Niko Kovac

Niko Kovac has been the Borussia Dortmund head coach since February 2025. He has previously coached in the Bundesliga at VfL Wolfsburg, Bayern Munich and Eintracht Frankfurt.

“I’m a hard worker,” is how 53-year-old Kovac describes himself. “Where I come from, or rather how I was brought up, nothing happened by itself. Everything that my family and I created was through hard work. I believe I fit in very well here, in the Ruhr. What I demand: discipline, order, passion, intensity and aggression. We have to get both right: bringing the footballing element to a good level, but also the physical component. A lot of it is mental. If your head is clear, you can go beyond your limits. Only those who work will get something back. You don't get much for doing little. I'm a believer in the more the better.”

Niko Kovac was born on 15 October 1971 to Croatian parents in the West Berlin district of Wedding. He graduated from high school and played for Turbine Wedding and Hertha Zehlendorf before joining Hertha BSC, who signed him for the 1991/92 2. Bundesliga season. Kovac the player was not the product of modern academies, but rather of hard graft. His career progressed step by step. By moving to Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 1996, the defensive midfielder made the leap to the Bundesliga. He made 241 Bundesliga appearances for Leverkusen, Hamburger SV (1999 to 2001), Bayern Munich (2001 to 2003) and Hertha BSC in a second spell with the capital club (2003 to 2006), scoring 31 goals in the process. During his time at Bayern Munich, he won the Club World Cup in 2001 and the league and cup double in 2003. At his last club, FC Salzburg (2006 to 2009), he won the Austrian Bundesliga twice. He made 83 appearances for Croatia between 1996 and 2009, taking part in two World Cups and two European Championships.

Kovac began his coaching career directly after hanging up his boots as a player, starting out as the assistant coach of the reserves and later the first team in Salzburg. In January 2013, he took over responsibility for the Croatia U21 national team and was promoted to head coach of the senior national team just nine months later. He managed to lead the team, who had missed out on direct qualification under his predecessor, to the 2014 World Cup tournament in Brazil via the play-offs. His tenure as national coach of his home country ended in October 2015.

Five months later, he took up a head coach role at club level for the first time. He initially saved Eintracht Frankfurt from relegation in 2016 and led SGE to the cup final in both 2017 (against Borussia Dortmund, 2-1 loss) and 2018 (Bayern Munich, 3-1 victory). FC Bayern made use of Kovac's exit clause and signed him as Jupp Heynckes' successor ahead of the 2018/19 season. Bayern beat Borussia Dortmund in the deciding match of the Bundesliga season and beat Leipzig 3-0 in the cup final. This makes Kovac – together with Hansi Flick – the only footballer to win the “double” with a team both as a player and as a coach.

His tenure in Munich lasted until November 2019. He took over AS Monaco for the 2020/21 season. In his first season, he helped the Monegasque outfit to a strong third-placed finish in Ligue 1 and reached the French Cup final. In the following season, he left with the Principality club seventh in the table after 19 games – although the gap to second place was only four points. His third stint as coach of a Bundesliga team was at VfL Wolfsburg from July 2022 to March 2024.