The Georgian team will not participate in the World Cup next month. With billions of spectators around the world, it also means that the tournament will lack one of the most attractive football artists currently: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
For a long time, Georgia has seen football as a form of art rather than a simple sport. From Georgi Kinkladze's enchanting handling to Dinamo Tbilisi's historic feat at the European Cup C2 in 1981, this country has always produced players with rich technique and creative inspiration.
Kvaratskhelia is the most prominent representative of the modern generation. After growing up in his hometown and playing in Russia, he joined Napoli in 2022 at the age of 21 and quickly became the soul in the playing style of the Southern Italian team. In his first season, the Georgian player won the title of Serie A Player of the Year and UEFA Champions League Young Player of the Year.
The nickname "Kvaradona" appearing at the foot of Mount Vesuvius is not an exaggeration. In two and a half years playing for Napoli, Kvaratskhelia contributed to more assist goals than any other player of the club, with 21 goals and 17 assists. He also made 196 successful dribbles - the most in Serie A in the same period.
The combination of artistry and efficiency has convinced Paris Saint-Germain to make him the core in the project to conquer Europe in January 2025.
As soon as Kvaratskhelia arrived at Parc des Princes, coach Luis Enrique explained the reason PSG was determined to recruit him: "He possesses a great one-on-one ability, can play as a winger or center forward. He perfectly represents the idea of flexibility and adaptability in our system".
If there were doubts that pressure at Parc des Princes could reduce Kvaratskhelia's explosion, then everything quickly disappeared. Since his Champions League debut in PSG colors, the Georgian player has become an irreplaceable link in the attack of the French capital team.
In the 2025-2026 Champions League campaign, Kvaratskhelia is on par with Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe in terms of the number of times he contributed to goals, with a total of 16 times. More notably, he always shines in big matches. Ten times directly participating in goals in the knockout round is the best achievement in the league this season, and he also became the first player to score or assist in 7 consecutive knockout matches in the same Champions League season.
However, Kvaratskhelia's influence is not only in numbers. He regulates the attacking pace with intelligent movement, constantly opening up space for his teammates.
A play in the Champions League semi-final match against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena perfectly reflected that quality. PSG's opening goal, appearing after only 3 minutes, is a masterpiece of speed, thinking and state transition ability.
The situation started from Willian Pacho's cross from his own half. Receiving the ball with his back to the goal, Kvaratskhelia did not try to turn himself in the encirclement of the opponent but immediately made a one-touch pass for Fabian Ruiz.
Right before the ball left his foot, the Georgian player turned to accelerate. He left Dayot Upamecano behind in just a moment, turning himself from receiving the ball to a threatening penetrator.
Ruiz immediately understood and launched a perfect back pass into the gap. In just 3 seconds, Kvaratskhelia crossed the midfield line with an impressive acceleration.
After putting the ball down to the edge of the penalty area, he still maintained an incredible calmness. Instead of rushing to finish, Kvaratskhelia made an accurate reverse pass for Ousmane Dembele to rush up and finish to score.
That was a situation that fully showed the special qualities of Kvaratskhelia. In just 9 seconds, he touched the ball five times and moved more than 60m, turning a seemingly normal deployment in his own half into a goal that decided the match.
