Brooklyn FC in the recently established USL Gainbridge Super League have announced the signing of Croatian forward Ana Maria Markovic.
The 25-year-old, who has been dubbed by fans and media as the ‘world’s most beautiful footballer’, agreed to terms with the club which has just begun to play its second season in the top tier of US women’s football [the USL Super League shares this with the more established NWSL].
Brooklyn announced the signing of Ana Maria as well as her sister, Kiki, prior to the start of the season.
‘Signing with Brooklyn FC is an exciting step for me,’ Marković said. ‘I’ve played in incredible places, but I can already feel the energy around this club and city.
‘Sharing this experience with my sister makes it even more special, and we’re both here to make an impact on the field.’
Markovic, born in Split but raised in Switzerland, played club football for FC Zürich and Grasshoppers before making a move to Portuguese side SC Braga.
Croatian forward Ana Maria Markovic has signed for USL Super League side Brooklyn FC
Ana and her sister Kiki signed for the club competing in its second season of existence
Markovic, who has 2.9million Instagram followers has now joined the fifth club of her career
However, after signing for the club in August of 2024, she left the club this past February.
Markovic’s move to Braga helped her move closer to her partner, Portuguese footballer Tomas Ribiero.
However, after he was moved from top flight side Vitoria Guimaraes (located about 25 km from Braga, in the northern part of the country) to Farense (in the very south), she filmed a TikTok which showed her saying goodbye.
In that video, she wrote ‘Sometimes I just hate football’. The following week, Braga and Markovic mutually agreed to terminate her contract.
‘SC Braga informs that the Club and Ana Maria Marković have terminated, by mutual agreement, the contract that united the two parties,’ a club statement read.
‘The Croatian international played four games for the Gverreiras do Minho in her debut season in Portuguese football.
‘SC Braga thanks you for all the dedication, commitment and professionalism with which you have always represented the Club and wishes you all the best in your professional and personal future.’
Markovic has since followed up with a message thanking her team-mates and fans for their support, while teasing a future move.
‘Sometimes things don’t go as planned. After just half a season, I decided to leave SC Braga. It was a short but intense journey with ups and downs, but one in which I was able to grow and develop a lot as a footballer,’ she wrote on Instagram.
Markovic later completed a move to SF Damaiense in Amadora, near Lisbon, but it’s unclear if she played any matches for the club.
Markovic previously declared that she sometimes ‘hate[s] football’ after her partner, Portuguese defender Tomas Ribeiro, was transferred further south from her club
She has previously spoken out in an interview against being labelled as ‘sexy’ by football fans
In Brooklyn’s debut match against Tampa Bay Sun FC, she came on the pitch as a substitute for opening goalscorer Catherine Zimmerman to be part of a 2-1 victory.
Markovic has received 25 caps for the Croatian national team, having most recently made an appearance in a 2-1 loss to Albania in the 2025 UEFA Women’s Nations League. She has a pair of international goals, having last scored against Kosovo in June 2024.
In a 2022 interview with Swiss newspaper 20 Minuten, Markovic claimed that female players are discriminated against on social media far more than their male counterparts, and are often the butt of sexist comments and jokes.
‘What makes the difference between men and women is, for example, when I show myself in a bikini on social media or when Erling Haaland [shows himself] in his swimming trunks.
‘Erling almost certainly doesn’t get the same sexist comments.
‘We women are good at standing up for each other, but what I wish for is that men start standing up for us too.
‘Men always talk about ”men of honour”, but it would be really honourable if they stood behind us in such situations.’
Markovic added that her goal is to advocate equality and ‘be a role model for young footballers’ – previously hitting out at sleazy social media comments and being labelled as ‘sexy’.
