Niko Kovač (; born 15 October 1971) is a professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager and former player. He is the manager of

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

club

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

. Born and raised in West Germany, Kovač was the long-standing captain of the Croatia national team until his retirement from international football in January 2009. A

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

who was known for his passing and tackling skills, Kovač was, at the time of his retirement, the oldest player in the Croatian squad and had captained them at the

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

and

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA ( ...

. He has also enjoyed a high level of top club action, having spent most of his club career in the German

, including spells with

Hertha BSC Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC () or Hertha Berlin, is a German professional football club based in Berlin. Hertha BSC plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football league system, German footbal ...

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It competes in the B ...

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), or HSV (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its Association football, football department. Though the current HSV was founde ...

and

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

. He ended his playing career with Austrian club Red Bull Salzburg, where he then took the non-playing role of the reserve team coach and eventually became assistant manager under team manager

Ricardo Moniz Ricardo Moniz (born 17 June 1964) is a Dutch football manager and former player who is the head coach of Slovak club Trenčín. Playing career Moniz played for RKC Waalwijk, HFC Haarlem, Helmond Sport and Eindhoven. Coaching career Moniz was ...

. In January 2013, Kovač took over the Croatia national under-21 team and in October 2013 he took over the Croatia senior team following the dismissal of

Igor Štimac Igor Štimac (; born 6 September 1967) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player. In his playing career, Štimac had three spells with Hajduk Split and also played for Cádiz in Spain, and for Derby County and West Ham Un ...

. Kovač managed Croatia at the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

, then became head coach of

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...

in 2016, winning the 2018 DFB-Pokal Final with the club. At Bayern, Kovač won the domestic double in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

after a strong ending to the season, but lost his job later in autumn. In the summer of 2020, Kovač was appointed manager of Monaco, but was sacked on 1 January 2022. He then returned to German football as manager of Wolfsburg from 2022 to 2024 before taking over at Borussia Dortmund in January 2025.

Club career

Early career (1987–1996)

Kovač started training football as an eight-year old with Rapide Wedding in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. After that, he joined

Hertha Zehlendorf The Hertha Zehlendorf is a German football club from the suburb of Zehlendorf in Berlin, currently playing in Regionalliga Nordost, the fourth tier of German football. The club is one of the largest football clubs in the country and has a st ...

and soon became a member of the first team. He moved to

in 1991 and started his professional career with the club that competed in the 2. Bundesliga at the time. During his youth, Kovač in parallel with football practised

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

, earning the blue belt. After finishing high school ( gymnasium), he continued his education at

Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public university, public research university in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in West Berlin in 1948 with American support during the early Cold War period a ...

. He pursued a degree in

business studies Business studies, often simply called business, is a field of study that deals with the principles of business, management, and economics. It combines elements of accountancy, finance, marketing, organizational studies, human resource manageme ...

while playing for Hertha BSC. After eight semesters, he left university when he secured a contract with

Bayer Leverkusen (1996–1999)

In the summer of 1996, Kovač left Hertha, still a 2. Bundesliga side at the time, for

side

. He made his Bundesliga debut on 17 August 1996, appearing as a half-time substitute in the club's opening match of the 1996–97 season, a 4–2 home victory over

. He appeared in 32 Bundesliga matches in his first season with Leverkusen, also scoring three goals. However, he mostly played as a substitute in the following two seasons and missed several matches in the 1997–98 season after sustaining an injury in the club's home match against

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V. (), commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German professional sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's Association football, football team is currently part of Germany's f ...

in December 1997. In three seasons with Bayer Leverkusen, Kovač made 77 Bundesliga appearances and scored eight goals in league competition. At the club, he was teammates with his younger brother

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

for the first time in his professional career.

Hamburger SV (1999–2001)

Kovač joined

in the summer of 1999 and spent two seasons with the club, making 55 Bundesliga appearances and scoring 12 goals in the Bundesliga.

Bayern Munich (2001–2003)

In July 2001, Kovač signed for then Bundesliga and

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

winners,

. Kovač joined the club along with his brother, Robert. However, Kovač did not manage to establish himself as a regular at the club and left Bayern for a second stint with Hertha BSC after two seasons in the summer of 2003. He appeared in 34 Bundesliga matches and scored three goals for Bayern in the league.

Hertha BSC (2003–2006)

Kovač then signed for Hertha again. He made 75 Bundesliga appearances for the club and scored eight goals in the league.

Red Bull Salzburg (2006–2009)

After the

, Kovač left Hertha after three seasons for Austrian

side Red Bull Salzburg. He was a regular in the Salzburg team and also appeared in all of their four UEFA Champions League qualifiers in the summer of 2006. On 26 August 2006, he scored his first goal for Red Bull Salzburg in the Bundesliga, netting the second goal in their 4–0 home victory over

Wacker Tirol FC Wacker Innsbruck is an Austrian association football club from Innsbruck. The club was formed in June 2002 as ''FC Wacker Tirol'', and play their home games at Tivoli-Neu. The club regard themselves as the spiritual continuation of the team ...

. He signed one more year until summer 2009 in May 2008. On 29 May 2009, Kovač left after three years with Red Bull and retired from professional football. He played his last match for Red Bull in a friendly against former club Bayern Munich; he was substituted off after the first 15 minutes.

International career

Kovač made his senior international debut in Croatia's friendly match against

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

on 11 December 1996 in

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

. He subsequently also appeared in three qualifying matches for the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

, but missed the finals in France because he did not fully recover from injury until the beginning of the preparations for the tournament. He was subsequently not part of the national team for two years before making his comeback in a friendly match against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in November 1999. At international level, Kovač played for Croatia in five qualifying matches for the

2002 World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

and scored one goal in Croatia's 4–0 victory away against

San Marino San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, is a landlocked country in Southern Europe, completely surrounded by Italy. Located on the northeastern slopes of the Apennine Mountains, it is the larger of two European microstates, microsta ...

. At the final tournament, he appeared as a starting player in all three group matches before Croatia was eliminated from the tournament with a third-place finish in their group. He was also a regular in

UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying Qualification for the 2004 UEFA European Championship took place between September 2002 and November 2003. Fifty teams were divided into ten groups, with each team playing the others in their group twice, once at home and once away. The top te ...

, making seven appearances and scoring two goals in away matches, the 1–0 winner against

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

and the opening goal in the team's 3–0 victory over

Andorra Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...

. He also played the entire three group matches played by the Croatian team at the final Euro 2004 tournament in Portugal and scored the opening goal in the final group match against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. However, Croatia lost the match 4–2 and was once again eliminated from the tournament as the third-placed nation in its group. After Euro 2004, Kovač became the Croatia national team's

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

and led the team through the qualifying campaign for the

finals in Germany. He appeared in nine of ten qualifying matches and scored two goals, both in Croatia's 4–0 victory over

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

at home in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

. At the final tournament, he appeared in all three of Croatia's group matches, despite sustaining an injury which forced him to leave the pitch after 40 minutes of the team's opening match against

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. Kovač scored the goal that put Croatia 2–1 up in the final group match against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. However, the match ended in a 2–2 draw and Croatia was eliminated by virtue of finishing third in the group. This was the third consecutive time this had happened in a major tournament.

Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

was a bittersweet campaign for captain Kovač. His sterling performances against

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

ultimately unrewarded in what proved to be his last major tournament. Against Germany, he was peerless, producing a

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

display alongside

Luka Modrić Luka Modrić (; born 9 September 1985) is a Croatian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder and Captain (association football), captains both La Liga club Real Madrid and the Croatia national football team, Cro ...

whilst against Turkey, he reduced his opponents to pot shots from distance as they rarely broke through his protection of the back four. Before and after that game, Kovač reiterated his intention to retire from international football at the end of Euro 2008, however, after conversation with

Slaven Bilić Slaven Bilić (; born 11 September 1968) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player. Bilić, who played as a defender, began his career in 1988 with his hometown club Hajduk Split, later having successful spells with Karls ...

, it would seem he feels there is "unfinished business" to take care of. Kovač finally announced his international retirement on 7 January 2009, stating a desire that younger players should be given experience in the Croatia side.

Coaching career

Red Bull Salzburg (2009–2011)

After his retirement from professional football, Kovač became coach of the second squad of Red Bull Salzburg, Red Bull Juniors, from 16 June 2009 to 7 April 2011. In the 2009–10 season, he finished in sixth place and were knocked out in the Austrian Cup in the second round in a shootout. He was with the second team until 7 April 2011. His final match was a 1–1 draw against SV Seekirchen. In 2011, he was promoted to being assistant coach of the first squad together with

as head coach. After Moniz resigned as a first-team coach in June 2012, Kovač was one of the favourites for taking his position. However, the position went to Roger Schmidt and Kovač subsequently left Salzburg.

Croatia (2013–2015)

Under-21

On 21 January 2013,

, head coach of the Croatia national team, announced that Kovač, alongside his brother

as assistant coach, would take over as the under-21 team head coach. His task was to qualify for the

2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship was the 20th edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, a biennial international association football, football competition for men's under-21 national teams organised by UEFA. The final tourn ...

. Croatia were drawn in

Group 5 Group 5 may refer to: * Group 5 element, chemical element classification * Group 5 (motorsport), FIA classification for cars in auto racing See also * G5 (disambiguation) {{Disambig ...

of the qualifying competition, together with

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

and

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

. In the first four games, Croatia got the maximum of 12 points with a goal difference of 13–0. He debuted with a 5–0 away win against Liechtenstein, before he brought two away wins against the group favourites Ukraine and Switzerland.

Senior

On 16 October 2013,

Davor Šuker Davor Šuker (; born 1 January 1968) is a Croatian Association football, football administrator and former professional player who played as a Striker (association football), striker. He served as the president of the Croatian Football Federatio ...

, president of the

Croatian Football Federation The Croatian Football Federation (, HNS) is the national governing body of football in Croatia. It was originally formed in 1912 and is based in the capital city of Zagreb. The organisation is a member of both FIFA and UEFA, and is responsible f ...

(HNS), announced that Niko Kovač would take over as

caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a caret ...

of the Croatia senior team. He replaced Štimac, who was sacked after Croatia scraped into the World Cup play-offs having taken only one point from their last four qualifiers. However, one day later, in an inaugural press conference, Šuker stated HNS signed a two-year contract with Kovač and his staff including his brother Robert Kovač,

Vatroslav Mihačić Vatroslav Mihačić (born 30 September 1967) is a retired Croatian football player. He played as goalkeeper for Hajduk Split, Neretva and NK Zagreb in Croatia, and had a four-year spell at Portuguese side Gil Vicente. Playing career He played f ...

and Goran Lacković, until the end of Croatia's

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's association football, football ch ...

campaign. His first two matches for Croatia were in the World Cup play-offs against

. Croatia managed to qualify for the

in Brazil after winning the play-off tie against Iceland 2–0 on aggregate. At the World Cup, Croatia won 4–0 against

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

and lost 3–1 against

and

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. Croatia did not qualify from their

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...

. On 9 September 2015, HNS terminated Kovač's contract after Croatia lost 2–0 to

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

in the

UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying The UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from September 2014 to November 2015 to determine the 23 UEFA member men's national teams joining the automatically qualified host team France in the UEFA Euro 2 ...

Eintracht Frankfurt (2016–2018)

Kovač was appointed as head coach of

on 8 March 2016. He made his managerial debut for Eintracht in a 3–0 loss to

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e.V. Mönchengladbach, better known as Borussia Mönchengladbach () and colloquially known as just Gladbach, is a professional Association football, football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-W ...

. The club was only able to finish the season in 16th place, requiring them to play in the relegation play-offs against 1. FC Nürnberg. After drawing the first leg 1–1 at home, Kovač ensured Eintracht's survival in the Bundesliga after

Haris Seferovic Haris Seferovic (, ; born 22 February 1992) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a striker for UAE Pro League club Al-Nasr. Seferovic made his professional debut at Grasshopper in April 2009. Shortly afterwards, in January 2010, he ...

's goal won the second leg 1–0. Kovač received a Fair Play Prize from the

DOSB The German Olympic Sports Confederation (, DOSB) was founded on 20 May 2006 by a merger of the ''Deutscher Sportbund'' (DSB), and the ''Nationales Olympisches Komitee für Deutschland'' (NOK) which dates back to 1895, the year it was founded a ...

for his gesture of comforting Nürnberg's players after their defeat. In the 2016–17 season, Eintracht managed to finish mid-table in eleventh position, as well as notably reaching the 2017 DFB-Pokal Final, club's first final since

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, where Eintracht lost 1–2 against

. In the 2017–18 season, Eintracht competed for a place in European competition for the following season. Kovač has typically used a 3–4–2–1 formation with emphasis on defensive stability and wing play. He took Eintracht to the 2018 DFB-Pokal Final, the second in succession for the club, where he beat his future employer, Bayern Munich. With that win, Kovač led Eintracht to its first trophy since 1988. He finished with a record of 38 wins, 20 draws and 33 losses in 91 matches.

Adi Hütter Adolf "Adi" Hütter (; born 11 February 1970) is an Austrian professional football coach and former player who is the head coach of Ligue 1 club Monaco. As a player, Hütter reached the 1993–94 UEFA Cup final, won the Austrian championship t ...

became his successor.

Bayern Munich (2018–2019)

On 13 April 2018,

announced that Kovač would succeed

Jupp Heynckes Josef "Jupp" Heynckes (; born 9 May 1945) is a German retired professional footballer and manager. For the majority of his playing career he was as a striker for Borussia Mönchengladbach in its golden era of the 1960s and '70s, when they won m ...

as head coach of the club for the 2018–19 season, with a three-year contract lasting until 30 June 2021. Kovač's brother, Robert, would follow him to Munich to be his assistant coach. Kovač had a contract with Frankfurt until 30 June 2018 and Bayern had to pay a release clause in his contract reported to be around €2.2 million. Kovač is just the fourth former player to manage Bayern Munich after

Søren Lerby Søren Lerby (born 1 February 1958) is a Danish former football player, manager, and licensed agent. As a player, he spent most of his career in Dutch football, winning five Eredivisie championships with Ajax Amsterdam and two with PSV Eindho ...

Franz Beckenbauer Franz Anton Beckenbauer (; 11 September 1945 – 7 January 2024) was a German professional football player, manager, and official. Nicknamed ("the Emperor"), he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, and is one of nine p ...

and

Jürgen Klinsmann Jürgen Klinsmann (; born 30 July 1964) is a German professional Association football, football manager and former player. He played for several prominent clubs in Europe including VfB Stuttgart, Inter Milan, AS Monaco FC, Monaco, Tottenham Hot ...

. Kovač was the third Croatian to manage Bayern after

Zlatko Čajkovski Zlatko "Čik" Čajkovski (24 November 1923 – 27 July 1998) was a Yugoslav and Croatian football player and coach. His brother, Željko Čajkovski, was a footballer as well. Normally a defensive midfielder, Čajkovski was renowned for his trem ...

and

Branko Zebec Branislav "Branko" Zebec (17 May 1929 – 26 September 1988) was a Croatian footballer and manager who played for Yugoslavia. In his heyday, Zebec fascinated the world with his performances at the World Cups in 1954 and 1958. With Partizan he ...

. On 12 August, Kovač won his first match as coach of Bayern 5–0 in the

German Super Cup The Franz Beckenbauer Supercup or ''German Super Cup'' is a one-off football match in Germany that features the winners of the Bundesliga championship and the DFB-Pokal. The competition is run by the Deutsche Fußball Liga (English: German Footbal ...

against his former club, Eintracht Frankfurt. He won his first Bundesliga game in charge as Bayern defeated 1899 Hoffenheim 3–1 at home on 25 August. On 19 May 2019, he led Bayern to their seventh consecutive Bundesliga title after a 5–1 home win against his former club, Eintracht Frankfurt, beating nearest rivals Borussia Dortmund by two points. This was Kovač's first Bundesliga title as a coach. On 25 May 2019, Kovač led Bayern to a league and cup double when Bayern defeated

RB Leipzig RasenBallsport Leipzig e.V. (), commonly known as RB Leipzig or informally as Red Bull Leipzig, is a German professional association football, football club based in Leipzig, Saxony. The club was founded in 2009 by the initiative of the company ...

3–0 in the 2019 DFB-Pokal Final. It was Kovač's second consecutive cup win as he became the first coach since

Felix Magath Wolfgang Felix Magath (; born 26 July 1953) is a German football manager and former player. The most notable spell of his playing career was with Hamburger SV, with whom he won three Bundesliga titles, the 1977 European Cup Winners' Cup Final a ...

in 2005 and 2006 to win back-to-back cup titles. Kovač also became the first person to win a league and cup double both as a player and coach in German football. On 1 October, Bayern defeated

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

7–2 in the Champions League, with

Serge Gnabry Serge David Gnabry (; born 14 July 1995) is a German professional footballer who plays as a forward for the club Bayern Munich and the Germany national team. Gnabry started his career in England with Arsenal in the Premier League, making his ...

scoring four goals. It was Bayern's second highest victory in European competitions, only behind their 7–1 victory over

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

in October 2014. On 3 November, Kovač left by mutual agreement after a 5–1 loss to his former club, Eintracht Frankfurt.

Monaco (2020–2022)

On 19 July 2020, Kovač was appointed as head coach at

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

club

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

. In his first game as Monaco coach on 23 August, Kovač secured a 2–2 draw after being two goals down against

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

. On 20 November, Monaco beat French champions and Champions League finalists

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

3–2 after falling behind 0–2. On 21 February 2021, he defeated Paris Saint-Germain once again, this time 2–0. It was the first time since March 2016 that Monaco won at

Parc des Princes The Parc des Princes (, ) is an all-seater stadium, all-seater football stadium in Paris, France. It is located in the south-west of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement, near the Stade Jean-Bouin (P ...

. Kovač was subsequently widely praised by French sports media. On 19 May, Monaco lost 2–0 to Paris Saint-Germain in the Coupe de France Final. On 1 January 2022, Monaco announced the departure of Kovač.

VfL Wolfsburg (2022–2024)

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg (), is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of Wolfsburg. I ...

announced the appointment of Kovač on 24 May 2022 marking his return to the

after three years. He was sacked in March 2024.

Borussia Dortmund (2025–)

Kovač signed an 18-month deal with

on 29 January 2025. Kovač took charge with the team in 11th place. Under his leadership, Dortmund reached the Champions League quarter-finals, where they were eliminated by

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. On the final matchday, the club climbed to fourth, securing Champions League qualification for the next season.

Managerial style

Throughout his career at various clubs, Kovac has implemented a mix of 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3 formations with a clear focus on how the team plays without possession. He works on increasing his team's intensity behind the ball so they are able to defend in a compact, mid-high press to force their opponents wide. As soon as they would win the ball, they make use of their quick players in fast transitions.

Personal life

Kovač was born on 15 October 1971 in

Wedding A wedding is a ceremony in which two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnicity, ethnicities, Race (human categorization), races, religions, Religious denomination, denominations, Cou ...

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

, to a

Bosnian Croat The Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina (), often referred to as Bosnian Croats () or Herzegovinian Croats (), are native to Bosnia and Herzegovina and constitute the third most populous ethnic group, after Bosniaks and Serbs. They are also one of ...

family hailing from

Livno Livno ( Serbo-Croatian Cyrillic: ''Ливно'', ) is a town and the administrative center of the Township of Livno and Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated on the river Bis ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

. His parents Mato and Ivka emigrated from

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

to West Germany in 1970 as part of the

gastarbeiter ; ; both singular and plural) are foreign or migrant workers, particularly those who had moved to West Germany between 1955 and 1973, seeking work as part of a formal guest worker program (). As a result, guestworkers are generally considered t ...

program. He has two younger siblings, brother

and sister Nikolina. Kovač is also a German national and therefore he was eligible to represent Germany, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina at international level. He opted for Croatia. Kovač married his primary school sweetheart in 1999. They have a daughter named Laura. Kovač is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

. He generally lives a quiet family life, and considers a family of great value and tries to convey that to his players. In 2007, Kovač appeared in

Croatian Democratic Union The Croatian Democratic Union (, , HDZ) is a major conservative, centre-right political party in Croatia. Since 2016, it has been the ruling political party in Croatia under the incumbent Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. It is one of the ...

(HDZ)'s campaign video for that year's parliamentary election. The video focuses on

Croatian diaspora The Croatian diaspora ( or ) consists of communities of ethnic Croats and/or Croatian citizens living outside Croatia. Estimates on its size are only approximate because of incomplete statistical records and naturalization, but (highest) estimat ...

's right to vote, and depicts Kovač talking about his connection with his homeland. One of the lines from the video, "" (''My brother

, as well''), entered Croatian

popular culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of cultural practice, practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art

f. pop art F is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet. F may also refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * F or f, the number 15 (number), 15 in hexadecimal and higher positional systems * ''p'F'q'', the hypergeometric function * F-distributi ...

or mass art, sometimes contraste ...

and is frequently quoted by the people and the media in the country when referring to the brothers.

Career statistics

Club

International goals

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Bayern Munich *

: 2002–03 *

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

: 2002–03 * Intercontinental Cup:

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

Red Bull Salzburg *

Austrian Bundesliga The Bundesliga ( , "Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Austria and the highest level of the Austrian football league system. The competition decides the A ...

: 2006–07

Manager

Eintracht Frankfurt *DFB-Pokal: 2017–18; runner-up: 2016–17 Bayern Munich *Bundesliga: 2018–19 *DFB-Pokal: 2018–19 *

DFL-Supercup The Franz Beckenbauer Supercup or ''German Super Cup'' is a one-off association football, football match in Germany that features the winners of the Bundesliga championship and the DFB-Pokal. The competition is run by the Deutsche Fußball Liga (E ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Monaco *

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

runner-up:

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

References

External links

* * *
Niko Kovač
at Leverkusen Who's Who {{DEFAULTSORT:Kovac, Niko 1971 births Living people Footballers from Berlin People from Mitte Croatian men's footballers Croatia men's international footballers Croatian Roman Catholics German men's footballers German people of Croatian descent FC Bayern Munich footballers Bayer 04 Leverkusen players Hertha BSC players Hertha Zehlendorf players Hertha BSC II players Hamburger SV players FC Red Bull Salzburg players 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2004 players UEFA Euro 2008 players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Austrian Football Bundesliga players Expatriate men's footballers in Austria 2014 FIFA World Cup managers Croatian expatriate men's footballers Eintracht Frankfurt managers FC Bayern Munich managers Bundesliga managers Men's association football midfielders Croatia national football team managers Croatian expatriate football managers Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Austria West German men's footballers Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Monaco German people of Bosnia and Herzegovina descent AS Monaco FC managers VfL Wolfsburg managers Borussia Dortmund managers German expatriate football managers German expatriate sportspeople in Austria German expatriate sportspeople in Monaco German expatriate men's footballers Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Oberliga (football) players