Sporting Kansas City’s Joveljic earns 1st national team call-up since 2024

A lot has happened in the life of Sporting KC striker Dejan Joveljic since his arrival in Kansas City in February 2025.

Off the field, he became a father for the first time. On the field, he’s regularly been finding the back of the net.

In fact, Joveljic has become the fastest in club history to score 20 goals, taking just 37 appearances to do so. His strike against the L.A. Galaxy in Sporting KC’s first victory of the season was his 21st goal in 39 appearances for SKC.

And now his home country has come calling, too: Joveljic was called in to the Serbian national soccer team this week for the first time since October 2024.

“It’s the biggest thing that can happen to a player,” he said Friday.

Joveljic explained that the first thing he did upon learning about his call-up was telephone his family and let them know, too.

“I can’t wait to meet the guys again and meet the coach again,” Joveljic said. “I’m very much looking forward to it.”

After Sporting KC’s Saturday night home game against the Colorado Rapids, Joveljic was to head to Europe. Serbia plays friendlies against Spain and Saudi Arabia during the upcoming international window.

Notably, Serbia did not qualify for the 2026 World Cup. Most teams that fail to qualify use subsequent qualifying windows to evaluate players ahead of the next World Cup cycle. Of course, Serbia will also have its eyes on the 2028 European Championships.

Sporting KC coach Raphael Wicky said one thing that has stood out to him about Joveljic is his ability to lead. Joveljic has worn the team captain’s armband in each game this season. He’s actually one of three Sporting KC captains now — Manu Garcia and Zorhan Bassong are the others.

“When he’s on the field,” Wicky said, “I feel like he’s a leader without talking much, without screaming. But he’s a leader. He wants to win.”

The coach said Joveljic’s off-field leadership comes largely by example.

“The way he carries himself, the way he takes care of his body during the week,” Wicky said. “He knows what he needs to be ready when the game starts. And I think that, for me, is also part of leadership.”

Serbia’s head coach is Veljko Paunović, a name perhaps familiar to hardcore Sporting KC and/or Major League Soccer fans. He coached the Chicago Fire from 2015-19. In fact, it was Wicky who succeeded Paunovic as head coach of the Fire.

Another connection between Paunović and Kansas City: He coached Chivas when Sporting KC played host to the Mexican soccer giant during the 2023 Leagues Cup.

“This coach worked in MLS and he knows the league is strong, even stronger than when he was here,” Joveljic said. “(Thankfully) he recognized me here and I’ll give my best to keep scoring goals and to be in every national team camp.”

While he didn’t say it, Joveljic’s words could be interpreted as to suggest Serbia’s previous coach didn’t fully respect MLS or the quality of its players. Joveljic knows his call-up is an opportunity to showcase not only the U.S. league’s quality, but also the caliber of players competing for Sporting KC.

“Coming from Sporting Kansas City, some people think that it’s hard to play for a national team,” Joveljic said. “But I’m the example that everything is possible and people need to pay more attention to this league.

“This league is very strong. And especially after this World Cup (which includes games in KC), it’s going to be huge. I hope many more players from our team will be playing for (their) national team.”