Irakli Sikharulidze

Irakli Sikharulidze (, ; born 18 July 1990) is a professional Georgian football striker who currently plays for Erovnuli Liga club Meshakhte.

Sikharulidze is the winner of the national league and cup competitions. Individually, he was twice recognized as Erovnuli Liga Player of the Year. He finished as the topscorer of the league season in 2017 and later entered the 100 Club comprising Georgian players with a hundred and more goals scored in the top national division. By early March 2025, he had reached the top five of this club.

Sikharulidze was a member of the Georgia national football team, making his debut in 2017 in a friendly game against Cyprus. Club career Sikharulidze started his career at Dinamo Tbilisi at the age of 16. Initially he played for the reserves before being promoted to the first team. In early 2012, Sikharulidze moved to Metalurgi for four seasons, although three years later he was among those players who left the club due to financial crisis.

In 2017, Sikharulidze signed with Locomotive. Although his new club finished sixth, the player shone individually by becoming the league topscorer. Besides, he received his first Player of the Year award from the Football Federation. Three years later, with Locomotive still left out of the top three places, Sikharulidze was selected by the Erovnuli Liga as Player of the Year and named in Team of the Season.

On 29 September 2021, Sikharulidze netted his 100th league goal in a 2–2 draw against Dinamo Tbilisi. Having scored 62 times at Locomotive during his four-year tenure, Sikharulidze moved to Saburtalo in early 2022.

On 6 December 2023, he scored an injury-time winner against Dinamo Batumi to secure the Georgian Cup, followed by the league title a year later. In March 2025, Sikharulidze notched a goal against Torpedo to move into the list of all-time top five Georgian topscorers with 124 league goals.

In January 2026, Sikharulidze moved to Meshakhte who had just secured their first promotion to the top flight. His goal in an away 1–0 win over Dila on 12 March marked both the first goal and first victory for the team in the top division.

International career Sikharulidze received a first call-up to the national team in September 2017 for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification ties against Ireland and Austria. He made his first appearance for the team on 10 November in a 1–0 friendly win over Cyprus. Three days later, Sikharulidze scored against Belarus.

Statistics

International goals Scores and results list Georgia's goal tally first.

No Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1. 13 November 2017 Ramaz Shengelia Stadium, Kutaisi, Georgia 1–1 2–2 Friendly

Honours Club Saburtalo / Iberia 1999 Erovnuli Liga: 2024 Georgian Cup: 2023 Individual Erovnuli Liga topscorer: 2017 Erovnuli Liga Player of the Year: 2017, 2020 Erovnuli Liga Forward of the Year: 2017 Erovnuli Liga Team of the Year: 2017, 2020