Niko Kovač

Niko Kovač
	Niko Kovač
Personal information
Full name:	Niko Kovač
Date of birth:	15 October 1971 (age 54)
Place of birth:	West Berlin, West Germany
Height:	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Playing position:	Central midfielder
Club information
Current club	Borussia Dortmund (head coach)
Youth clubs
1987–1989; 1989–1990	Rapide Wedding; Hertha Zehlendorf
Senior clubs
National team
Teams managed
2009-2011; 2011-2012; 2013; 2013-2015; 2016-2018; 2018-2019; 2020–2022; 2022–2024; 2025–	Red Bull Salzburg (academy); Red Bull Salzburg (assistant); Croatia U21; Croatia; Eintracht Frankfurt; Bayern Munich; AS Monaco; Wolfsburg; Borussia Dortmund

General

Image gallery

Niko Kovač (born 15 October 1971) is a Croatian professional football manager and former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is currently the head coach of German Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund.

He was the long-standing captain of Croatia before retiring from international football in January 2009. A defensive midfielder who is known for his excellent passing and tackling skills, Kovač was, at the time of his retirement, the oldest player in the Croatian squad and had been an important motivation raiser for them, having captained them at the 2006 FIFA World Cup and the UEFA Euro 2008. He has also enjoyed a high level of top club action, having spent most of his club career in the German Bundesliga. He ended his playing career in the Austrian club Red Bull Salzburg where he then took the non-playing role of the reserve team coach and eventually becoming assistant manager under team manager Ricardo Moniz. In January 2013 he took over the Croatia national under-21 football team and in October 2013 he took over the Croatian national football team following the dismissal of Igor Štimac.

Honours[]

Player[]

Bayern Munich

Intercontinental Cup: 2001
Bundesliga: 2002–03; Runner-Up: 1996–97, 1998–99
DFB-Pokal: 2002–03

Red Bull Salzburg

Austrian Bundesliga: 2006–07; Runner-Up: 2007–08

External links[]

Niko Kovač FIFA competition record
Niko Kovač at National-Football-Teams.com
Niko Kovač at Leverkusen Who's Who

Borussia Dortmund squad - 2025–26
1 Kobel · 2 Couto · 3 Anton · 4 Schlotterbeck · 5 Bensebaini · 6 Özcan · 7 Bellingham · 8 Nmecha · 9 Guirassy · 10 Brandt · 13 Groß · 14 Beier · 16 Duranville · 17 Chukwuemeka · 20 Sabitzer · 21 Silva · 23 Can (c) · 24 Svensson · 25 Süle · 26 Ryerson · 27 Adeyemi · 28 Anselmino · 30 Drewes · 31 Ostrzinski · 33 Meyer · 37 Campbell · 39 Mané · 42 Kabar · Manager: Niko Kovač

2025–26 Bundesliga managers
Wagner (FC Augsburg) · Baumgart (Union Berlin) · Steffen (Werder Bremen) · Kovač (Borussia Dortmund) · Toppmöller (Eintracht Frankfurt) · Schuster (SC Freiburg) · Polzin (Hamburger SV) · Schmidt (1. FC Heidenheim) · Ilzer (TSG Hoffenheim) · Kwasniok (1. FC Köln) · Lőw (RB Leipzig) · Vacant (Bayer Leverkusen) · Henriksen (Mainz 05) · Seoane (Mönchengladbach) · Kompany (Bayern Munich) · Blessin (St. Pauli) · Hoeneß (VfB Stuttgart) · Vacant (VfL Wolfsburg)

Croatia
Croatian competitions Croatian Coaches Croatian players Croatian Stadiums

Template:Eintracht Frankfurt managers

FC Bayern München - Managers
Hesselink (1903–?) • Taylor (1907–?) • Hoer (1909–11) • Taylor (1911) • Griffiths (1911–12) • Townley (1914) • Kreisel (1915) • Baumann (1916–17) • Kirstner (1917–18) • Storch (1918–(19) • Townley (19(19–21) • Schmid (1921–24) • McPherson (1924–27) • Weisz (1927–28) • Konrád (1928–30) • Kohn (1931–33) • Tauchert (1933–34) • Hofmann (1934–35) • Michalke (1935–37) • Körner (1937–38) • Goldbrunner (1938–43) • Heidkamp (1943–45) • Högg (1945–46) • Pöttinger (1946–47) • Riemke (1947) • Dietl (1947–48) • Riemke (1948–50) • Davison (1950–51) • Riemke (1951) • Schäfer (1951–53) • Bayerer (1953–54) • Knöpfle (1954) • Streitle (1954–55) • Moll (1955–56) • Hahn (1956–58) • Moll (1958) • Patek (1958–61) • Schneider (1961–63) • Čajkovski (1963–68) • Zebec (1968–70) • Lattek (1970–75) • Cramer (1975–77) • Lóránt (1977–79) • Csernai (1979–83) • Saftig (1983) • Lattek (1983–87) • Heynckes (1987–91) • Lerby (1991–92) • Ribbeck (1992–93) • Beckenbauer (1994) • Trapattoni (1994–95) • Rehhagel (1995–96) • Beckenbauer^c (1996) • Trapattoni (1996–98) • Hitzfeld (1998–(2004) • Magath (2004–07) • Hitzfeld (2007–08) • Klinsmann (2008–09) • Heynckes^c (2009) • Van Gaal (2009–11) • Jonker^c (2011) • Heynckes (2011–13) • Guardiola (2013–16) • Ancelotti (2016– 17) • Sagnol^c (2017) • Heynckes (2017–18) • Kovač (2018–19) • Flick (2019–21) • Nagelsmann (2021–23) • Tuchel (2023–24) • Kompany (2024–)

Template:AS Monaco FC managers

Borussia Dortmund - Managers
Kuzorra (a.i.) (1935–36) · Thelen (1936) · Swatosch (1936–39) · Sevcic (1939) · Thelen (1946) · Fabra (1946–48) · Havlicek (1948–50) · Kretschmann (1950–51) · Schmidt (1951–55) · Schneider (1955–57) · Tauchert (1957–58) · Merkel (1958–61) · Eppenhoff (1961–65) · Kwiatkowski (1964) · Multhaup (1965–66) · Murach (1966–68) · Pfau (1968) · Schneider (1968–69) · Lindemann (1969–70) · Bracht (1970) · Witzler (1970–71) · Burdenski (1972) · Brüggemann (1972) · Michallek (1972–73) · Kurrat (1973) · Bédl (1973–74) · Kurrat (1974) · Knefler (1974–76) · Buhtz (1976) · Rehhagel (1976–78) · Rühl (1978–79) · Maslo (1979) · Lattek (1979–81) · Bock (a.i.) (1981) · Zebec (1981–82) · Feldkamp (1982–83) · Witte (a.i.) (1983) · Maslo (1983) · Witte (a.i.) (1983) · Tippenhauer (1983) · Franz (1983–84) · Konietzka (1984) · Saftig (a.i.) (1984) · Ribbeck (1984–85) · Csernai (1985–86) · Saftig (1986–88) · Köppel (1988–91) · Hitzfeld (1991–97) · Scala (1997–98) · Skibbe (1998–(2000) · Krauss (2000) · Lattek (a.i.) (2000) · Sammer (2000–04) · Van Marwijk (2004–06) · Röber (2006–07) · Doll (2007–08) · Klopp (2008–15) · Tuchel (2015–17) · Bosz (2017) · Stöger (2017–18) · Favre (2018–(20) · Terzić (a.i.) (20(20–21) · Rose (2021–22) · Terzić (2022–24) · Şahin (2024–25) · Kovač (2025–)

Template:Croatia national football team managers Template:Croatia squad (2002 FIFA World Cup) Template:Croatia squad (UEFA Euro 2004)

Croatia – 2006 FIFA World Cup - Group stage (F)
1. Pletikosa 2. Srna 3. Šimunić 4. R. Kovač 5. Tudor 6. Vranješ 7. Šimić 8. Babić 9. Pršo 10. N. Kovač (c) 11. Tokić 12. Didulica 13. Tomas 14. Modrić 15. I. Leko 16. J. Leko 17. Klasnić 18. Olić 19. N. Kranjčar 20. Šerić 21. Balaban 22. Bošnjak 23. Butina Manager: Zlatko Kranjčar

Croatia – UEFA Euro 2008
1. Manager: Slaven Bilić

Croatia – 2014 FIFA World Cup – Group stage
1. Pletikosa 2. Vrsaljko 3. Pranjić 4. Perišić 5. Ćorluka 6. Lovren 7. Rakitić 8. Vukojević 9. Jelavić 10. Modrić 11. Srna (c) 12. Zelenika 13. Schildenfeld 14. Brozović 15. Badelj 16. Rebić 17. Mandžukić 18. Olić 19. Sammir 20. Kovačić 21. Vida 22. Eduardo 23. Subašić Manager: Niko Kovač

Personal information
Niko Kovač

Full name:	Niko Kovač
Date of birth:	15 October 1971 (1971-10-15) (age 54)
Place of birth:	West Berlin, West Germany
Height:	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Playing position:	Central midfielder
Club information
Current club	Borussia Dortmund (head coach)
Youth clubs
1987–1989 1989–1990	Rapide Wedding Hertha Zehlendorf
Senior clubs
Years	Club	App (Gls)
1990–1991 1991 1992–1996 1996–1999 1999–2001 2001-2003 2003-2006 2006-2009 Total	Hertha Zehlendorf Hertha BSC II Hertha BSC Bayer Leverkusen Hamburger SV Bayern Munich Hertha BSC Red Bull Salzburg	025 00(7) 012 00(1) 138 0(15) 077 00(8) 055 0(12) 034 00(3) 075 00(8) 065 00(9) 491 0(63)
National team
1996–2008	Croatia	083 0(14)
Teams managed
2009-2011 2011-2012 2013 2013-2015 2016-2018 2018-2019 2020–2022 2022–2024 2025–	Red Bull Salzburg (academy) Red Bull Salzburg (assistant) Croatia U21 Croatia Eintracht Frankfurt Bayern Munich AS Monaco Wolfsburg Borussia Dortmund