Kvaratskhelia and Mikautadze Fire Georgia to First Win in World Cup 2026 Qualifiers
Georgia picked up their first victory in the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifying campaign with a commanding 3-0 home win over Bulgaria in Tbilisi.
It was star man Khvicha Kvaratskhelia who opened the scoring in the 30th minute. The Paris Saint-Germain midfielder capitalised on a defensive error, weaved past two Bulgarian defenders and slotted a composed low finish past the goalkeeper to put Georgia ahead.
Right on the stroke of half-time, Georgia doubled their lead. A perfectly timed lofted pass from Zuriko Davitashvili found Giorgi Gagnidze, who calmly slotted home in a one-on-one situation, sending the home crowd into celebration.
The third and final goal came midway through the second half. A powerful strike from Giorgi Kochorashvili forced an awkward save from the Bulgarian keeper, who spilled the ball into the path of Georges Mikautadze. The striker made no mistake, tapping in the rebound to seal the emphatic win.
FIFA World Cup 2026, Qualifiers
Georgia - Bulgaria 3:0 (2:0)
Goals: Kvaratskhelia, 30 (1:0); Gagnidze N., 44 (2:0); Mikautadze, 65 (3:0)
Georgia: Mamardashvili; Kakabadze (Lominadze, 83); Goglichidze S.; Lochoschvili; Azarov I.; Mekvabishvili; Gagnidze N.; Kochorashvili (Mamuchashvili, 77); Kvaratskhelia (Guliashvili, 77); Davitashvili (Lobjanidze S., 83); Mikautadze (Zivzivadze, 77)
Substitution: Mamuchashvili (from 77); Guliashvili (from 77); Zivzivadze (from 77); Lobjanidze S. (from 83); Lominadze (from 83)
Bench: Kereselidze; Gugeshashvili; Gocholeishvili; Khvadagiani; Kashia; Abuashvili; Tsitaishvili
Yellow Cards: Mekvabishvili 3; Lochoschvili 9
Bulgaria: Vutsov S.; Minkov (Nürnberger, 46); Bozhinov; Tsenov; Nedyalkov; Dimitrov K.; Kraev A. (Gruev, 46); Kirilov; Milanov (Chochev, 67); Nikolov V. (Kolev, 67); Petkov Ma. (Shopov, 79)
Substitution: Nürnberger (from 46); Gruev (from 46); Chochev (from 67); Kolev (from 67); Shopov (from 79)
Bench: Mitov; Dyulgerov; Atanasov Zh.; Petkov A.; Kovachev; Minchev M.; Petkov L.
Yellow Cards: Tsenov 18; Petkov Ma. 39; Kraev A. 45; Dimitrov K. 53
