently played eventual
Champions Spain in the Round of 16, and lost by a score of 4–1.
Georges Mikautadze finished the Euro 2024 campaign as the joint-
UEFA European Football Championship Top Goalscorer. ==Results and fixtures==