Preparing to kick off their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign, Georgia welcome Asian minnows Mongolia to Batumi on Saturday for an international friendly.
While the hosts will battle it out for a place at their first-ever finals in the months ahead, their visitors rarely leave a footprint in major tournament qualifiers and are ranked 183rd in the world.
Match preview
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Joining Cyprus as outsiders behind Scotland, Norway and Spain in Group A of European Championship qualifying, Georgia have a substantial task ahead of them if they are to reach UEFA's flagship international event in Germany next year.
Though they lost their final fixture of 2022 to World Cup surprise package Morocco last November, a 3-0 reverse to the Atlas Lions does not seem such a setback given what the North African nation went on to achieve in Qatar.
Georgia themselves had missed out on a first-ever appearance at the global finals, after finishing above only rock-bottom Kosovo in their qualifying group as a result of losing five of their first six matches.
Closing out the campaign with consecutive victories over Kosovo and Sweden, though, served as a springboard for a fine run of form in the Nations League.
Willy Sagnol's side went unbeaten throughout their League C campaign to clinch top spot - some seven points above runners-up Bulgaria. With a team featuring Napoli winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, sixteen goals scored and just three conceded tells the tale of a remarkable run which has bolstered belief that a finals debut could be near.
Ranked 78 in the world, Georgia head into Saturday's warm-up game on a run of eight wins from their last 12 matches, so after tackling Mongolia, they will be relishing a qualifying opener against Erling Haaland-less Norway next week.
Mongolia, meanwhile, broke new ground in the qualification process for Qatar 2022, as they succeeded in making it past the first round for the very first time: beating Brunei 3-2 over two legs.
At the second stage, however, the Blue Wolves were brought crashing down to earth by a series of setbacks, including a painful 14-0 defeat to Japan in March 2021.
As a result, they relieved head coach Rastislav Bozik of his duties and brought in Japanese manager Shuichi Mase. In their next game, Mongolia managed to beat Kyrgyzstan 1-0 for their first-ever win against a top-100 ranked opponent in FIFA qualifying.
Due to illness, Mase has since stepped aside for compatriot Otsuka Ichiro, who joined the Mongolian Football Federation as part of a partnership with their counterparts at the Japan Football Association.
Previously holding a 12-year tenure at fourth-tier Hokuriku Electric in his home country, Ichiro now hopes to take his team into this autumn's World Cup 2026 preliminaries with hope of progressing even further, and Saturday's game against European opponents should provide a useful barometer of their progress.
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Team News
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In addition to three uncapped players in his squad to take on both Mongolia and Norway, Willy Sagnol has included many familiar faces this month.
Valencia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili, 101-cap skipper Guram Kashia and Serie A star Khvicha Kvaratskhelia are all called up. The latter - who finished with seven goal involvements in Georgia's Nations League campaign - missed November's friendly against Morocco due to injury, but now returns with his stock having risen higher than ever.
Davit Khocholava has had to withdraw from the squad though, while fellow defender Luka Lochoshvili is out of favour at Italian strugglers Cremonese and was excluded.
Meanwhile, Mongolia will bring a largely domestic-based squad to Batumi, though 22-year-old forward Ganbayar Ganbold plies his trade in Slovakia, on loan from Hungarian club Puskas Akademia.
The East Asian nation's current 'Player of the Year', Ganbayar will aim to build on scoring his first two senior international goals in last June's Asian Cup qualification victory over Yemen.
Midfielder Monkh-Erdene Togoldor has registered seven strikes from 24 appearances to date and is the Blue Wolves' third-top scorer of all time.
Georgia possible starting lineup:
Mamardashvili; Khocholava, Kashia, Kvirkvelia; Kakabadze, Kvekveskiri, Aburjania, Tsitaishvili; Kvaratskhelia, Zivzivadze, Davitashvili
Mongolia possible starting lineup:
Enkhtaivan; Orkhon, Bilguun, B. Ganbold, Oyunbold; Tsend-Ayuush, Batbold, Monkh-Erdene, Togoldor; G. Ganbold, Baatartsogt
We say: Georgia 3-0 Mongolia
While Willy Sagnol may want to run the rule over some fresh faces, his primary focus this weekend is to ready Georgia for their clash with Norway. Therefore, the European side should secure an expected victory, but perhaps without racking up a hatful of goals.
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