Niko Kovač

Niko Kovač

Kovač in 2024
Personal information
Full name	Niko Kovač
Date of birth	(1971-10-15) 15 October 1971
Place of birth	West Berlin, West Germany
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team	Borussia Dortmund (manager)
Youth career
1987–1989	Rapide Wedding
1989–1990	Hertha Zehlendorf
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1990–1991	Hertha Zehlendorf	25	(7)
1991	Hertha BSC II	12	(1)
1992–1996	Hertha BSC	138	(15)
1996–1999	Bayer Leverkusen	77	(8)
1999–2001	Hamburger SV	55	(12)
2001–2003	Bayern Munich	34	(3)
2003–2006	Hertha BSC	75	(8)
2006–2009	Red Bull Salzburg	65	(9)
Total		491	(63)
International career
1996–2008	Croatia	83	(14)
Managerial career
2012–2013	Croatia U21
2013–2015	Croatia
2016–2018	Eintracht Frankfurt
2018–2019	Bayern Munich
2020–2022	Monaco
2022–2024	VfL Wolfsburg
2025–	Borussia Dortmund
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Niko Kovač (born 15 October 1971) is a former Croatian football player. He has played for Croatia national team.

Club career

Last match of Niko Kovac vs. Bayern Munich

He was born in Berlin (Germany) and so he started his career with his local club Hertha Zehlendorf. There he became member of its first team at the age of 17. 1991 he went to Hertha BSC and started his professional career in the Second German League. 1996 he went to Bayer Leverkusen in the German Bundesliga, where he played together with his younger brother Robert. The next clubs were Hamburger SV, Bayern Munich, where he was again teammate of his brother and again Hertha BSC. After the 2006 FIFA World Cup he signed with F.C. Red Bull Salzburg in the Austrian Bundesliga. On 29 May 2009 he resigned from professional football. His last match was a friendly match of Red Bull Salzburg against Bayern Munich. During his career he played 454 matches and scored 56 goals.

International career

He played from 1996 (versus Monaco) till 2009 for the Croatian national team. He played 83 matches and scored 15 goals. He was part of the Croatian team for the FIFA World Cup 2002 and 2006 and the UEFA Euro 2004 and 2008.

Coaching career

First match as assistance coach of FC Red Bull Salzburg

2009 he became coach of the second squad of FC Red Bull Salzburg (Red Bull Juniors). In April 2011 he became assistance coach of Ricardo Moniz with the first squad. Then he went on to Croatia where he became coach of the U21 and the national team. After his time with Eintracht Frankfurt he became coach of FC Bayern Munic both in the German Bundesliga. He then became coach of AS Monaco in League 1 but had to go at the beginning of 2022.

Career statistics

Club

Club	Season	League			Cup		League Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Hertha Zehlendorf	1990–91	Oberliga Berlin	25	7	—		—		—		—		25	7
Hertha BSC II	1990–91	Oberliga Berlin	12	1	—		—		—		—		12	1
Hertha BSC	1991–92	2. Bundesliga Nord	12	0	0	0	—		—		—		12	0
	1992–93	2. Bundesliga	42	1	3	0	—		—		—		45	1
	1993–94	2. Bundesliga	32	1	0	0	—		—		—		32	1
	1994–95	2. Bundesliga	31	2	1	0	—		—		—		32	2
	1995–96	2. Bundesliga	31	11	2	0	—		—		—		33	11
	Total		148	15	6	0	—		—		—		154	15
Bayer Leverkusen	1996–97	Bundesliga	32	3	1	0	—		—		—		33	3
	1997–98	Bundesliga	18	1	3	1	1	0	7	0	—		29	2
	1998–99	Bundesliga	27	4	1	0	2	0	4	0	—		34	4
	Total		77	8	5	1	3	0	11	0	—		96	9
Hamburger SV	1999–2000	Bundesliga	30	8	1	0	—		—		—		31	8
	2000–01	Bundesliga	25	4	1	0	1	0	9	1	—		36	5
	Total		55	12	2	0	1	0	9	1	—		67	13
Bayern Munich	2001–02	Bundesliga	16	2	3	1	1	0	4	0	2	0	26	3
	2002–03	Bundesliga	18	1	4	0	1	0	2	1	—		25	2
	Total		34	3	7	1	2	0	6	1	2	0	51	5
Hertha BSC	2003–04	Bundesliga	17	1	3	0	—		1	0	—		21	1
	2004–05	Bundesliga	30	4	1	0	—		—		—		31	4
	2005–06	Bundesliga	28	3	3	1	1	0	4	0	—		36	4
	Total		75	8	7	1	1	0	5	0	—		88	9
Red Bull Salzburg	2006–07	Austrian Bundesliga	28	6	1	0	—		6	0	—		35	6
	2007–08	Austrian Bundesliga	25	3	—		—		4	0	—		29	3
	2008–09	Austrian Bundesliga	12	0	0	0	—		3	0	—		15	0
	Total		65	9	1	0	—		13	0	—		79	9
Career total			491	63	28	3	7	0	44	2	2	0	572	68
Source:

International goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Final	Competition
1	29 March 2000	Maksimir, Zagreb	Germany	1–1	1–1	Friendly
2	5 September 2001	Olimpico, Serravalle	San Marino	1–0	4–0	World Cup 2002 Qualifying
3	8 May 2002	PMFC, Pécs	Hungary	2–0	2–0	Friendly
4	11 June 2003	A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn	Estonia	1–0	1–0	Euro 2004 Qualifying
5	6 September 2003	Comunal, Aixovall	Andorra	1–0	3–0
6	21 June 2004	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon	England	1–0	2–4	Euro 2004
7–8	26 March 2005	Maksimir, Zagreb	Iceland	1–0	4–0	World Cup 2006 Qualifying
				3–0
9	22 June 2006	Gottlieb-Daimler, Stuttgart	Australia	2–1	2–2	World Cup 2006
10–11	22 August 2007	Koševo, Sarajevo	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3–2	5–3	Friendly
				5–3
12	24 May 2008	Kantrida, Rijeka	Moldova	1–0	1–0
13	31 May 2008	Szusza Ferenc, Budapest	Hungary	1–0	1–1
14	6 September 2008	Maksimir, Zagreb	Kazakhstan	1–0	3–0	World Cup 2010 Qualifying

Managerial statistics

As of 4 October 2025

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	From	To	Record								Ref.
			G	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Croatia U21	21 January 2013	16 October 2013	7	5	0	2	18	5	+13	071.43
Croatia	16 October 2013	9 September 2015	19	10	5	4	36	16	+20	052.63
Eintracht Frankfurt	8 March 2016	30 June 2018	91	38	20	33	111	108	+3	041.76
Bayern Munich	1 July 2018	3 November 2019	65	45	12	8	169	73	+96	069.23
Monaco	19 July 2020	1 January 2022	74	42	16	16	131	76	+55	056.76
VfL Wolfsburg	24 May 2022	17 March 2024	66	23	17	26	96	93	+3	034.85
Borussia Dortmund	2 February 2025	present	34	21	7	6	74	40	+34	061.76
Total			357	184	78	95	635	411	+224	051.54

Honours

Player

Bayern Munich

• Bundesliga: 2002–03
• DFB-Pokal: 2002–03
• Intercontinental Cup: 2001

Red Bull Salzburg

• Austrian Bundesliga: 2006–07

Manager

Eintracht Frankfurt

• DFB-Pokal: 2017–18; runner-up: 2016–17

Bayern Munich

• Bundesliga: 2018–19
• DFB-Pokal: 2018–19
• DFL-Supercup: 2018

Monaco

• Coupe de France runner-up: 2020–21