{{Short description|Georgian footballer (born 2002)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}} {{Infobox football biography |name = Irakli Azarovi |image = Матч «Динамо» – «Шахтар» 0-1. 3 листопада 2023 року — 1486510 (Irakli Azarovi).jpg |caption = Azarovi in 2023 with Shakhtar Donetsk |full_name = |birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|2002|2|21}} |birth_place = Batumi, Georgia |height = 1.72 m<ref>{{Cite web |title=Azarovi, Irakli Azarovi - Footballer {{!}} BDFutbol |url=https://www.bdfutbol.com/en/j/j47570.html |access-date=2025-08-15 |website=www.bdfutbol.com}}</ref> |position = Left-back |currentclub = Shakhtar Donetsk |clubnumber = 16 |youthyears1 = 2012–2019 |youthclubs1 = Dinamo Tbilisi |years1 = 2019–2020 |clubs1 = Dinamo Tbilisi |caps1 = 12 |goals1 = 0 |years2 = 2021–2022 |clubs2 = Dinamo Batumi |caps2 = 53 |goals2 = 3 |years3 = 2022–2023 |clubs3 = Red Star Belgrade |caps3 = 21 |goals3 = 0 |years4 = 2023– |clubs4 = Shakhtar Donetsk |caps4 = 48 |goals4 = 0 |nationalyears1 = 2017–2018 |nationalteam1 = Georgia U17 |nationalcaps1 = 7 |nationalgoals1 = 0 |nationalyears2 = 2019 |nationalteam2 = Georgia U18 |nationalcaps2 = 1 |nationalgoals2 = 0 |nationalyears3 = 2019 |nationalteam3 = Georgia U19 |nationalcaps3 = 3 |nationalgoals3 = 0 |nationalyears4 = 2020–2025 |nationalteam4 = Georgia U21 |nationalcaps4 = 15 |nationalgoals4 = 0 |nationalyears5 = 2021– |nationalteam5 = Georgia |nationalcaps5 = 22 |nationalgoals5 = 0 |pcupdate = 21 May 2026 |ntupdate = 20:40, 11 October 2025 (UTC) }}
'''Irakli Azarovi''' ({{lang-ka|ირაკლი აზაროვი}}; born 21 February 2002) is a Georgian professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Ukrainian Premier League club Shakhtar Donetsk and the Georgia national team.<ref name="SW">{{Soccerway}}</ref>
Azarovi has won the Georgian, Serbian and Ukrainian top league trophies five times in a row. He has also been recognized as the Erovnuli Liga Defender of the Year and best young player of the season.<ref>{{cite web |title=სფფ-ის ყოველწლიური ტრადიციული დაჯილდოება 29 დეკემბერს ონლაინ-რეჟიმში გაიმართება |url=https://1tv.ge/news/sff-is-yovelwliuri-tradiciuli-dajildoeba-29-dekembers-onlain-redjimshi-gaimarteba-1tvsport/ |website=1tv.ge (in Georgian) |date=27 December 2021}}</ref>
==Club career== ===Dinamo Tbilisi=== Born in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, Azarovi joined Dinamo Tbilisi, aged 10. He trained regularly in the youth teams of the club all the way until 2019 when he debuted for the Dinamo first team. Playing mostly as a reserve, he made seven appearances in 2019, and five in the 2020 season, contributing in both for Dinamo to win the Georgian national title.{{Citation needed|date=August 2023}}
===Dinamo Batumi=== In 2021, Dinamo Batumi was betting strong and bringing quality reinforcements, so Azarovi made a move that earned him much more play time and becoming a regular in the starting line-up, resulting in a successful season crowned with a 2021 Georgian championship. This also made him became a regular call in the Georgian national team, resulting in a widespread interest from clubs from abroad.
===Red Star Belgrade=== Soon, after a half season with Dinamo Batumi in the 2022 season, Serbian club Red Star Belgrade brought Azarovi to their ranks. In December 2022, he was announced as a top 10 most talented left-backs in world football.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}
Azarovi made 21 league appearances for the club, who clinched the league title this season. This success made him a four-time champion at the age of 21.
===Shakhtar Donetsk=== On 22 August 2023, Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk announced signing Azarovi on a five-year deal.<ref>{{cite web |title=Офіційно: Азарові — гравець Шахтаря |url=https://football.ua/ukraine/511861-oficijjno-azarovi-gravec-shakhtarja.html |website=football.ua (in Ukrainian) |access-date=23 August 2023}}</ref> He played 32 matches in all competitions and with Shakhtar winning the Premier League and the national cup added two more titles to his tally.<ref>{{cite web |title=Шахтар — чемпіон України сезону-2023/24 |url=https://football.ua/ukraine/530920-shakhtar-chempion-ukrajini-sezonu-202324.html |website=football.ua |access-date=12 May 2024 |language=Ukrainian}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Winners of the Ukrainian Cup! |url=https://shakhtar.com/en/news/2024/may/15_news/15_uc_vorskla_shakhtar/ |website=shakhtar.com |access-date=16 May 2024}}</ref>
Following this season, Azarovi joined the list of top five highest valued Georgian players.<ref>{{cite web |title="ტრანსფერმარკტზე" ირაკლი აზაროვის სატრანსფერო ფასი ხუთ მილიონ ევრომდე გაიზარდა |url=https://1tv.ge/news/transfermarktze-irakli-azarovis-satransfero-fasi-khut-milion-evromde-gaizarda-1tvsport/ |website=1tv.ge (in Georgian) |date=7 June 2024 |access-date=8 June 2024}}</ref>
==International career== Azarovi made his international debut for Georgia on 2 June 2021, starting in a friendly match against Romania.<ref name="SW"/> He took part in most of Georgia's 2022–23 UEFA Nations League matches which paved the way for their first ever qualification for a major international tournament.
Before that, he was a regular in all youth team squads since 2017. Azarovi is the two-time participant of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, making appearances in all seven matches of the 2023 and 2025 editions of this tournament.
==Career statistics== ===Club=== {{updated|match played 21 May 2026}}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition |- !rowspan="2"|Club !rowspan="2"|Season !colspan="3"|League !colspan="2"|National cup{{efn|Includes Georgian Cup, Serbian Cup, Ukrainian Cup}} !colspan="2"|Continental !colspan="2"|Other !colspan="2"|Total |- !Division!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals |- |rowspan="3"|Dinamo Tbilisi |2019 |rowspan="2"|Erovnuli Liga |7||0||colspan="2"|–||1{{efn|name=UEL|Appearances in UEFA Europa League}}||0||colspan="2"|–||8||0 |- |2020 |5||0||1||0||colspan="2"|–||colspan="2"|–||6||0 |- !colspan="2"|Total !12!!0!!1!!0!!1!!0!!0!!0!!14!!0 |- |rowspan="3"|Dinamo Batumi |2021 |rowspan="2"|Erovnuli Liga |35||3||2||0||5{{efn|name=UECL|Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League}}||1||colspan="2"|–||42||4 |- |2022 |18||0||colspan="2"|–||4{{efn|Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League}}||0||1{{efn|name=GSC|Appearance in Georgian Super Cup}}||0||23||0 |- !colspan="2"|Total !53!!3!!2!!0!!9!!1!!1!!0!!65!!4 |- |rowspan="3"|Red Star |2022–23 |rowspan="2"|Serbian Super Liga |20||0||4||0||1{{efn|name=UEL}}||0||colspan="2"|–||25||0 |- |2023–24 |1||0||colspan="2"|–||colspan="2"|–||colspan="2"|–||1||0 |- !colspan="2"|Total !21!!0!!4!!0!!1!!0!!0!!0!!26!!0 |- |rowspan="4"|Shakhtar Donetsk |2023–24 |rowspan="3"|Ukrainian Premier League |22||0||4||0||6{{efn|Four appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League}}||0||0||0||32||0 |- |2024–25 |12||0||1||0||2{{efn|name=UCL|Appearances in UEFA Champions League}}||0||0||0||15||0 |- |2025–26 |14||0||0||0||6{{efn|One appearance in UEFA Europa League, five appearances in UEFA Conference League}}||0||colspan="2"|—||20||0 |- !colspan="2"|Total !48!!0!!5!!0!!14!!0!!0!!0!!67!!0 |- !colspan="3"|Career total !134!!3!!12!!0!!25!!1!!1!!0!!171!!4 |} {{notelist}}
===International=== {{updated|11 October 2025}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nakrebi.ge/ka/team/men-seniors/squad |title=Azarovi statistics |access-date=7 June 2025}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |+ Appearances and goals by national team and year |- !National team!!Year!!Apps!!Goals |- |rowspan="4"|Georgia |2021||6||0 |- |2022||4||0 |- |2023||8||0 |- |2025||4||0 |- !colspan="2"|Total!!22!!0 |}
==Honours== '''Dinamo Tbilisi''' * Erovnuli Liga: 2019, 2020
'''Dinamo Batumi''' * Erovnuli Liga: 2021
'''Red Star Belgrade''' *Serbian SuperLiga: 2022–23 *Serbian Cup: 2022–23
'''Shakhtar''' *Ukrainian Premier League: 2023–24 *Ukrainian Cup: 2023–24, 2024–25<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-05-14 |title=Ukrainian Cup: Shakhtar defeated Dynamo in a penalty shootout {{!}} УНН |url=https://unn.ua/en/news/ukrainian-cup-shakhtar-defeated-dynamo-in-a-penalty-shootout |access-date=2025-05-14 |website=Ukrainian National News (UNN) |language=en}}</ref>
'''Individual''' * Best Georgian young player: 2021<ref>{{cite web |title=GFF Awards 2021 |url=https://www.gff.ge/ge/media/news/22209 |website=gff.ge (in Georgian) |date=29 December 2021}}</ref> * Erovnuli Liga Defender of the Year: 2021
==Personal life== Azarovi is married to Nini Abesadze. Their baby girl Nila was born on 23 December 2024.<ref>{{cite news |title=ირაკლი აზაროვი მამა გახდა |url=https://primetime.ge/news/sazogadoeb/irakli-azarovi-mama-gakhda-tsnobilia-ra-daarqves-akhalshobil-gogonas |access-date=3 January 2025 |publisher=primetime.ge (in Georgian) |date=25 December 2024}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{Soccerway|irakli-azarovi/518076}} * {{WorldFootball.net}}
{{FC Shakhtar Donetsk squad}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Azarovi, Irakli}} Category:2002 births Category:Living people Category:Footballers from Tbilisi Category:Men's footballers from Georgia (country) Category:21st-century sportsmen from Georgia (country) Category:Georgia (country) men's youth international footballers Category:Georgia (country) men's under-21 international footballers Category:Georgia (country) men's international footballers Category:Men's association football full-backs Category:FC Dinamo Tbilisi players Category:FC Dinamo Batumi players Category:Erovnuli Liga players Category:Expatriate men's footballers from Georgia (country) Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Serbia Category:Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in Serbia Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Ukraine Category:Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in Ukraine Category:Red Star Belgrade footballers Category:Serbian SuperLiga players Category:FC Shakhtar Donetsk players Category:Ukrainian Premier League players