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The Georgia national football team represents the Georgia in association football and is controlled by the Georgian Football Federation (GFF), the governing body of the sport there. It competes as a member of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), which encompasses the countries of Europe. Organised football has been played in the country since the 20th century. Georgia joined UEFA and the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) in 1992; the country played two friendlies before joining.
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Georgia's first match—a 2–2 draw against Lithuania—took place on 27 May 1990 and was their only match as the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic. Their first victory came in their next match, 4–2 against Moldova. They entered their first major international competition in 1994: the qualifying rounds for 1996 UEFA European Football Championship. The team won their first competitive match on 10 February 1994 when they defeated Malta 1–0 in the 1994 Rothmans International Tournament. Georgia made its first appearance in the qualifying rounds of the FIFA World Cup during the 1998 edition, but the country has yet to reach the finals of the World Cup or the European Football Championship.
The team's largest victory came on 30 March 1997 when they defeated Armenia by seven goals to nil in a friendly. Their worst loss is an 6–1 against Denmark in 2005. Georgia have also been defeated by five goals to nil against Romania in 1996. Levan Kobiashvili holds the appearance record for Georgia, having been capped 100 times during an international career that lasted 15 years. The goalscoring record is held by Shota Arveladze, who scored 26 times in 61 matches. As of June 2016, Georgia are ranked 137th in the FIFA World Rankings. Its highest ever ranking of 42nd was achieved in September 1998.
All-time record
Updated to game played 25 January 2017.Record by opponent
Georgia's first team has competed in a number of competitions and friendlies, and their record against each team faced in these competitions is listed below. Since their first official match against Lithuania in May 1990 Georgia have faced a total of 59 teams, they met their most recent different opponent, Uzbekistan, for the first time in January 2017. The team that Georgia has met most is Albania, against whom they have contested 14 matches; having won 8 of these Albania are also the side Georgia have beaten the most. Georgia have tied 3 games each with Albania, Moldova and Ukraine, they are the teams that they have drawn with the most. The team that has defeated Georgia the most are the Republic of Ireland, who have won all eight of their matches with Georgia.