Luka Jović facts for kids

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Luka Jović
Лука Јовић
Personal information
Jović with Serbia at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Date of birth	(1997-12-23) 23 December 1997 (age 27)
Place of birth	Loznica, Serbia, FR Yugoslavia
Height	1.81 m
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	AC Milan
Number	9
Youth career
2005–2014	Red Star Belgrade
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
2014–2016	Red Star Belgrade	42	(12)
2016–2019	Benfica	2	(0)
2016–2017	→ Benfica B (loan)	18	(4)
2017–2019	→ Eintracht Frankfurt (loan)	54	(25)
2019	Eintracht Frankfurt	0	(0)
2019–2022	Real Madrid	36	(3)
2021	→ Eintracht Frankfurt (loan)	18	(4)
2022–2023	Fiorentina	31	(6)
2023–	AC Milan	27	(6)
National team^‡
2013–2014	Serbia U17	8	(5)
2014–2016	Serbia U19	13	(9)
2015–2019	Serbia U21	13	(7)
2018–	Serbia	42	(11)
Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19 January 2025. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 15 October 2024

Luka Jović (Serbian Cyrillic: Лука Јовић; born on December 23, 1997) is a professional footballer from Serbia. He plays as a striker for the Italian club AC Milan and for the Serbia national team.

Early Life and Football Start

Luka Jović was born in Loznica, a town in what was then FR Yugoslavia. He grew up in a small village called Batar. When he was five years old, he started playing football in Loznica.

In 2004, he was noticed and invited to play in Mini Maxi. This was a special league for young football players aged 4 to 12 in Belgrade. After just one game, where Luka scored three goals, his father was offered money for each game he played. A scout from Red Star Belgrade saw him play and invited him to try out for their team. Luka's playing style reminded people of famous players like Darko Pančev and Radamel Falcao. Falcao was also Luka's hero.

Club Career Highlights

Red Star Belgrade

Youth Years

Luka Jović joined the youth team of Red Star Belgrade in 2005. He played there for many years, developing his skills.

First Team Debut

On May 28, 2014, when Luka was only 16 years old, he played his first professional game. This was against FK Vojvodina in Novi Sad. He scored a goal just two minutes after coming into the game! This made him the youngest player ever to score a goal for Red Star Belgrade in a competitive match. His goal helped Red Star draw 3–3, which was enough for them to win the Serbian SuperLiga title for the 2013–14 season.

Youngest Derby Player

On October 18, 2014, Luka made history again. He became the youngest player to ever play in the famous Eternal derby. This is a big match between Red Star and Partizan. He was only 16 years, 9 months, and 25 days old.

During the spring part of the 2014–15 season, he scored six goals. He signed a new contract with Red Star in May 2015, which would keep him at the club until 2018.

Starting Strong

At the start of the 2015–16 season, Luka became a regular starter for Red Star. He played alongside Hugo Vieira and scored 3 goals in his first 5 games. He scored important winning goals against Voždovac and Spartak.

Benfica in Portugal

In February 2016, Luka Jović moved to Portugal to play for Benfica, one of the biggest clubs in the country. He signed a contract until 2021. He first played for Benfica's reserve team in March 2016. Later that month, he made his first team debut for Benfica in a game against Boavista.

He made only one more appearance for the first team in January 2017 before moving on.

Eintracht Frankfurt in Germany

Loan Spell

In June 2017, Luka joined Eintracht Frankfurt in Germany on a two-year loan. This meant he would play for them, but Benfica still owned his contract. Frankfurt also had the option to buy him permanently.

He played five games in the 2017–18 DFB-Pokal (German Cup). He scored the only goal in the semi-final against Schalke 04. Frankfurt went on to win the final 3–1 against Bayern Munich, but Luka was an unused substitute in that match.

Record-Breaking Season

The 2018–19 season was amazing for Luka. On October 19, 2018, he scored five goals in one game! This was in a 7–1 home win against Fortuna Düsseldorf. At 20 years old, he became the youngest player ever to score five goals in a single Bundesliga game.

In the Europa League, he scored the winning goal against Inter Milan in March 2019. This helped Frankfurt reach the quarter-finals. They became the first German club to win eight games in one season in that competition.

In April 2019, Eintracht Frankfurt decided to buy Luka Jović permanently. He signed a contract with them until 2023. In May 2019, he scored in both semi-final games against Chelsea. Even though Frankfurt lost on penalties, Luka scored a total of ten goals in that Europa League season.

Real Madrid in Spain

Jović playing for Real Madrid in 2019

Joining a Giant Club

On June 4, 2019, Luka Jović signed with Real Madrid, one of the biggest football clubs in the world. He signed a six-year contract. He made his first appearance for Real Madrid on August 17, 2019, in a 3–1 win against Celta Vigo. On October 30, 2019, he scored his first goal for the club in a 5–0 victory.

Winning Trophies

Luka played in the semi-final and final of the 2019–20 Supercopa de España. Real Madrid won the final on penalties, giving Luka his first trophy with the club. He made 17 appearances in the league season and scored two goals as Real Madrid won the 2019–20 La Liga title.

Return to Frankfurt (Loan)

On January 14, 2021, Luka was loaned back to Eintracht Frankfurt until the end of the 2020–21 season. In his very first match back, he came off the bench and scored two goals. This helped Frankfurt win 3–1 against Schalke.

Fiorentina in Italy

On July 8, 2022, Luka Jović joined Fiorentina, a club in Italy's Serie A league. He played one season for them, scoring 13 goals in 50 games across all competitions.

AC Milan

On September 1, 2023, Luka Jović signed with AC Milan, another big club in Italy. Three months later, on December 2, 2023, he scored his first goal for Milan in a 3–1 home win against Frosinone.

International Career for Serbia

Youth Teams

Luka Jović has played for Serbia's national youth teams. In December 2013, he scored three goals for the Serbia U-17 team in a 4–1 win against Croatia U-17. In July 2014, he was called up to the Serbia U-19 squad for the UEFA European Under-19 Championship.

Senior National Team

In May 2018, Luka was chosen for Serbia's team for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. He made his first international appearance for the senior team on June 4, 2018, in a friendly match against Chile.

He was part of the final 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. He played as a substitute in a match against Brazil.

On March 20, 2019, Luka scored his first goal for the national team in a friendly game against Germany.

He was also part of Serbia's squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. He played in group stage matches against Cameroon and Switzerland.

Luka was also selected for the UEFA Euro 2024 tournament. In a group stage match against Slovenia, he scored a goal in the last minute. This goal tied the game at 1–1.

Personal Life

When Luka Jović was 10 years old, his older sister survived leukemia. He has said that this difficult time taught him to be a "fighter like her."

Luka has a son named David with his former girlfriend. As of 2019, he is in a relationship with Serbian model Sofija Milošević. They have two children together: Aleksej (born 2020) and Teodor (born 2022).

Career Statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			National cup		League cup		Europe		Other		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Red Star Belgrade	2013–14	SuperLiga	1	1	0	0	—		0	0	—		1	1
	2014–15	SuperLiga	22	6	2	0	—		0	0	—		24	6
	2015–16	SuperLiga	19	5	2	1	—		2	0	—		23	6
	Total		42	12	4	1	—		2	0	—		48	13
Benfica B	2015–16	LigaPro	7	2	—		—		—		—		7	2
	2016–17	LigaPro	11	2	—		—		—		—		11	2
	Total		18	4	—		—		—		—		18	4
Benfica	2015–16	Primeira Liga	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	0
	2016–17	Primeira Liga	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
	Total		2	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	4	0
Eintracht Frankfurt	2017–18	Bundesliga	22	8	5	1	—		—		—		27	9
	2018–19	Bundesliga	32	17	1	0	—		14	10	1	0	48	27
	Total		54	25	6	1	—		14	10	1	0	75	36
Real Madrid	2019–20	La Liga	17	2	3	0	—		5	0	2	0	27	2
	2020–21	La Liga	4	0	0	0	—		1	0	0	0	5	0
	2021–22	La Liga	15	1	1	0	—		3	0	0	0	19	1
	Total		36	3	4	0	—		9	0	2	0	51	3
Eintracht Frankfurt (loan)	2020–21	Bundesliga	18	4	0	0	—		—		—		18	4
Fiorentina	2022–23	Serie A	31	6	4	1	—		15	6	—		50	13
AC Milan	2023–24	Serie A	23	6	2	2	—		5	1	—		30	9
	2024–25	Serie A	4	0	0	0	—		0	0	—		4	0
	Total		27	6	2	2	—		5	1	—		34	9
Career total			228	60	20	5	1	0	46	17	3	0	298	82

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Serbia	2018	3	0
	2019	4	2
	2020	4	3
	2021	9	2
	2022	10	3
	2023	1	0
	2024	11	1
Total		42	11

Serbia score listed first, score column indicates score after each Jović goal.

List of international goals scored by Luka Jović
No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	20 March 2019	Volkswagen Arena, Wolfsburg, Germany	Germany	1–0	1–1	Friendly
2	10 June 2019	Rajko Mitić Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia	Lithuania	3–0	4–1	UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying
3	12 November 2020	Rajko Mitić Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia	Scotland	1–1	1–1 (aet) (4–5 p)	UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying
4	18 November 2020	Rajko Mitić Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia	Russia	2–0	5–0	2020–21 UEFA Nations League B
5	18 November 2020	Rajko Mitić Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia	Russia	4–0	5–0	2020–21 UEFA Nations League B
6	1 September 2021	Nagyerdei Stadion, Debrecen, Hungary	Qatar	2–0	4–0	Friendly
7	11 November 2021	Rajko Mitić Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia	Qatar	2–0	4–0	Friendly
8	5 June 2022	Rajko Mitić Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia	Slovenia	3–1	4–1	2022–23 UEFA Nations League B
9	9 June 2022	Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden	Sweden	1–0	1–0	2022–23 UEFA Nations League B
10	18 November 2022	Al Muharraq Stadium, Arad, Bahrain	Bahrain	5–1	5–1	Friendly
11	20 June 2024	Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany	Slovenia	1–1	1–1	UEFA Euro 2024