Month: May 2026
Georgian footballer Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has been named UEFA Champions League Player of the Season after winning Europe’s top club tournament for the second consecutive year with French club Paris Saint-Germain.
The first such recognition for a Georgian athlete comes after the player emerged as a leader throughout the club’s successful season, culminating in the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League title following a penalty shootout victory over London’s Arsenal F.C. on Saturday, May 30.
The 25-year-old winger scored ten goals and provided six assists throughout the competition, and won a penalty for the club in the final that led to an equalizer against the London club, bringing the Parisians back into the game.
The career of Kvaratskhelia, who is known to have inspired a new generation of Georgian footballers, took a major turn following his move to Italian club SSC Napoli in 2022, after years in the Russian league and a short period at Dinamo Batumi, a Georgian club. He helped Napoli win its first Serie A title in more than three decades in his debut season.
The young winger has also led the Georgian national team to its first-ever qualification for the UEFA European Championship, where Georgia delivered a memorable debut campaign, including a place in the knockout stage.
He is only the second Georgian player to have won two UEFA Champions League titles after Kakha Kaladze, the present-day Mayor of Tbilisi, who lifted the trophy twice with AC Milan in 2003 and 2007.
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