Luka Loczoszwili

Luka Lochoshvili (; born 29 May 1998) is a Georgian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for German club 1. FC Köln and the Georgia national team.

Club career

Dinamo Tbilisi Lochoshvili initially played in Dinamo Tbilisi youth teams before his promotion to the first team in 2016. He made a debut in a 4–0 win against Lokomotive Tbilisi on 18 November 2016.

Dinamo Kyiv The next summer, Lochoshvili signed a five-year deal with Dinamo Kyiv, although in March 2018 was loaned back to his boyhood club and later, in February 2019, to Slovak side Žilina.

Loan to Žilina Lochoshvili made his professional Fortuna Liga debut for Žilina against DAC Dunajská Streda on 6 April 2019.

Dinamo Tbilisi In early 2020, Dinamo Kyiv and Lochoshvili terminated the existing contract. The player spent next several months at Dinamo Tbilisi.

Wolfsberger AC In mid 2020, Lochoshvili moved to Austria to join Wolfsberger AC. He opened his goal account in a 5–3 away win against Austria Wien on 21 March 2021.

In February 2022, while playing for Wolfsberger AC against Austria Wien in Vienna, Lochoshvili took out the tongue of Austria player Georg Teigl. Teigl collided with an opposition player and was lying unconscious, unable to breathe, as he had swallowed his own tongue. Shortly afterwards, Lochoshvili was awarded with the Dignity Cross by the grateful Carinthia state governor. He won the Fair Play award at The Best FIFA Football Awards 2022 for his actions. The only goal scored by Lochoshvili in the 2021–22 season in a 4–1 away victory over Sturm Graz was recognized as the best of week 31 by fans.

Cremonese On 10 August 2022, Lochoshvili signed with Cremonese in Italy. He made a first appearance for his new club against AS Roma on 22 August. Lochoshvili netted his first Serie A goal in a 3–2 away win over Sampdoria on 8 April 2023.

Salernitana (loan) On 10 January 2025, Lochoshvili joined Serie B side Salernitana on loan for the remainder of the season with the option to buy.

1. FC Nürnberg On 12 July 2025, Lochoshvili moved to Germany and signed with 1. FC Nürnberg in 2. Bundesliga.

1. FC Köln On 2 July 2026, Lochoshvili moved to 1. FC Köln in the German top-tier Bundesliga on a three-year deal.

International career Lochoshvili made his debut for the Georgia national football team on 5 September 2021 in a World Cup qualifier against Spain, a 4–0 away loss. He started the game and played the whole match.

On 12 October 2023, he scored in a friendly match against Thailand scoring the sixth goal just before half time.

Lochoshvili received a call-up to the national team for the 2024 UEFA Euro and took part in all four matches that Georgia played in the tournament. On 2 July 2024, along with other squad members he was awarded the Order of Honour. Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours Dinamo Tbilisi David Kipiani Cup: 2014–15, 2015–16; runner-up: 2018 Georgian Super Cup runner-up: 2020

Žilina Slovak Cup runner-up: 2018–19

Individual Best young player of Georgia: 2020 FIFA Fair Play Award: 2022