Branko Ivanković (; born 28 February 1954) is a Croatian former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, and the current

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

of the Oman national team. After a 12-year playing career at Varteks, Ivanković started his coaching career at the same club in 1991. He led the

Iran national team Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

at the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

Playing career

Ivanković spent his entire 12-season playing career at Varteks, appearing in a total of 263 matches and scoring 31 goals. He then continued to work at the club by first being their secretary and then starting his coaching career.

Managerial career

He was the head coach of Varteks between 1991 and 1995. He then moved for one season to

Segesta Sisak HNK Segesta is a Croatian football club located in the city of Sisak. It is named after the Illyrian settlement Segesta from which modern city of Sisak developed. Segesta is one of the oldest Croatian football clubs, although there are no writt ...

and went on to coach

Rijeka Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...

in the 1996–97 season.

Croatia national team

Ivanković then became an assistant manager to

Miroslav Blažević Miroslav "Ćiro" Blažević (; born 10 February 1935) is a Croatian former professional football manager and player. His professional playing career spanned from 1954 to 1966, during which he played for Dinamo Zagreb, Lokomotiva Zagreb, FK Saraje ...

, who led the Croatia national team to a sensational third-place finish at the 1998 World Cup finals in France. In the 1999–2000 season, he coached German club Hannover 96, which was playing in the 2. Bundesliga at the time. He briefly returned to the Croatia national team as the assistant to

Mirko Jozić Mirko Jozić (; born 8 April 1940) is a Croatian retired professional football manager and player. Managerial career As manager, he won the 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship in Chile with the Yugoslavia under-20 national team composed of fam ...

during the qualifications for the 2002 World Cup, before he took over the

, where he replaced Blažević, who had managed them since 2001.

Iran national team

Ivanković was appointed to the head of the Iranian team on 29 January 2002. Under Ivanković, Iran's U23 football team won the 2002 Asian Games in

Pusan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, ...

. He remained the coach of the national team until the end of 2002, when he was replaced by Homayun Shahrokhi. Branko Ivanković in friendly against Paykan

Branko Ivanković in friendly against Paykan

Ivanković had become very popular in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and the public media demanded a contract renewal, but the Football Federation was initially reluctant to appoint him as the head coach. Finally after a period of negotiations he was reappointed as the head coach of Iran on 3 October 2003. Ivanković led Iran to

2004 AFC Asian Cup The 2004 AFC Asian Cup was the 13th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international association football, football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held from 17 July to 7 August 2004 in China. ...

third place. Ivanković also led Iran to qualify for the 2006 World Cup, the third time in the country's history (they had previously been eliminated in the first round in 1978 and 1998). Despite him being the most successful coach of the Iran national team in terms of winning percentage, Ivanković was not liked by the Iranian government who deliberately tried to replace him with a native coach. The Organization for Physical Education which is a governmental watchdog on sports, tried to replace the coach before the World Cup in Germany, however the Iranian Football Federation resisted the pressure and kept Ivanković for the 2006 World Cup.

2006 World Cup

Iran, at their opening game at the World Cup, showed a scintillating first half performance against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, but conceded two goals. The second match against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

was not successful either, with Iran conceding two late goals to lose 2–0 and being left without any chances of advancing to the second stage of the tournament, as Mexico drew against

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

on the previous evening and left Iran unreachable four points behind. So, the third group match against Angola became insignificant for Iran. Angola put themselves into the lead with the opening goal after one hour of playing. The Iranians managed to equalise fifteen minutes later, eventually scoring their only point at the 2006 World Cup since the match ended in a 1–1 draw. This point was, however, only enough for Iran to occupy the last place in their group. After the World Cup, MPE removed the Head of the Football Federation of Iran, replacing Ivanković with Amir Qalenoei. This in turn resulted a FIFA suspension for Iran's football due to political interference.

Dinamo Zagreb

On 6 November 2006, Ivanković replaced

Josip Kuže Josip Kuže (13 November 1952 – 16 June 2013) was a Croatian football manager and footballer. He was a player and later a manager of Dinamo Zagreb where he played for 10 years, making a total of 384 appearances and scoring 14 goals. Playing c ...

as the head coach of Croatian club

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb ( en, Dinamo Zagreb Citizens' Football Club, link=yes, italics=yes), commonly referred to as GNK Dinamo Zagreb or simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo ...

. He led the club to the

Double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

in 2007 without losing a single competitive match. On 14 January 2008, he resigned as the coach of Dinamo Zagreb, mostly due to his differences with the club's executive vice-president

Zdravko Mamić Zdravko Mamić (born 16 July 1959) is a Croatian former football administrator and sports agent. From 2003 to 2016, he was the executive director of Croatian football club GNK Dinamo Zagreb. Mamić also worked as an advisor at NK Lokomotiva a ...

. Ivanković returned as the manager of Dinamo Zagreb on 21 May 2008. He replaced

Zvonimir Soldo Zvonimir Soldo (born 2 November 1967) is a Croatian football manager and a former player. During his playing career, he mostly played as defensive midfielder. Club career Early career After studying law for six semesters at the University of Za ...

, who resigned immediately after Dinamo won the domestic double. In July 2009, Ivanković was offered the role of

Persepolis , native_name_lang = , alternate_name = , image = Gate of All Nations, Persepolis.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = Ruins of the Gate of All Nations, Persepolis. , map = , map_type ...

manager in Iran, but he rejected the offer.

Shandong Luneng

On 17 December 2009, Ivanković was appointed as the new head coach of Chinese giant

Shandong Luneng Shandong Taishan Football Club () is a professional football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Jinan, Shandong and their home stadium is th ...

. In his first season, he led the team to the 2010 Chinese Super League winners with a record 63 points. The team secured the qualification for 2011 AFC Champions League, but Shandong were eliminated in the first round with 7 points. Due to poor result in the Champions League, he was dismissed on 10 May 2011, seven days before crucial game with Cerezo Osaka, which they lost by a score of 0–4.

Ettifaq

On 22 July 2011, Ivanković signed a one-year contract with Ettifaq to lead the club in the 2011–12 Saudi Professional League and return club to the AFC Champions League. He was sacked on 29 April 2012 after finishing the 2011–12 season in fourth.

Al Wahda

In May 2012,

UAE Pro-League The UAE Pro League ( ar, دوري المحترفين الإماراتي), known for sponsorship reasons as the ADNOC Pro League, is the top professional football league in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The first team to win the title was Al ...

side Al-Wahda said it signed a two-year contract with Ivanković and that he would take charge at the club in the 2012–13 season, but his contract was terminated on 27 April 2013, after a 3–4 loss to

Ajman Club Ajman Club (Arabic: نادي عجمان‎) is an Emirati football club based in Ajman. In 2015, Ajman was relegated to the second division, but managed to climb back to the top flight in 2017. Honours The club has gained the following honours: ...

. At the time of his dismissal, Al Wahda was ranked at the 7th place.

Return to Dinamo Zagreb

On 2 September 2013, Ivanković returned to

, the club he led from 2006 to 2008. However, he was sacked on 21 October 2013, after just five games.

Persepolis

On 5 April 2015, Ivanković was confirmed as the new manager of

, signing a -year contract with the club. After good performances with the club, which left the team in the first place with six matches remaining, Ivanković extended his contract with Persepolis in April 2016 to the end of the 2017–18 season and in 2017 to the end of the 2019–20 season. After the end of the 2018–19 season, it was reported that he was signed for Ahli Jeddah before returning to Croatia for his annual vacation. Ivanković announced that he will leave Persepolis on 11 June 2019.

Al-Ahli

On 18 June 2019, he was confirmed signing a two-year contract with Al-Ahli. On 16 September 2019, Ivanković was officially sacked after just five games due to poor results.

Oman national team

On 19 January 2020, Ivanković was announced as the head coach of the Oman national team to succeed

Erwin Koeman Erwin Koeman (born 20 September 1961) is a Dutch retired professional football player and retired football manager. Personal life He is the son of Dutch international footballer Martin Koeman, and, alongside his younger brother Ronald, has also ...

after the latter's dismissal. Under Ivanković, Oman pulled off a historic win over

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in the

final round A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

of the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...

. In December 2021, he extended his contract with Oman until 2023.

Personal life

Branko is the younger brother of Zlatko Ivanković, who has also coached various teams in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

Managerial statistics

Oman – Matches
/ref>

Honours

Assistant coach

Croatia *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

third-place: 1998

Manager

Iran U23 *

Asian Games Gold Medal Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

Iran *

AFC Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second oldest cont ...

third place: 2004 *

WAFF Championship The West Asian Football Federation Championship (), or simply WAFF Championship, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF), the ...

: 2004 * AFC/OFC Cup Challenge: 2003 Dinamo Zagreb *

Croatian First League The Hrvatska nogometna liga () ( en, Croatian football league), also known as HNL or for sponsorship reasons the SuperSport HNL, is the top Croatian professional football (soccer), football league competition, established in 1992. Previously, i ...

: 2006–07, 2007–08 * Croatian Cup: 2006–07 *

Croatian Super Cup The Croatian Football Super Cup is a football match between the winners of the Croatian national top league and football cup. The Super Cup is always held at the beginning of a new football season, and is only held when different clubs win the t ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

Shandong Luneng *

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional association ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Branko Ivanković at IFF's annual awards ceremony 01

Persepolis *

Persian Gulf Pro League The Persian Gulf Pro League ( fa, لیگ برتر خلیج فارس, ''Lig-e Bartar-e Xalij-e Fârs''), formerly known as the Iran Pro League ( fa, links=no, لیگ برتر ایران, ''Lig-e bartar-e Irân''), is the highest division of profe ...

: 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, runner-up: 2015–16 *

Hazfi Cup Hazfi Cup (Jām-e Hazfi; ) is the Iranian football knockout cup competition, run by the Iranian Football Federation. The Iranian football league was not held during the 1980s, hence the winner of Hazfi Cup represented Iran in the Asian Club Ch ...

: 2018–19 *

Iranian Super Cup The Iranian Super Cup (Persian: سوپر جام ایران, ''Super Jam-e 'Iran'') is an Iranian association football trophy awarded to the winner of a match between the Persian Gulf Pro League's season champion and the winner of the Hazfi Cup. It ...

: 2017, 2018,

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

* AFC Champions League runner-up: 2018 Individual * HNS Croatian Coach of the Year: 2007, 2008 *

Chinese Football Association The Chinese Football Association (CFA) is the governing body for association football, beach soccer and futsal in People's Republic of China (Mainland China). The CFA organizes the men's and women's national teams and administers the country ...

Coach of the Year: 2010 *

Coach of the Season: 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ivanković, Branko 1954 births Living people Sportspeople from Čakovec Association football midfielders Yugoslav footballers NK Varaždin players Croatian football managers NK Varaždin managers HNK Segesta managers HNK Rijeka managers Hannover 96 managers Iran national football team managers GNK Dinamo Zagreb managers Shandong Taishan F.C. managers Ettifaq FC managers Al Wahda FC managers Persepolis F.C. managers Al-Ahli Saudi FC managers Oman national football team managers 2004 AFC Asian Cup managers 2006 FIFA World Cup managers Saudi Professional League managers Chinese Super League managers Persian Gulf Pro League managers Croatian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Germany Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate football managers in Iran Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Iran Expatriate football managers in China Croatian expatriate sportspeople in China Expatriate football managers in the United Arab Emirates Croatian expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate football managers in Oman Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Oman