Budu Zivzivadze

Budu Zivzivadze (; born 10 March 1994) is a Georgian professional footballer who plays as a striker for 2. Bundesliga club 1. FC Heidenheim and the Georgia national team.

Being the winner of the Umaglesi Liga and the Georgian Super Cup, he was named the Georgian Player of the Year in 2016.

Early life Budu Zivzivadze was born on 10 March 1994 in Kutaisi, Imereti, to Kakha Zivzivadze and Rusudan Gegeshidze and has one elder sister. He was named in honour of his grandfather who died at early age.

As a child, Budu attended chess and dancing classes before football swept him up.

Club career At age 8, Budu Zivzivadze entered the Imedi football school in Kutaisi. He was a midfielder during the initial two years.

In 2011, he joined Dinamo Tbilisi. During the four seasons at this club, he mainly played for its reserve team taking part in Pirveli Liga. With 23 goals netted in 21 matches for Dinamo-2 in 2013–14, Zivzivadze became the topscorer. He made a professional debut with the senior team on 11 September 2014 in an away game against Metalurgi Rustavi as a second-half substitute.

In 2015, Zivzivadze moved to the top-tier club Samtredia, where he displayed his goalscoring abilities and played a crucial role in winning their first ever champion's title. The striker was named the best player of the 2016 season.

Budu signed with Danish Superliga club Esbjerg fB in January 2017, but did not play much until he was loaned out to Dinamo Tbilisi for the 2018 season. He did very well, scoring 28 goals in all competitions. Zivzivadze shared a topscorer's award with Giorgi Gabedava. Also, he was included in symbolic team of the season. After returning to Esbjerg, the club announced on 29 January 2019, that he had left the club, this time permanently, after his contract was terminated by mutual consent.

Two days later, it was announced, that he had re-joined Torpedo Kutaisi. Zivzivadze was named by Erovnuli Liga as the best player of part 2 of the four-phase championship after netting eight goals in nine games. Due to Torpedo's financial troubles, his second tenure with this team lasted six months.

In July 2019, he signed for Nemzeti Bajnokság I side Mezőkövesd.

On 11 February 2022, Zivzivadze was loaned by Fehérvár to Újpest until the end of the season.

On 31 January 2023, the last day of the 2022–23 winter transfer window, Zivzivadze signed with 2. Bundesliga club Karlsruher SC until 2025. His contract with Fehérvár had been due to run out in the summer.

On 3 January 2025, Zivzivadze moved to Bundesliga club Heidenheim on a four-year deal. He opened his goal-scoring account in a 1–1 draw at Hoffenheim on 9 March.

International career Zivzivadze made his debut for the Georgia national team in a friendly match against Uzbekistan on 23 January 2017. He scored his first goal for the senior national team on 25 March 2022, the only goal in a 1–0 friendly win against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

On 21 March 2024, Zivzivadze bagged a vital brace in a 2–0 win over Luxemburg in UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying play-offs, which eventually helped the team to reach European Championship for the first time in their history. He received a call-up for Euro 2024 and took part in two matches.

Personal life Zivzivadze is married to Nini Kvernadze. Their daughter was born during the COVID-19 period. For this reason, Budu was unable to see her until she turned six months old.

Career statistics Club

International

Scores and results list Georgia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Zivzivadze goal.

Honours Samtredia Umaglesi Liga: 2016

Torpedo Kutaisi Georgian Super Cup: 2019

Individual Player of the Year in Georgia: 2016 Erovnuli Liga top scorer: 2016, 2018 (shared) Order of Honor: 2024