Joško Gvardiol Siblings: Meet Lorena and Franka Gvardiol

Joško Gvardiol is a Croatian professional footballer born on 23 January 2002 in Zagreb, Croatia.

He plays primarily as a centre-back or left-back for Premier League club Manchester City and the Croatia national team.

Known for his composure on the ball, precise passing, physical strength, and defensive reliability, he has established himself as one of the top young defenders in world football.

Raised in the Srednjaci neighbourhood of Zagreb, he comes from a modest family background.

His father Tihomir, originally from Novigrad near Zadar, works as a fisherman and sells fish at Zagreb’s Dolac market, while his mother Sanja works in a wholesale company.

Siblings

Joško has two older sisters, Lorena and Franka Gvardiol.

Both have been a consistent source of support throughout his career, frequently attending matches and appearing publicly with him, including during Croatia’s run at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Franka is a handball player who has competed at club level, including for teams such as Udarnik and BHC Zagreb, and has represented Croatia in beach handball events such as the IHF Beach Handball Global Tour.

Also Read: Thomas Gottschalk Siblings: Meet Christoph and Raphaela Ackermann

Career

Gvardiol began playing football at around age seven with Trešnjevka after his father introduced him to the game.

He soon joined Dinamo Zagreb’s youth academy, where he developed from positions including left-back and central midfielder into a centre-back.

He made his senior debut for Dinamo in 2019 and contributed to the club’s success before transferring to RB Leipzig in 2020 (initially remaining on loan at Dinamo for the rest of that season).

At Leipzig he adapted quickly to the Bundesliga and European competition, becoming a regular starter and scoring important goals, including in the Champions League.

In August 2023 Manchester City signed him for a reported fee that made him the most expensive defender in football history at the time.

At City he has featured regularly under Pep Guardiola and later management, contributing both defensively and with goals from the back, while also representing Croatia at major tournaments including UEFA Euro 2020 and 2024 as well as the FIFA World Cups in 2022 and 2026.

He has earned dozens of senior caps for his country and scored several international goals.

Accolades

With Dinamo Zagreb, Gvardiol won the Prva HNL titles in 2019–20 and 2020–21 along with the Croatian Cup and Super Cup.

At RB Leipzig he collected two DFB-Pokal trophies in 2021–22 and 2022–23.

Since joining Manchester City he has been part of squads that secured the Premier League, UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup, Community Shield, FA Cup, and EFL Cup.

Internationally he helped Croatia finish third at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Individually he has received recognition such as Manchester City Player of the Season, nominations for awards including the Kopa Trophy and Ballon d’Or, and selections for team-of-the-season lists during his time in Croatia and Germany.