Giorgi Zaria

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Giorgi Zaria

| image =

| full_name =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1997|7|14|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Kutaisi, Georgia

| height = 1.78 m

| position = Midfielder

| currentclub = Kairat

| clubnumber = 7

| years1 = 2014 | clubs1 = Sasco Tbilisi | caps1 = 6 | goals1 = 4

| years2 = 2015–2020 | clubs2 = Dinamo Tbilisi | caps2 = 66 | goals2 = 6

| years3 = 2021–2023 | clubs3 = Dinamo Batumi | caps3 = 87 | goals3 = 14

| years4 = 2024– | clubs4 = Kairat | caps4 = 25 | goals4 = 8

| nationalyears1 = 2016–2017 | nationalteam1 = Georgia U-21 | nationalcaps1 = 2 | nationalgoals1 = 1

| nationalyears2 = 2021– | nationalteam2 = Georgia | nationalcaps2 = 1 | nationalgoals2 = 0

| club-update = 10 March 2025

| nationalteam-update = 5 September 2021

}}

Giorgi Zaria ({{lang-ka|გიორგი ზარია}}; born 14 July 1997) is a Georgian professional footballer who plays for FC Kairat as a midfielder. He is the five-time winner of the top Georgian league. Zaria has also won the Kazakhstan Premier League.

Club career

Zaria took first steps in professional football at second-division club Sasco in 2013. He drew interest from Dinamo Tbilisi where he spent next six seasons. Zaria netted his first top-league goal in a 1–0 away win over Torpedo Kutaisi on 26 November 2016.{{cite web |title=Torpedo vs Dinamo Tbilisi |url=https://int.soccerway.com/matches/2016/11/26/georgia/umaglesi-liga/fc-torpedo-kutaisi/fc-dinamo-tbilisi/2349065/ |website=Soccerway |date=26 November 2016}}

In late December 2020, Zaria signed a three-year contract with Dinamo Batumi.{{cite web |title='დინამო ბათუმის საფეხბურთო ფილოსოფიას კარგად ვიცნობ' - ინტერვიუ გიორგი ზარიასთან |url=https://europop.ge/article/30714-dinamo-batumis-sapekhburto-pilosopias-kargad-vitsnob-interviu-giorgi-zariastan |website=europop.ge (in Georgian) |date=30 December 2020}} During this period he twice won the champion's titles. Also, the Erovnuli Liga recognized Zaria's individual performance in 2023 by naming him in Team of the Season.

At the end of this season, he moved to Kazakhstan Premier League club Kairat on a deal until the end of 2025.{{cite web |title=გიორგი ზარია ყაზახეთში ითამაშებს! გიორგი ზარია ყაზახეთში ითამაშებს! |url=https://footballnews.ge/footballnews/5574-.html |website=footballnews.ge (in Georgian) |access-date=27 December 2023}} Zaria opened his goal scoring account in the very first game of the season with a long-range strike against Kyzylzhar, which helped his new team snatch a narrow victory.{{cite web |title=«Кайрат» вырвал победу в стартовом матче КПЛ-2024 |url=https://www.sports.kz/news/kayrat-vyirval-pobedu-vstartovom-matche-kpl-2024 |website=sports.kz (in Russian) |access-date=3 March 2024}} On the last matchday, he converted from the spot against Atyrau which turned out not only a game winner but also a title decider in favour of Kairat.{{cite web |title=Пенальти и удаление решили судьбу чемпионства в КПЛ-2024 |url=https://www.sports.kz/news/penalti-iudalenie-reshili-sudbu-chempionstva-vkpl-2024 |website=sports.kz (in Russian) |date=10 November 2024 |access-date=11 November 2024}} Overall, Zaria contributed to his new club with six goals and four assists. Apart from being included in Team of the Year, he was named Midfielder of the Year and best new player of the season.{{cite news |website=qfl.kz (in Russian) |title=Гиорги Зариа - обладатель номинации имени Вахида Масудова |url=https://qfl.kz/ru/news/vakhid-masudov-atynda-y-nominatsiyany-giorgi-zaria-ielendi/ |access-date=22 December 2024 |date=20 December 2024}}{{cite news |url=https://www.sports.kz/news/kto-stal-otkryitiem-sezona-vkpl-top-10novichkov-kotoryie-opravdali-vse-ojidaniya |title=Кто стал открытием сезона в КПЛ? |access-date=22 December 2024 |publisher=sports.kz (in Russian) |date=3 December 2024}}

International career

Zaria made his debut for the Georgia national team on 5 September 2021 in a 2022 World Cup qualifier against Spain. He started the game and was substituted after 57 minutes.{{cite web|publisher=FIFA|url=https://www.fifa.com/tournaments/mens/worldcup/qatar2022/qualifiers/uefa/match-center/400155576|title=Spain v Georgia game report|date=5 September 2021}}

Career statistics

{{updated|match played 9 March 2025}}{{cite web |url=https://int.soccerway.com/players/giorgi-zaria/336158/ |title=Giorgi Zaria statistics |website=soccerway}}

rowspan="2"\|Club !rowspan="2"\|Season !colspan="3"\|League !colspan="2"\|National cup !colspan="2"\|Continental !colspan="2"\|Other !colspan="2"\|Total
class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" \|+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Sasco Tbilisi \|2013–14 \|Pirveli Liga \|6	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	4
rowspan="7"\|Dinamo Tbilisi \|2015–16 \|rowspan="6"\|Umaglesi/ Erovnuli Liga \|0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2016 \|9	2	1	0	2 {{efn\|Appearances in UEFA Youth League}}	0	0	0	12	2
2017 \|20	2	3	0	0	0	0	0	23	2
2018 \|9	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	10	0
2019 \|22	1	1	0	2{{efn	name=EL\|Appearances in UEFA Europa League}}	1	0	0	25	2
2020 \|6	1	0	0	2{{efn\|name=EL\|Appearances in UEFA Europa League}}	0	0	0	8	1
colspan="2"\|Total !66	6	6	0	6	1	0	0	78	7
rowspan="4"\|Dinamo Batumi \|2021 \|rowspan="3"\|Erovnuli Liga \|26	4	4	0	4{{efn\|name=UCL\|Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League}}	1	0	0	34	5
2022 \|28	1	1	0	1{{efn\|name=UCL\|Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League}}	0	1{{efn\|name=GSC\|Appearances in Georgian Super Cup}}	0	31	1
2023 \|33	9	4	0	2{{efn\|name=UCL\|Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League}}	0	2{{efn\|name=GSC}}	0	41	9
colspan="2"\|Total !87	14	9	0	7	1	3	0	106	15
rowspan="3"\|Kairat \|2024 \|Kazakhstan Premier League \|23	6	2	0	0	0	1{{efn\|name=KLC\|Appearance in Kazakhstan League Cup}}	1	26	7
2025 \|Kazakhstan Premier League \|2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2
colspan="2"\|Total !25	8	2	0	0	0	1	1	28	9
colspan="3"\|Career total !184	32	17	0	13	2	4	1	218	35