COACHES from Bosnia and Herzegovina

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Bosnian, Herzegovinian Coaches of all time. This list of famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Coaches is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Bosnian, Herzegovinian Coaches.

1. Miroslav Blažević (1935 - 2023)

With an HPI of 62.49, Miroslav Blažević is the most famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Coach.  His biography has been translated into 31 different languages on wikipedia.

Miroslav "Ćiro" Blažević (Croatian pronunciation: [mîroslaʋ tɕǐːro blǎːʒeʋitɕ] ; 9 February 1935 – 8 February 2023) was a Bosnian-Croatian professional football manager and player. A former right winger, his professional playing career spanned from 1954 to 1966, during which he played for Dinamo Zagreb, Lokomotiva Zagreb, Sarajevo, Rijeka and Swiss clubs Sion and Moutier. As a manager, his most successful period was with the Croatia national team, which he led to the quarter-finals in the 1996 European Championship and won third place at the 1998 FIFA World Cup. He also managed the following national teams: Switzerland, Iran, Bosnia and Herzegovina and China Olympic. Blažević also had successful spells at Vevey, Sion, Lausanne-Sport, Rijeka, Dinamo Zagreb, Grasshopper Zürich, Prishtina, Osijek, Varteks, Zagreb, Shanghai Shenhua and Sloboda Tuzla. From 29 March 1993 to 23 February 1995, he was president of Dinamo Zagreb. Blažević maintained a colourful public persona in both Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, where he was reverently known as "trener svih trenera" (the "coach of all coaches").

2. Safet Sušić (1955 - )

With an HPI of 57.78, Safet Sušić is the 2nd most famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Coach.  His biography has been translated into 34 different languages.

Safet "Pape" Sušić (pronounced [sǎfet sûʃitɕ]; born 13 April 1955) is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player. He was a gifted midfielder known for his dribbling skills and technical ability, and is strongly reputed to have been one of the finest European players of his generation. Sušić played for Yugoslavia in two FIFA World Cups, 1982 and 1990, and at UEFA Euro 1984. As a manager, he qualified the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Sušić played as an attacking midfielder, often in a role of trequartista or fantasista (i.e. a creative playmaker) and rarely as a second striker for Sarajevo, Paris Saint-Germain and Red Star, and internationally for Yugoslavia. Even more later during his career, he was utilized more in a role of a deep-lying playmaker, both for club and national team. In 2010, France Football voted Sušić as Paris Saint-Germain's best player of all time and the best foreign player of Ligue 1 of all time, with his compatriot and friend who also had a spell with PSG, Vahid Halilhodžić, being voted seventh. As part of the UEFA Jubilee Awards in 2004, the Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina chose Sušić as the nation's greatest ever player. Following his retirement from playing, Sušić started working as a manager. He worked for a number of club sides: Cannes, İstanbulspor, Al Hilal, Konyaspor, Ankaragücü, Çaykur Rizespor, Ankaraspor, Évian, Alanyaspor, Akhisarspor and the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. Sušić won his only trophy as manager with Akhisarspor, the 2018 Turkish Super Cup.

3. Ljupko Petrović (1947 - )

With an HPI of 56.22, Ljupko Petrović is the 3rd most famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Coach.  His biography has been translated into 32 different languages.

Ljubomir "Ljupko" Petrović (Serbian Cyrillic: Љубомир "Љупко" Петровић; born 15 May 1947) is a Serbian professional football manager and former player. He also holds a Bosnian passport. As a manager, Petrović's biggest success was winning the European Cup in the 1990–91 season with Red Star Belgrade.

4. Vladimir Petković (1963 - )

With an HPI of 55.37, Vladimir Petković is the 4th most famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Coach.  His biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

Vladimir Petković (Bosnian pronunciation: [ʋlǎdimiːr pêtkoʋit͡ɕ]; born 15 August 1963) is a Bosnian-born Swiss professional football manager and former player. He is currently the coach of the Algeria national team. He was previously the head coach of French side Bordeaux, the Switzerland national team, a string of Swiss clubs, Turkish club Samsunspor, and Italian club Lazio. Petković is from Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Apart from his Bosnian one, he also holds Swiss and Croatian passports.

5. Dušan Bajević (1948 - )

With an HPI of 54.04, Dušan Bajević is the 5th most famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Coach.  His biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

Dušan "Duško" Bajević (Serbian Cyrillic: Душан Бајевић, pronounced [dǔʃan bǎjeʋitɕ]; Greek: Ντούσαν Μπάγεβιτς, Doúsan Báyevits; born 10 December 1948) is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Bosnian football managers of all time and has won more trophies than any other manager from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bajević spent the majority of his playing career at hometown club Velež Mostar for who he played almost 400 games and scored 184 goals, a club record. He also played with AEK Athens where he won the Alpha Ethniki two times and the Greek Cup once. Bajević scored 29 goals for Yugoslavia in 37 games. He represented the country at the 1974 FIFA World Cup. After retiring as a player, Bajević started working as a manager, managing to win the Yugoslav Cup with Velež in 1986. He enjoyed the most success in Greece, winning eight Greek league titles, four Greek Cups, one Greek League Cup and one Greek Super Cup with AEK, Olympiacos and PAOK between 1988 and 2005; he is the most successful manager in AEK's history.

6. Zlatko Dalić (1966 - )

With an HPI of 53.64, Zlatko Dalić is the 6th most famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Coach.  His biography has been translated into 37 different languages.

Zlatko Dalić (Croatian pronunciation: [zlâtko dǎːlitɕ]; born 26 October 1966) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player and is currently the manager of the Croatia national team. He has been manager of the Croatia since 2017 and led them to a second and third place finish at the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups, respectively, along with qualifications for UEFA Euro 2020 and UEFA Euro 2024. He has consequently been regarded as the greatest manager in the team's history.

7. Džemaludin Mušović (1944 - )

With an HPI of 50.73, Džemaludin Mušović is the 7th most famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Coach.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Džemaludin Mušović (born 30 October 1944) is a Bosnian retired football manager and player. He is regarded as one of the most successful Bosnian football managers.

8. Mladen Krstajić (1974 - )

With an HPI of 43.41, Mladen Krstajić is the 8th most famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Coach.  His biography has been translated into 33 different languages.

Mladen Krstajić (Serbian Cyrillic: Младен Крстајић, pronounced [mlǎden kr̩stâjitɕ]; born 4 March 1974) is a Serbian professional football manager and former player who played as a centre-back. He represented Serbia and Montenegro at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. From January 2015 until March 2020, Krstajić served the role of chairman of the board of Bosnian Premier League club Radnik Bijeljina. Krstajić coached Serbia at the 2018 FIFA World Cup and then became head coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv in December 2021. He was manager of the Bulgaria national football team before being sacked in October 2023.

9. Željko Buvač (1961 - )

With an HPI of 41.47, Željko Buvač is the 9th most famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Coach.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Željko Buvač (Serbian Cyrillic: Жељко Бувач; born 13 September 1961) is a Bosnian football manager and former professional player who is currently the sporting director of Dynamo Moscow. He is the former assistant manager of Premier League club Liverpool, a role he took in 2015 but left in April 2018. Current Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp labelled Buvač as "the brain" in his coaching team, while describing himself as "the heart" and the second assistant coach, Peter Krawietz, as "the eye". He has been credited with developing the high-speed attacking style that brought success at Borussia Dortmund.

10. Mato Neretljak (1979 - )

With an HPI of 37.02, Mato Neretljak is the 10th most famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Coach.  His biography has been translated into 44 different languages.

Mato Neretljak (born 3 June 1979) is a Croatian professional football manager and former professional player who is the manager of First League of FBiH club Zvijezda Gradačac.