Budu Zivzivadze facts for kids
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 10 March 1994 | ||
| Place of birth | Kutaisi, Georgia | ||
| Height | 1.89m | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Heidenheim | ||
| Number | 12 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2009–2011 | School No. 35 Tbilisi | ||
| 2011–2012 | Dinamo Tbilisi | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2012–2014 | Dinamo Tbilisi | 1 | (0) |
| 2012–2014 | → Dinamo-2 Tbilisi | 50 | (47) |
| 2015 | Torpedo Kutaisi | 8 | (0) |
| 2015–2016 | Samtredia | 44 | (29) |
| 2017–2019 | Esbjerg | 13 | (1) |
| 2018 | → Dinamo Tbilisi (loan) | 35 | (22) |
| 2019 | Torpedo Kutaisi | 20 | (13) |
| 2019–2020 | Mezőkövesd | 32 | (8) |
| 2020–2023 | Fehérvár | 53 | (12) |
| 2022 | → Újpest (loan) | 12 | (11) |
| 2023–2024 | Karlsruher SC | 57 | (25) |
| 2025– | Heidenheim | 3 | (0) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2011 | Georgia U17 | 3 | (0) |
| 2013 | Georgia U19 | 9 | (2) |
| 2014–2016 | Georgia U21 | 4 | (0) |
| 2017– | Georgia | 34 | (8) |
† Appearances (Goals). |
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Budu Zivzivadze (Georgian: ბუდუ ზივზივაძე; born on March 10, 1994) is a professional footballer from Georgia. He plays as a striker, which means he is a forward player who mainly scores goals. Currently, he plays for the Bundesliga club Heidenheim and is also a key player for the Georgia national team.
Budu is a very successful player. He won the Umaglesi Liga, which is Georgia's top football league. He also won the Georgian Super Cup. In 2016, he was even named the best Georgian Player of the Year! He has also received the Order of Honor, a special award in Georgia.
Contents
Early Life and Childhood
Budu Zivzivadze was born in Kutaisi, Georgia, on March 10, 1994. His parents are Kakha Zivzivadze and Rusudan Gegeshidze. He has an older sister. Budu was named after his grandfather, who passed away when he was young.
When Budu was a child, he didn't only play football. He also took classes in chess and dancing! But eventually, football became his main passion.
Club Career Highlights
Budu started playing football at the Imedi football school in Kutaisi when he was 8 years old. For his first two years, he played as a midfielder, helping control the game from the middle of the field.
In 2011, he joined Dinamo Tbilisi, a famous club in Georgia. For four seasons, he mostly played for their reserve team, called Dinamo-2 Tbilisi. He was amazing at scoring goals! In the 2013–14 season, he scored 23 goals in 21 matches for Dinamo-2, becoming their top scorer. He made his first professional appearance for the main Dinamo Tbilisi team on September 11, 2014.
In 2015, Budu moved to Samtredia, another top team. Here, he really showed how good he was at scoring. He helped Samtredia win their first-ever league championship title! Because of his great performance, he was named the best player of the 2016 season.
After his success in Georgia, Budu signed with Danish Superliga club Esbjerg fB in Denmark in January 2017. He didn't play much there at first. So, in 2018, he went back to Dinamo Tbilisi on a loan. A loan means he played for Dinamo Tbilisi for a short time before returning to Esbjerg. During this loan, he did incredibly well, scoring 28 goals in all the games he played! He even shared the top scorer award that year.
In 2019, Budu joined Torpedo Kutaisi. He continued to score many goals, netting eight goals in nine games. However, his time there was short due to some club issues.
Later in 2019, he moved to Hungary to play for Nemzeti Bajnokság I team Mezőkövesd. In February 2022, he was loaned to Újpest from Fehérvár, another Hungarian club.
On January 31, 2023, Budu made a big move to Karlsruher SC, a club in Germany's 2. Bundesliga. He signed a contract until 2025. In his second season with Karlsruher, he scored 12 goals in 30 league matches, becoming the team's second-highest scorer. He continued his great form in the 2024–25 season, scoring the same number of goals in just 17 games, making him the league's top scorer at the halfway point!
On January 3, 2025, Budu Zivzivadze joined Heidenheim, a club in the top German league, the Bundesliga. He signed a four-year deal.
International Career
Budu Zivzivadze also plays for his home country, Georgia. He made his first appearance for the national team in a friendly match against Uzbekistan on January 23, 2017.
He scored his first goal for Georgia on March 25, 2022. It was the only goal in a 1–0 friendly win against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
On March 21, 2024, Budu scored two very important goals against Luxembourg in the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying play-offs. These goals helped Georgia win 2–0 and reach the European Championship for the very first time in their history! He was then chosen to play in Euro 2024 and played in two matches during the tournament.
Personal Life
Budu Zivzivadze is married to Nini Kvernadze. They have a daughter. When his daughter was born during the COVID-19 pandemic, Budu was unable to see her for the first six months of her life because of travel restrictions.
Career Statistics
Club
| Club | Season | League | National cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Dinamo Tbilisi B | 2012–13 | Pirveli Liga | 19 | 14 | ― | — | — | 19 | 14 | |||
| 2013–14 | Pirveli Liga | 21 | 23 | ― | — | — | 21 | 23 | ||||
| 2014–15 | Pirveli Liga | 10 | 10 | ― | — | — | 10 | 10 | ||||
| Total | 50 | 47 | ― | — | — | 50 | 47 | |||||
| Dinamo Tbilisi | 2014–15 | Umaglesi Liga | 1 | 0 | ― | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| Torpedo Kutaisi | 2014–15 | Umaglesi Liga | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 10 | 0 | ||
| Samtredia | 2015–16 | Umaglesi Liga | 29 | 16 | 5 | 2 | ― | — | 34 | 18 | ||
| 2016 | Umaglesi Liga | 14 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | — | 18 | 15 | ||
| Total | 43 | 29 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 1 | ― | 52 | 33 | |||
| Esbjierg | 2016–17 | Danish Superliga | 7 | 0 | 2 | 1 | ― | — | 9 | 1 | ||
| 2017–18 | Danish 1st Division | 4 | 0 | ― | — | — | 4 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 11 | 0 | 2 | 1 | ― | — | 13 | 1 | ||||
| Dinamo Tbilisi (loan) | 2018 | Erovnuli Liga | 35 | 22 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | — | 40 | 28 | |
| Torpedo Kutaisi | 2019 | Erovnuli Liga | 20 | 13 | 1 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | 22 | 13 | |
| Mezőkövesd | 2019–20 | Nemzeti Bajnokság I | 32 | 8 | 6 | 2 | — | — | 38 | 10 | ||
| Fehérvár | 2020–21 | Nemzeti Bajnokság I | 31 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | 38 | 11 | |
| 2021–22 | Nemzeti Bajnokság I | 12 | 2 | ― | 2 | 0 | — | 14 | 2 | |||
| 2022–23 | Nemzeti Bajnokság I | 10 | 1 | ― | 6 | 6 | — | 16 | 7 | |||
| Total | 53 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 11 | 6 | — | 68 | 21 | |||
| Újpest (loan) | 2021–22 | Nemzeti Bajnokság I | 12 | 11 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 14 | 11 | ||
| Karlsruher SC | 2022–23 | 2.Bundesliga | 10 | 1 | ― | ― | — | 10 | 1 | |||
| 2023–24 | 2.Bundesliga | 30 | 12 | 1 | 0 | ― | — | 31 | 12 | |||
| 2024–25 | 2.Bundesliga | 18 | 12 | 2 | 2 | ― | — | 20 | 14 | |||
| Total | 58 | 25 | 3 | 2 | — | — | 61 | 27 | ||||
| Heidenheim | 2024–25 | Bundesliga | 3 | 0 | ― | ― | ― | 3 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 326 | 167 | 30 | 15 | 15 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 372 | 191 | ||
International
- Scores and results list Georgia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Zivzivadze goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25 March 2022 | Bilino Polje Stadium, Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina |  Bosnia and Herzegovina |
1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly | |
| 2 | 5 June 2022 | Huvepharma Arena, Razgrad, Bulgaria |  Bulgaria |
3–1 | 5–2 | 2022–23 UEFA Nations League C | |
| 3 | 9 June 2022 | Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia |  Macedonia |
1–0 | 3–0 | 2022–23 UEFA Nations League C | |
| 4 | 25 March 2023 | Adjarabet Arena, Batumi, Georgia |  Mongolia |
6–1 | 6–1 | Friendly | |
| 5 | 12 September 2023 | Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway |  Norway |
1–2 | 1–2 | 2024 UEFA Euro qualifiers | |
| 6 | 21 March 2024 | Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena, Tbilisi, Georgia |  Luxembourg |
1–0 | 2–0 | UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying play-offs | |
| 7 | 2–0 | ||||||
| 8 | 9 June 2024 | Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica, Montenegro |  Montenegro |
3–1 | 3–1 | Friendly |
Honours and Awards
Samtredia
- Umaglesi Liga: 2016
Torpedo Kutaisi
- Georgian Super Cup: 2019
Individual Awards
- Player of the Year in Georgia: 2016
- Erovnuli Liga top scorer: 2016, 2018 (shared)
See also
In Spanish: Budu Zivzivadze para niños
