Nikoloz "Nika" Kacharava ( ka, ნიკოლოზ "ნიკა" კაჭარავა, tr, ; born 13 January 1994) is a Georgian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a forward for

Erovnuli Liga The Erovnuli Liga ( ka, ეროვნული ლიგა; ) is the top Division (sport), division of professional top tier Association football, football in Georgia (Country), Georgia. Since 1990, it has been organized by the Professional ...

club Gareji. Born in Cyprus, he played for the Georgia national team.

Club career

Kacharava started his career in the second team of

Dinamo Tbilisi Dinamo Tbilisi is a sports club from Tbilisi, Georgia (country), Georgia. It was founded in 1925. Among its highest honors, is the European trophy earned by its Association football, football team which won the Cup Winners' Cup in 1981, beating ...

. A promising youth, he found it hard finding opportunities to break into the Tbilisi first team and signed a contract with

Rubin Kazan FC Rubin Kazan (; ) is a Russian professional football club based in the city of Kazan. They play in the Russian Premier League. Founded in 1958, Rubin played its first-ever top flight season in 2003. It has remained there through the 2021–2 ...

. Kacharava played several matches with the Rubin Kazan youth squads, but found it hard to break into the first team squad. Kacharava got his first official contract with Rubin Kazan, but became frustrated with the lack of first team opportunities. Kacharava moved back to Georgia and signed a contract with

FC Tskhinvali FC Tskhinvali is a defunct Georgian football club, which in mid-2010s spent four seasons in the top tier of the national league. Despite the name, due to the enduring Georgian–Ossetian conflict they were unable to host their opponents in th ...

. In his first season, Kacharava scored only one goal - however, in the following seasons Kacharava cemented his spot in the first team, becoming a prolific scorer and one of the top forwards in the league. He attracted attention throughout Europe, eventually transferring to Rostov during one of their most successful seasons. He spent the 2016–17 season on loan in Cyprus at

Ethnikos Achna Ethnikos Achna Football Club (), commonly known as Ethnikos Achna, or simply Ethnikos, is a Cyprus, Cypriot professional Association football, football club based in the village of Dasaki Achnas. Founded in 1968, the club currently plays in the ...

, scoring 16 goals and becoming the third-best scorer of the

2016–17 Cypriot First Division The 2016–17 Cypriot First Division was the 78th season of the Cypriot top-level football league. The season began on 20 August 2016 and ended on 21 May 2017. The fixtures were announced on 7 July 2016. APOEL were the defending champions. APOE ...

. On 18 June 2017, he signed another year-long loan deal, joining the Polish club

Korona Kielce Korona Kielce (, Korona – ''Crown'' – symbol of club and city, Kielce – name of city where club is based) is a Polish professional football club based in Kielce, competing in Ekstraklasa in the 2025–26 season. From 2002 to ...

. On 6 June 2018, Kacharava signed a two-year contract with the Cypriot club

Anorthosis Famagusta Anorthosis Famagusta (), commonly known as Anorthosis in English or Anorthosi in Greek, is a Cypriot football club, part of the Famagusta multi-sport club founded in 1911 in Varosha, Famagusta.

. On 24 January 2020, he signed a two-year contract extension, with a buy-out clause of €500,000. On 8 February 2022, Kacharava joined South Korean

K League 2 The K League 2 () is the men's second-highest division of the South Korean football league system. It is contested between thirteen professional clubs and operates on a promotion and relegation system with K League 1. History In 2011, the or ...

club

Jeonnam Dragons The Jeonnam Dragons () are a South Korean professional football club based in the city of Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province that competes in the K League 2, the second tier of South Korean football. The Dragons play their home matches at the G ...

. A year later he returned to

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

and moved to

Torpedo Kutaisi FC Torpedo Kutaisi ( Georgian: საფეხბურთო კლუბი ტორპედო ქუთაისი) is a Georgian professional football club based in Kutaisi, Georgia's third largest city. The team competes in the Erovnuli ...

, but left the club by mutual consent after three months. In August 2023, Kacharava signed a contract with

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

n club

Panevėžys Panevėžys () is the fifth-largest List of cities in Lithuania, city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, eighth-most-populous city in the Baltic States. it occupies with 89,100 inhabitants. As defined by Eu ...

until the end of the season with an option of its extension. In July 2024, the newly promoted second-division Cypriot club, Spartakos Kitiou, announced the signing of Kacharava. In February 2025, he reunited with

Gagra Gagra ( ka, გაგრა; Russian language, Russian and ) is a town in Abkhazia/Georgia (country), Georgia, sprawling for 5 km on the northeast coast of the Black Sea, at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains. Its subtropical climate made Ga ...

where he had spent a part of his youth career.

International career

Kacharava was born in Cyprus to parents of Georgian descent – his father Kakhaber Kacharava was a member of the Georgia national team and his mother Lia Mikadze was a basketball player. Kacharava had successful stints with the Georgian youth national teams, and made his debut for the senior Georgian national team in a friendly 0–0 tie with

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Panevėžys *

A Lyga The A Lyga is the top division of professional football in Lithuania. It is organized by Lithuanian Football Federation (LFF) (). History The first football league was established in Lithuania in 1924, and in various forms existed until 1939. ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Lithuanian Supercup The Lithuanian Supercup () or LFF Supercup is an annual football match contested between the champions of the previous A Lyga season and the holders of the Lithuanian Football Cup. It is organised by and named after Lithuanian Football Federation a ...

: 2024

References

External links

* *
Rostov Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kacharava, Nika 1994 births Living people Footballers from Nicosia Men's association football forwards Men's footballers from Georgia (country) 21st-century sportsmen from Georgia (country) Georgia (country) men's international footballers Georgia (country) men's youth international footballers Georgia (country) men's under-21 international footballers Cypriot men's footballers Cypriot people of Georgian descent FC Dinamo Tbilisi players FC Rubin Kazan players FC Tskhinvali players FC Rostov players Ethnikos Achna FC players Korona Kielce players Anorthosis Famagusta FC players Lech Poznań players Jeonnam Dragons players FC Torpedo Kutaisi players FK Panevėžys players Cypriot First Division players Cypriot Second Division players Ekstraklasa players K League 2 players A Lyga players Expatriate men's footballers from Georgia (country) Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Expatriate men's footballers in South Korea Expatriate men's footballers in Lithuania Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in Russia Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in Poland Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in South Korea Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in Lithuania