Kvaratskhelia Khvicha
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (b. February 12, 2001, Tbilisi), athlete (footballer). Since 2012, he has played for the youth team and academy of Dinamo Tbilisi. He began his club career at FC Dinamo Tbilisi (2017, 4 games, 1 goal), then played for FC Rustavi (2018−2019, 18 games, 3 goals). Since 2019, he has played in Russia for FC Lokomotiv Moscow (2019, 7 games, 1 goal) and FC Rubin Kazan (2019−2022, 69 games, 9 goals). He was named the best dribbler in the Russian Football League (average 16 dribbles per game, 53% − effective).
After the war started in Ukraine, Kvaratskhelia moved to FC Dinamo Batumi (2022, 11 matches, 8 goals). He dramatically increased interest in football, which led to the stadium being filled with spectators. At the beginning of the same season, Kvaratskhelia joined the Italian club Napoli, where the team's head coach, Luciano Spalletti, made him a left winger. Kvaratskhelia's play received the admiration and great interest of fans and specialists; he was nicknamed “Kvaradona”. Kvaratskhelia became the winner of the 2022−2023 Italian championship (scored 12 goals in 30 games, made 13 assists and earned 4 penalties). He played 17 matches in the Champions League (2 goals, 4 assists, 1 penalty). Kvaratskhelia was named the Player of the Month three times in the Italian Championship. During his time with Napoli (2022–2025), he played a total of 107 matches (30 goals, 29 assists). Midway through the 2024–2025 season, he transferred to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), where he won the European Cup twice (2025–2026). He played 47 matches in the French league (12 goals, 8 assists) and 25 matches in the Champions League across the 2024–2026 seasons (13 goals, 7 assists). He was named the best player of the 2025–2026 Champions League season. He is a UEFA Super Cup winner and a goalscorer for PSG (2026).
Matches played in the Georgian national team: U-17 national team − 21 games (15 goals); U-19 national team − 7 matches (3 goals); U-21 national team − 2 matches (1 goal); National team − 50 matches (19 goals, 10 assists). He competed for the Georgian national team at the European Championship (4 matches, 1 goal), where the team advanced past the group stage. Kvaratskhelia is the Captain of the Georgian national team (2026).
Literature: კეკელიძე გ., ხვიჩა - ვარსკვლავი, სახელად ვარსკვლავი, თბ., 2023; Giulianelli E., Kvaradona. Un miracolo georgiano, Fandango Libri, 2023.
