Guram Kashia

Guram Kashia (, ; born 4 July 1987) is a Georgian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Niké Liga club Slovan Bratislava and the Georgia national team.

Developed at Dinamo Tbilisi, Kashia spent most of his career at Dutch Eredivisie club Vitesse, where he was captain. In the Netherlands for eight years, he played 292 official matches (24 goals) and won the KNVB Cup in 2017.

Kashia is the five-time winner of the Slovak top league and the Georgia national team’s most capped player. He was twice recognized as Footballer of the Year in Georgia.

Club career Early career and MLS A tifo made by Vitesse fans in celebration of Kashia in 2016. Kashia began his career in Dinamo Tbilisi. He signed for Dutch club Vitesse in 2010 to become a regular member of the starting line-up of the club. Kashia was named club captain two years later. During his career at Vitesse, He amassed a total of 292 matches. In August 2015, Kashia was named Best Player of August in Eredivisie.

Kashia led Vitesse to the domestic KNVB Cup in 2016–17, starting all except one of their six games and recording a goal and an assist. In his five starts, the club defeated their opponents 12–2, including a 2–0 victory against eventual league champions Feyenoord Rotterdam in the quarterfinals. In October 2017, Kashia wore a rainbow-striped captain's armband for Vitesse against Heracles Almelo in support of LGBT rights, leading to a backlash in his own country and calls for him to step down from the Georgian national team. His name was also transliterated as Goeram Kasjia in Dutch.

On 14 June 2018, Kashia joined Major League Soccer club San Jose Earthquakes on a multi-year contract, joining compatriot and close friend Valeri Qazaishvili.

Locomotive Tbilisi and Slovan Bratislava Kashia transferred to Locomotive Tbilisi in 2021 before moving to Slovan Bratislava later the same year. He was a regular squad member of the team which continued winning the Slovak First Football League title. Kashia's contribution led him to receive Team of the Season award three times in a row. He signed a new year-long contract with Slovan on 27 June 2024.

On 27 November 2025, Kashia netted an equalizer in a UEFA Conference League 2–1 win over Rayo Vallecano, becoming Player of the Match. It was his last European goal, scored at 38 years and four months.

Kashia's five-year career with Slovan came to an end in May 2026. During this period, he lifted the national league trophy five times and played more than 200 matches across all competitions for the team.

International career

Kashia debuted for Georgia on 1 April 2009 in an exhibition game against Montenegro. In October 2012, he scored Georgia's only goal against Finland in a 2014 World Cup qualification.

Kashia was named Georgian Footballer of the Year twice, in 2012 and in 2013. , he is captain of his national football team. He is the most-capped Georgian footballer of all time.

Kashia took part in all of Georgia's matches in both the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying stages and Euro 2024 championship completely. He received the Order of Honour with the squad the same year on 2 July.

On 23 March 2026, Kashia announced that he would retire from international football after a friendly home game against Romania on 2 June. He made his 129th international appearance in a 1–1 draw against Romania, finishing as his country's most-capped player.

Personal life Kashia's father was a rugby player who wanted his younger son to follow his path, but Guram, initially fond of basketball, came under the influence of his elder brother Shota to begin playing football as a child. They both wore Number 37 jerseys for their clubs.

While playing for Vitesse in 2017, Kashia wore a rainbow armband as part of the Dutch initiative Coming Out Day. His show of support for gay rights led to protests outside the Georgian Football Federation's headquarters demanding his removal from the national team, at which eight people were arrested. He described himself as being "proud to support equal rights". In August 2018, he became the inaugural recipient of UEFA's #EqualGame award for his pro-LGBT rights stand. He did not attend the awards ceremony in Monaco due to his club commitments with San Jose, but submitted a video acceptance speech in which he said: "I believe in equality for everyone, no matter what you believe in, who you love or who you are...I will always keep defending equality and equal rights for everyone, wherever I will play." In December 2018, Kashia received the Presidential Order of Excellence from Georgian president Giorgi Margvelashvili.

Kashia is outspoken about the ongoing illegal Russian occupation of Georgia following the 2008 Russo-Georgian War.

He obtained his U.S. green card in July 2019, qualifying him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.

Career statistics Club

Scores and results list Georgia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kashia goal. 2022–23, 2023–24