15/11/06
Tbilisi
Schalke 04 midfielder Levan Kobiashvili was a two-goal hero as Georgia took the UFWC title from Uruguay in only their second ever title match. Kobiashvili netted a penalty after 39 minutes to give his side the lead, and scored again after 55 minutes to double the advantage. Despite missing star man Shota Arveladze, Klaus Toppmöller's Georgia held on for a fine victory. The Georgian team, formed after the split of the USSR, only played their first international match in 1990, and have never qualified for a major tournament. They are currently competing in Euro 2008 Qualifying Group B with Italy, France, Ukraine, Scotland, Lithuania and the Faroe Islands. The next UFWC title match sees Georgia face Turkey. Although Georgia and Turkey are geographical neighbours, in a football sense they seem miles apart.
FIFA rank UFWC title holders Georgia 98th in the world, and Turkey 21st. But Turkey have never won a UFWC match, and if Georgia could hold onto the title the fixtures will throw up an intriguing subsequent match against all-time UFWC champions Scotland, the Scots' first UFWC match for almost 20 years.
