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.EfB-angriber vender hjem til Tbilisi på leje, bold.dk, 9 January 2018 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.Esbjerg fritstiller georgisk angriber, bold.dk, 29 January 2019
Two days later, it was announced, that he had re-joined Torpedo Kutaisi.ბუდუ ზივზივაძე უკვე "ტორპედოშია", sportall.ge, 31 January 2019 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.Mezőkövesd: válogatott csatár érkezett, gólkirály is volt, nso.hu, 12 July 2019
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.
During his second season at Karlsruher, Zivzivadze netted twelve goals in 30 league matches and became the team's second topscorer after Igor Matanović. The player improved his own record in 2024–25 with the same number of goals scored in 17 games, which made him the league topscorer at half season.
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.Uzbekistan – Georgia (Report) Soccerway. 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
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational cupContinentalOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsDinamo Tbilisi B2012–13Pirveli Liga1914―——19142013–14Pirveli Liga2123―——21232014–15Pirveli Liga1010―——1010Total5047―——5047Dinamo Tbilisi2014–15Umaglesi Liga10―——10Torpedo Kutaisi2014–15Umaglesi Liga8020——100Samtredia2015–16Umaglesi Liga291652―—34182016Umaglesi Liga14132121—1815Total43297321―5233Esbjierg 2016–17Danish Superliga7021―—912017–18Danish 1st Division40―——40Total11021―—131Dinamo Tbilisi (loan)2018Erovnuli Liga35223422—4028Torpedo Kutaisi2019Erovnuli Liga201310—102213Mezőkövesd2019–20Nemzeti Bajnokság I32862——3810Fehérvár2020–21Nemzeti Bajnokság I3194330—38112021–22Nemzeti Bajnokság I122―20—1422022–23Nemzeti Bajnokság I101―66—167Total531243116—6821Újpest (loan)2021–22Nemzeti Bajnokság I121120——1411Karlsruher SC2022–232.Bundesliga101――—1012023–242.Bundesliga301210―—31122024–252.Bundesliga181222―—2014Total582532——61271. FC Heidenheim2024–25Bundesliga152―20201922025–26Bundesliga20620——2262026–272. Bundesliga5310——63Total40113020204711Career total363178331517930416202
International
+ Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsGeorgia2017202018202021402022732023822024113202550202660Total458
Scores and results list Georgia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Zivzivadze goal.
+ List of international goals scored by Budu ZivzivadzeNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition125 March 2022Bilino Polje Stadium, Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina1–01–0Friendly25 June 2022Huvepharma Arena, Razgrad, Bulgaria3–15–22022–23 UEFA Nations League C39 June 2022Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia1–03–02022–23 UEFA Nations League C4 25 March 2023 Adjarabet Arena, Batumi, Georgia 6–1 6–1 Friendly 5 12 September 2023 Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway 1–2 1–2 2024 UEFA Euro qualifiers 6 21 March 2024 Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena, Tbilisi, Georgia 1–0 2–0 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying play-offs 7 2–08 9 June 2024 Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica, Montenegro 3–1 3–1Friendly
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
References
External links
Esbjerg official profile