Dejan Joveljić has been called into the Serbia national team as they prepare to play four games in UEFA Nations League during the upcoming international break. As a result, he’ll miss all three of the Seattle Sounders’ upcoming home games.
Those three matches will be pivotal to the Sounders’ chances of making the postseason. The Sounders are currently three points behind the Portland Timbers — who occupy the No. 9 spot in the Western Conference — but have played at least two fewer games than every team currently in a playoff spot. By the end of the international break, the Sounders will have played as many games as virtually every other team.
Missing Joveljić, who is already tied for third on the team with three goals in just four matches played, will obviously be a blow.
“Dejan expressed his, again, desire to stay with his teammates,” Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer said after Saturday’s 3–3 draw.
At least Joveljić left his teammates with a pretty nice parting gift. With the Sounders trailing the Rapids 3–1 in the 79th minute, Sebastian Gomez made a timely tackle to stop a counter-attack and pushed the ball to Joveljić. The striker took a couple of touches and then ripped a shot from about 22 yards out, beating Rapids goalkeeper Nico Hansen to the far post.
Gomez (#90) gets credited with his second career MLS assist on Joveljic's ThunderBastard - let's say the textbook tackle balances out the heavy first touch
— Charles Boehm ⚽️ (@cboehm.bsky.social) September 19, 2026 at 10:04 PM
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It was a bit of redemption for Joveljić, who appeared to score a goal a couple of minutes earlier only for it to be ruled out for offside.
With Serbia, Joveljić is one of five forwards named to the roster, and he’ll likely be part of a rotation. Serbia play Greece on Sept. 24, Netherlands on Sept. 27, Germany on Oct. 1 and Netherlands again on Oct. 4.
