Georgia

Introduction

The Republic of Georgia competed in UEFA for international competitions from World Cup II until World Cup IX (2006-2014) but then in 2015 they "moved" to AFC and first competed in Asian Cup II and began qualifying for World Cups through Asia. Georgia was one of the best teams in the "WE8 era", as one of the most successful teams in the world having won two World Cups (World Cup II, IV) and the World Series. They were also notable for not using any subs as they only have 11 players on their roster. They have not been as successful in the "PES era", but have still won some medals at the Confederations Cups.



Georgia in World Cup II

Georgia did not compete in the original WE8 competition, World Cup I, due to several reasons, most significantly being that they didn't even have a national team at the time.

When it came time for the next World Cup, the nation barely managed to get a team together to enter into the tournament, sending 11 men to represent the nation. With no substitutes, and no expectations, the nation was just hoping to get a draw or two and try to avoid finishing last in a tough qualifying group that featured three Centeral European nations, Austria, Hungary, and the mighty Czech Republic. Both Austria and Czech Republic had not only qualified to the last World Cup, but they reached the knockout round as well.

The team played a friendly match against Latvia to prepare for the qualifying campaign and lost 1-2 to their former Soviet brothers. Heading into the opening match against Austria, the Georgians were heavy underdogs to the Central Europeans who had knocked out both Italy and the United States from the previous World Cup. As expected, Austria scored first and just generally seemed to outclass Georgia. However, the game took a drastic turn midway through the 2nd half when there was miscommunication between the Austrian keeper and his defender. The ball should have been easily cleared, but instead both let it go by and "seemingly out of nowhere" Iashvili rushed in and tapped it into the net for a goal that sent Georgian players and fans into a frenzy. It was their first ever competitive goal. The goal completely demoralized Austria who was expected to win by at least 3-4 goals, and somehow Iashvili found another goal in the closing minutes. This one was well worked and deserved, absolutely stunning Austria to give Georgia the win. Iashvili became an instant national hero in Georgia.

It was a great 'upset', but it should have been the end of the line. Georgian players later admitted that after the match they were looking up past results from World Cup I qualifying to see if 3 points would be enough to get them 3rd place in the group - a spot in the playoffs. Despite beating Austria, they still had no confidence that they would be able to get any points off either the Czechs or Hungarians.

The next match was against the Czech Republic, who had beaten Hungary in their opening game. The Czechs were picked to easily win the group and qualify, and while Georgia were intimidated by playing such a great team, they did not back down and managed to hold the potent Czech attack in check to stay at 0-0 for as long as possible. A goal was bound to come though, but no one could have expected how. It was a corner kick for Georgia which resulted in a goal to put the underdogs up 1-0. The team was ecstatic after the score and played 11 men behind the ball, frantically trying to hold on to the lead. The Czechs threatened several times, but never managed to break the bunker and Georgia now had 2 wins and were somehow on top of the group!

In the final match, just as Georgia were gaining confidence, Hungary brought them back down to earth. Hungary had been rated as the 3rd best side in the group (behind Austria and Czech Republic), but ended up getting the best result against the eventual group winners, holding Georgia to a 1-1 draw. Due to other results, 7 points was enough to top the group and Georgia didn't have to bother with the playoffs, they qualified directly to the World Cup!

Here they were faced with another incredibly tough draw. Netherlands, the runners up of the previous World Cup, along with Colombia and Cote d'Ivoire would be a daunting task for the newcomers. And it looked like the clock had finally struck midnight as Netherlands dismantled Georgia in the opening game. The scoreline was only 2-0, but Georgian players commented after the game that they were "lucky to only lose by two" as they were "outplayed the entire game and probably should have lost 0-8."

In the other game, Cote d'Ivoire had lost to Colombia in a heated contest, 4-5. Georgia would face Colombia next and this time, maybe with a little less pressure due to the defeat to Netherlands, played a more attractive game and actually presented an offensive threat, putting 3 past the Colombians and managing a 3-2 win. Some people say this was the game that Georgia really showed their potential to be great and many felt that Georgia had actually looked like the better team on the field, something that was not said after the team beat Austria and Czech Republic.

At this point Georgia's luck also began to increase. Cote d'Ivoire would have normally been extremely tough competition, but the Africans had suffered 2 straight defeats, losing 2-3 to Netherlands in the 2nd game, and had completely given up on the World Cup. Georgia used their new found confidence to steam roll the Ivorians, winning 5-0 to advance to the next round. Some claim that match-fixing may have been involved in this match, to ensure that Georgia would advance even if Colombia beat Netherlands, but Netherlands took care of business anyways to make it a moot point.

Even more, Georgia dispelled that rumor in the knockout round when they were lucky enough to draw another cinderella team, Wales, in the round of 16. Georgia said that they "felt like they were the better team and would prove it" before the game, and did, smashing the Welsh 4-0 to make the Cote d'Ivoire result much less suspicious.

At this point, Georgia finally realized they had something special going, and stopped playing the underdog role and began to take on the mentality of a contender. They went toe-to-toe with Uruguay in the quarterfinals and moved on with a 1-0 result and then took down Costa Rica 2-1 in the semifinals to advance to the championship!

Awaiting them was France, the defending World Cup Champions. Georgia did not let the current #1 team in the world push them around and surprisingly kept up with France throughout the game. In the 40th minute, the team won a free kick and Iashvili chipped the ball into the box to Kobiashvili who had somehow sneaked in behind the defense and his header was not going to be stopped. Georgia lead 1-0 in the championship! In the second half France threw everything they had at Georgia, but the defense held. With about 20 minutes left, Ashvetia scored the "Goal of Century" as he shot the ball from over 35 meters out and absolutely drained it into the top corner of the net. It was 2-0 and that goal had absolutely crushed France. Three minutes later it was none other than Iashvili storming into the box and heading in a cross to make it 3-0 and cement his legend. Georgia held on for the final 15 minutes and were crowned World Champions!


World Series

After the second World Cup, WEFA organized another major competition for national teams - the World Series. A total of 62 nations entered the best-of-7 tournament that would take place over a series of 6 rounds. The tournament was completely random, unseeded and all, and Georgia were unlucky enough to draw England in the first round. Even worse, England had home field advantage in the series.

Had this taken place prior to the World Cup, Georgia probably would have been happy taking the series to Game 5 and losing 1-4. But as the defending World Cup Champions, they had something to prove against England, and showed England why they had won the World Cup, drubbing the English 3-1 in the opening game.

England woke up after the opening game and realized they were in for a fight. The next game was scoreless and went to penalties, which England won to level the series. England took this momentum and went to Georgia with a vengence, taking both road games by scores of 2-1 and 1-0 to make it a 3-1 lead in the series. There was no room for error anymore for Georgia, and they went back to England to try to keep the series alive. England scored first, but a pair of goals from Ashisakedakpia saved Georgia and the 2-1 win put the series back in Tblisi. In Game 6 it was an Ashisakedakpia double that saw Georgia win a thriller, 3-2, to force Game 7. England had lost control of the series and Georgia finished it off back in London with another 3-1 win like Game 1, taking the series 4 games to 3.

This really cemented Georgia's place at the top of the soccer world, and when they met Hungary in the next round they no longer had the underdog mentality that they had when they met in World Cup Qualifying. Georgia strolled past Hungary in just 5 games, surrendering the only "loss" in the series to a PK shootout in Game 2 and otherwise beating the Hungarians 2-1, 2-0, 2-0, and then finishing them off with a 5-0 route in Game 5.

Georgia came up against Mexico in the third round and the 6-1 destruction of the North Americans in game 1 left no question about who would advance from this series. Georgia also took this one in 5 games to move onto the quarterfinals. Here they faced Uruguay, who they had beaten in the World Cup quarterfinals, and had similar results as the World Cup, beating Uruguay in the first 3 games and then closing out the series in Game 5.

In the semifinals the Georgians were drawn against France. It was the two former World Cup winners facing off to determine the World Series participant. There was a lot of hype in the media about this series showing who was truely "the best team in the world". The opening game lived up to the hype as the teams were tied 2-2 after regulation before Arieraze scored the winning goal for Georgia in extra time. Game 2 was no less exciting, with Georgia again getting the better of their French foes, taking this one 2-1, no overtime required.

Back in Paris for games 3 and 4, the French made some adjustments and shut down the Georgian attack while eventually slipping through and scoring in each game to level the series up at 2 games apiece thanks to a pair of 1-0 wins. After four straight games decided by a single goal, game 5 proved to be even more intense as neither side could best the other. Each managed a goal, but that was it, and the game went into, and past, overtime - destined for penalties. Georgia had not done well in PK shootouts so far, but with so much on the line, they made this one count. Every single player scored, and France finally missed to give Georgia a 3-2 lead in the series after winning 5-3 on PKs.

In Game 6 of the 5th round, France was staring elimination in the face for the first time in the tournament, but Georgia were not able to capitalize. With their backs to the wall, and back in front of their home fans in Paris, France finally atoned for the World Cup final and got revenge, beating Georgia 3-0 to force a Game 7. The final game was every bit as tense and exciting as the World Cup Championship had been, both sides chipped away at each other but to no resolve. Finally, Arieraze was the hero, slotting home the only goal of the match to give Georgia a 1-0 win and let them take the series 4 games to 3.

In the World Series Championship, Georgia came up against Mali, who had not competed in either of the first two World Cups. Mali proved formidable, and just like the French series, it was a tale of home-field advantage. Like the semifinals, Georgia were lucky enough to be drawn as the home team, and opened the series with two wins, 4-2 and 3-2. Down in the heat of Africa, the team did not play as well and lost both matches in Bamako by 1-3 and 1-2 scorelines. Bringing Mali back to Tblisi saw a 3-0 drubbing in favor of Georgia, but Mali responded by taking Game 6 by a score of 2-0.

In the Championship Game, Georgia battled Mali to a standstill before Iashvili connected a great pass forward to Ashisakedakpia who scored the winning goal to give Georgia the World Series Championship.

The World Series was the first tournament to keep track of goal scorers, and Georgia's Ashisakedakpia was awarded the Golden Ball for being the top scorer in the tournament with 27 goals from 36 games. He beat out Mali's Kanoute, who had 25 goals and Cote d'Ivoire's Bakayoko who had 23. Iashvili finished 4th with 21 goals while Arieraze had 13 and Anunetsi scored 7.


World Cup III

As the defending champions from the previous World Cup, Georgia did not have to qualify for World Cup III, they were given an automatic spot into the tournament.

For the World Cup, Georgia were drawn into a decent group - not too tough but not too easy - against Serbia & Montenegro, Mali, and Australia. However, lack of qualifying matches seemed to be a bad thing for Georgia as the players looked rusty and out of rhythm. They failed to score in two of their matches, against Australia and Mali, and only notched one goal when Iashvili scored against Serbia & Montenegro. The defense did fine though, only conceding one goal themselves, which also happened to be against Serbia. Overall, the campaign ended with 3 draws and losing out to Mali on goals scored (Mali scored 2). The entire group turned out to be extremely close as 5 of the 6 matches ended in draws, with Serbia's 1-0 win over Australia being the only decisive result. Serbia & Montenegro advanced as group winners, Mali as runners up, and Georgia were eliminated.

World Cup IV

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World Cup V

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Decline

Georgia had put together perhaps the greatest run in WEFA history, winning 2 World Cups and a World Series while reaching the semifinals in three of four World Cups. But the run couldn't go on forever, and cracks finally started to appear in Georgia's armor from World Cup VI and on. For the first time in their history, they failed to qualify for a World Cup in the sixth edition of the tournament. The dynasty was officially over when the team failed to put a team together to register for World Cup VII, and then things clearly weren't the same when they returned for World Cup VIII. They promptly finished last place in their group with 0 points, having lost all six qualifying games.

Despite the hardship. Georgia did manage to qualify to the first Euro Cup, where they channeled their former glory days to battle their way out of the group stage and into the quarterfinals. However, they just weren't strong enough and bowed out short of the semifinals for the first time since World Cup III.

The team struggled through qualifying and needed to go through the playoffs, but finally made it back to the big stage during World Cup IX. However, their return was cut short with a group stage exit and France got to extract some revenge by winning 3-0 in the game that sent Georgia home.

Confederations Cup I

Georgia received an invitation to the first Confederations Cup due to being a former World Cup champion. They were drawn into a group with the two most recent World Cup champions, Argentina and Italy, along with CONCACAF champions Jamaica. Georgia showed glimpses of their former glory days in the opening match, scoring a stoppage time goal to upset Argentina 3-2. A 2-0 loss to Jamaica put the Georgians in a bad situation, needing to beat Italy by 3 goals in order to advance. As they had been come to be known for, Georgia just finds ways to advance, and they conjured up one of their best ever performances, winning 4-0 to move on to the knockout round.

They had earned a BYE directly into the semifinals, where they met fellow 2-time champions Norway. The game needed extra time to be decided, and finally Georgia broke through with two goals in the last ten minutes of the game. A stoppage time goal from Norway wasn't enough to prevent Georgia from marching on to the final.

In the championship, Georgia met Spain, the hottest team in the world after having won Euro Cup I recently. The Spanish jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but of course Georgia fought back to tie the game. Just before half time, the Spanish scored again to take the lead and then managed to hold out for the entire second half to win 3-2, marking the first time Georgia had ever lost in a title game.

Move to Asia

Following the tournament, Indonesia had joined WEFA and now AFC had 19 members. They really wanted to get to 20 to be able to run even qualifying groups, but they did not have any nations with sufficient players able to join. Previously, when they had 17 teams they had enlisted Israel to move over for an 18-team Asian Cup.

With the second edition coming up, AFC did not want to have to kick out Israel, so they again went out seeking a new member. Egypt, Georgia, Russia, and Turkey were the only candidates who are actually in Asia, but neither Turkey nor Russia were interested and CAF refused to let Egypt move. Georgia stepped back and looked at their situation, despite their great Confederations Cup, they knew it was going to be a long road back to the top in UEFA. Difficult qualifying groups were only going to make World Cup appearances more scarce, so they took advantage of their geographical location to move to Asia where they felt they would still be among the favorites to qualify instead of darkhorse outsiders.

Prior to joining AFC, Georgia had only played 1 match against an Asian opponent - a 0-0 draw against Australia in World Cup III.


WE8 Roster

GK - Lomaia
DF - Khigalisuimi
DF - Kaladze (c)
DF - Amuslashvili
MF - Adorlponi
MF - Tskitishvili
MF - Kobiashvili
MF - Akhalkatsi
CF - Arveladze
CF - Ashvetia
CF - Iashvili


Competitions



Honors



Competitive Matches

vs Argentina: 1 W 0 D 0 L 3 GF 2 GA
Georgia 3 - 2 Argentina (Confederations Cup I Group Stage)

vs Australia: 0 W 1 D 1 L 1 GF 4 GA
Georgia 0 - 0 Australia (World Cup III Group Stage)
Georgia 1 - 4 Australia (Asian Cup II Group Stage)

vs Austria: 1 W 1 D 1 L 2 GF 3 GA
Georgia 2 - 1 Austria (World Cup II Qualifying)
Georgia 0 - 0 Austria (World Cup VI Qualifying)
Austria 2 - 0 Georgia (World Cup VI Qualifying)

vs Belarus: 1 W 1 D 0 L 2 GF 1 GA
Belarus 0 - 1 Georgia (World Cup IX Qualifying)
Georgia 1 - 1 Belarus (World Cup IX Qualifying)

vs Bulgaria: 0 W 0 D 2 L 0 GF 2 GA
Bulgaria 1 - 0 Georgia (World Cup VI Qualifying)
Georgia 0 - 1 Bulgaria (World Cup VI Qualifying)

vs Chile: 1 W 0 D 0 L 3 GF 0 GA
Georgia 3 - 0 Chile (World Cup V Round of Sixteen)

vs Colombia: 2 W 0 D 0 L 4 GF 2 GA
Georgia 3 - 2 Colombia (World Cup II Group Stage)
Georgia 1 - 0 Colombia (World Cup IV Semifinals)

vs Costa Rica: 3 W 0 D 0 L 6 GF 1 GA
Georgia 2 - 1 Costa Rica (World Cup II Semifinals)
Georgia 3 - 0 Costa Rica (World Cup IV Group Stage)
Georgia 1 - 0 Costa Rica (World Cup IX Group Stage)

vs Cote d'Ivoire: 1 W 0 D 1 L 5 GF 1 GA
Georgia 5 - 0 Cote d'Ivoire (World Cup II Group Stage)
Georgia 0 - 1 Cote d'Ivoire (World Cup V Third Place)

vs Croatia: 0 W 0 D 2 L 0 GF 4 GA
Georgia 0 - 3 Croatia (World Cup VIII Qualifying)
Croatia 1 - 0 Georgia (World Cup VIII Qualifying)

vs Czech Republic: 3 W 0 D 0 L 7 GF 3 GA
Georgia 1 - 0 Czech Republic (World Cup II Qualifying)
Czech Republic 2 - 3 Georgia (Euro Cup I Qualifying)
Georgia 3 - 1 Czech Republic (Euro Cup I Qualifying)

vs Finland: 1 W 1 D 0 L 4 GF 1 GA
Finland 0 - 3 Georgia (World Cup IV Qualifying)
Georgia 1 - 1 Finland (World Cup IV Qualifying)

vs France: 4 W 0 D 1 L 14 GF 7 GA
Georgia 3 - 0 France (World Cup II Championship)
France 0 - 3 Georgia (World Cup IV Qualifying)
Georgia 4 - 3 France (World Cup IV Qualifying)
Georgia 0 - 3 France (World Cup IX Group Stage)
Georgia 4 - 1 France (Euro Cup I Group Stage)

vs Germany: 1 W 0 D 0 L 1 GF 0 GA
Georgia 1 - 0 Germany (World Cup IV Quarterfinals)

vs Greece: 1 W 1 D 2 L 1 GF 4 GA
Greece 0 - 1 Georgia (World Cup VI Qualifying)
Georgia 0 - 0 Greece (World Cup VI Qualifying)
Greece 2 - 0 Georgia (World Cup VIII Qualifying)
Georgia 0 - 2 Greece (World Cup VIII Qualifying)

vs Guinea: 0 W 1 D 0 L 1 GF 1 GA
Georgia 1 - 1 Guinea (World Cup IX Group Stage)

vs Honduras: 1 W 0 D 0 L 1 GF 0 GA
Georgia 1 - 0 Honduras (World Cup V Group Stage)

vs Hungary: 1 W 1 D 0 L 4 GF 3 GA
Georgia 1 - 1 Hungary (World Cup II Qualifying)
Georgia 3 - 2 Hungary (World Cup V Group Stage)

vs Indonesia: 1 W 1 D 0 L 5 GF 2 GA
Georgia 1 - 1 Indonesia (Asian Cup II Qualifying)
Indonesia 1 - 4 Georgia (Asian Cup II Qualifying)

vs Ireland: 0 W 1 D 2 L 3 GF 6 GA
Georgia 1 - 2 Ireland (Euro Cup I Qualifying)
Ireland 2 - 2 Georgia (Euro Cup I Qualifying)
Georgia 0 - 2 Ireland (Euro Cup I Group Stage)

vs Israel: 0 W 0 D 1 L 0 GF 1 GA
Georgia 0 - 1 Israel (Asian Cup II Group Stage)

vs Italy: 1 W 2 D 0 L 6 GF 2 GA
Georgia 1 - 1 Italy (World Cup VI Qualifying)
Italy 1 - 1 Georgia (World Cup VI Qualifying)
Georgia 4 - 0 Italy (Confederations Cup I Group Stage)

vs Jamaica: 0 W 0 D 1 L 0 GF 2 GA
Georgia 0 - 2 Jamaica (Confederations Cup I Group Stage)

vs Japan: 1 W 0 D 1 L 3 GF 3 GA
Georgia 2 - 1 Japan (Asian Cup II Qualifying)
Japan 2 - 1 Georgia (Asian Cup II Qualifying)

vs Latvia: 2 W 0 D 0 L 3 GF 1 GA
Georgia 2 - 1 Latvia (World Cup IV Qualifying)
Latvia 0 - 1 Georgia (World Cup IV Qualifying)

vs Mali: 0 W 1 D 0 L 0 GF 0 GA
Georgia 0 - 0 Mali (World Cup III Group Stage)

vs Morocco: 1 W 0 D 0 L 4 GF 0 GA
Georgia 4 - 0 Morocco (World Cup V Quarterfinals)

vs Netherlands: 0 W 0 D 2 L 1 GF 6 GA
Georgia 0 - 2 Netherlands (World Cup II Group Stage)
Georgia 1 - 4 Netherlands (Euro Cup I Quarterfinals)

vs Norway: 1 W 0 D 1 L 3 GF 3 GA
Georgia 1 - 2 Norway (World Cup V Semifinals)
Georgia 2 - 1 Norway (Confederations Cup I Semifinals)

vs North Korea: 1 W 1 D 0 L 2 GF 1 GA
North Korea 1 - 1 Georgia (Asian Cup II Qualifying)
Georgia 1 - 0 North Korea (Asian Cup II Qualifying)

vs Northern Ireland: 3 W 1 D 0 L 10 GF 2 GA
Georgia 2 - 2 Northern Ireland (World Cup IV Qualifying)
Northern Ireland 0 - 2 Georgia (World Cup IV Qualifying)
Georgia 2 - 0 Northern Ireland (World Cup V Qualifying)
Northern Ireland 0 - 4 Georgia (World Cup V Qualifying)

vs Paraguay: 1 W 0 D 0 L 4 GF 1 GA
Georgia 4 - 1 Paraguay (World Cup IV Group Stage)

vs Poland: 1 W 1 D 0 L 4 GF 1 GA
Poland 1 - 1 Georgia (World Cup IX Qualifying)
Georgia 3 - 0 Poland (World Cup IX Qualifying)

vs Qatar: 1 W 0 D 0 L 2 GF 0 GA
Georgia 2 - 0 Qatar (Asian Cup II Group Stage)

vs Romania: 3 W 1 D 1 L 12 GF 8 GA
Romania 2 - 5 Georgia (World Cup V Qualifying)
Georgia 1 - 1 Romania (World Cup V Qualifying)
Georgia 1 - 3 Romania (World Cup IX Qualifying)
Romania 1 - 3 Georgia (World Cup IX Qualifying)
Georgia 2 - 1 Romania (Euro Cup I Group Stage)

vs Russia: 2 W 0 D 0 L 12 GF 1 GA
Russia 1 - 5 Georgia (World Cup V Qualifying)
Georgia 7 - 0 Russia (World Cup V Qualifying)

vs Scotland: 1 W 0 D 0 L 4 GF 0 GA
Georgia 4 - 0 Scotland (World Cup IV Group Stage)

vs Serbia: 1 W 1 D 0 L 2 GF 0 GA
Serbia 0 - 0 Georgia (Euro Cup I Qualifying)
Georgia 2 - 0 Serbia (Euro Cup I Qualifying)

vs Serbia & Montenegro: 0 W 1 D 0 L 1 GF 1 GA
Georgia 1 - 1 Serbia & Montenegro (World Cup III Group Stage)

vs Slovakia: 4 W 1 D 2 L 9 GF 9 GA
Georgia 2 - 1 Slovakia (World Cup IV Round of Sixteen)
Georgia 1 - 1 Slovakia (World Cup V Qualifying)
Slovakia 0 - 2 Georgia (World Cup V Qualifying)
Slovakia 0 - 1 Georgia (World Cup VI Qualifying)
Georgia 2 - 1 Slovakia (World Cup VI Qualifying)
Slovakia 3 - 1 Georgia (World Cup VIII Qualifying)
Georgia 0 - 3 Slovakia (World Cup VIII Qualifying)

vs Spain: 0 W 0 D 1 L 2 GF 3 GA
Georgia 2 - 3 Spain (Confederations Cup I Championship)

vs Tunisia: 0 W 1 D 0 L 1 GF 1 GA
Georgia 1 - 1 Tunisia (World Cup V Group Stage)

vs Ukraine: 1 W 1 D 0 L 6 GF 2 GA
Georgia 2 - 2 Ukraine (Euro Cup I Qualifying)
Ukraine 0 - 4 Georgia (Euro Cup I Qualifying)

vs United States: 1 W 0 D 0 L 2 GF 0 GA
Georgia 2 - 0 United States (World Cup IV Championship)

vs Uruguay: 1 W 0 D 0 L 1 GF 0 GA
Georgia 1 - 0 Uruguay (World Cup II Quarterfinals)

vs Uzbekistan: 2 W 0 D 0 L 3 GF 1 GA
Uzbekistan 1 - 2 Georgia (Asian Cup II Qualifying)
Georgia 1 - 0 Uzbekistan (Asian Cup II Qualifying)

vs Wales: 1 W 0 D 0 L 4 GF 0 GA
Georgia 4 - 0 Wales (World Cup II Second Round)


Last modified: ?8?/?2?/?2018? ?5?:?01?:?02? ?PM