As a manager, Štimac was in charge of the Croatia national team from 2012 to 2013. In club football, he has had brief spells in charge of Hajduk Split, Cibalia, NK Zagreb, Zadar, Iranian club Sepahan and Qatari club Al-Shahania. On 15 May 2019, Štimac was appointed as the head coach of the India national football team on a two-year contract,[3] where he served as the head coach until 2024.[4]
Club career
At the club level Štimac played for his local Croatian club Hajduk Split and, most notably, the English club Derby County.[5][6][7] Štimac arrived at the Baseball Ground on 31 October 1995 for a fee of £1.5 million from Hajduk Split.[8] He scored a goal on his debut for the Rams away at Tranmere, but the Rams fell to a heavy 5–1 defeat. The rest of the season was more successful, as Derby gained promotion and remained unbeaten in 20 consecutive matches. During this time he formed a strong partnership with Dean Yates in the centre of Derby's defence.
Štimac played nearly four years with the Rams,[9][10] and made 84 league appearances for the Rams, in addition to seven FA Cup appearances and two League Cup appearances. He was sold on 29 August 1999 to West Ham United for £600,000, where he scored once, against Newcastle United.[11]
Štimac during Sepahan training session in November 2015
Early days
Štimac started his managerial career in 2001, taking charge of the Hajduk Split football academy and also acting as the club's sport director. Hajduk won two championships during this time (2003–04 and 2004–05).[15] In 2004–05 season he took managerial position for the last 10 games after replacing Blaž Slišković. With many difficulties he managed to win championship but lost the cup final to HNK Rijeka. In the spring of 2006, he also spent a few months coaching Croatian first division side Cibalia, saving them from relegation. On 14 September 2009, he was appointed as the new NK Zagreb manager after they lost the first seven games of the season, replacing Luka Pavlović.[16] However Štimac managed to save NK Zagreb from relegation and left the club at the end of the season.
Croatia national team
On 5 July 2012, Štimac was appointed as the new Croatia national football team manager, after the departure of his former national team teammate Slaven Bilić. His first match as Croatia manager came in a friendly game against Switzerland at Poljud Stadium, which ended in a disappointing 2–4 loss.[17] Despite that loss, Croatia entered the 2014 World Cup qualifies in decent fashion, taking 16 points from first six games. However, the results were not representative of Croatia's form on the pitch, as the team only had a goal difference of +7 from those six matches and scored the majority of their goals from set pieces, counterattacks, and defensive errors by their opponents.[18] Then started a period of very poor results starting with a 0–1 loss to Scotland at Maksimir on 7 June 2013.[19] Following this Croatia lost 0–1 in a friendly match to Portugal on 10 June 2013 and then barely beat 148th ranked Liechtenstein 3–2 in a friendly match thanks to an 86th-minute goal by Eduardo on 14 August 2013.[20][21]
In their next world cup qualifying match, Croatia drew 1–1 against rivals Serbia in Belgrade, despite only having one shot on target and two shots overall.[22] This was followed by another loss at home at Maksimir, this time to eventual group winners Belgium with a result of 1–2.[23] With only one World Cup qualifying match to go, Štimac had become widely unpopular in Croatia with one poll conducted by popular domestic newspaper 24sata resulting in 98% of voters in favor of sacking Štimac.[24] On 15 October 2013, Croatia lost their final World Cup qualifying match 0–2 against Scotland.[25] After the 0–2 loss to Scotland, Štimac tendered his resignation to the HNS president, former star footballer and national team teammate of Štimac, Davor Šuker. The following day, Šuker accepted his resignation.[26] Croatia ending qualifying as the second to last ranked second place team, having only one more point than last placed Denmark, thus taking the final play-off round spot.
In the beginning of 2015, Štimac was named as new manager at Prva HNL club Zadar.[30] Štimac quit after only six months in charge, as club was administratively relegated to second division by the licensing board of the HNS due to financial irregularities 3 games before the league ended.[31] Following Štimac's resignation, Zadar club president Josip Bajlo said, "I would like to thank Mr. Štimac for the five months that he has worked in Zadar, and he has still done the best in such situation".[32]
Sepahan
Štimac during a match between Sepahan and Naft Tehran
On 12 November 2015, Štimac became head coach of Sepahan, replacing Hossein Faraki. He resigned as Sepahan head coach on 20 April 2016, after a run of unsuccessful results which led Sepahan in the 11th place and out of both season's cups, Hazfi Cup and AFC Champions League.[33]
India national team
On 15 May 2019, the All India Football Federation announced Štimac as the country's head coach after the departure of Stephen Constantine.[3] His first campaign with India was 2019 King's Cup where his first match as head coach was against Curaçao, which ended up as a 3−1 loss[34] where he gave six players their international debut[35] but in the next match against the host Thailand he managed the team to a 1−0 victory earning third place in the tournament and his first win as head coach.[36]
Under Štimac, India reached the 2023 AFC Asian Cup finals in Qatar after a 2–0 victory over Cambodia, a 2–1 victory over Afghanistan and a 4–0 victory over Hong Kong, on 8, 11 and 14 June 2022 respectively, at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan stadium in Kolkata. This was the first time India qualified twice in a row for the AFC Asian Cup.
2023: India unbeaten runs
As coach of the India national team, Štimac achieved 12 victories (up to 9 June 2023) when India overcame Mongolia 2–0 at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha. This surpassed his previous best of 11 wins as coach for NK Zagreb.
On 22 and 28 March 2023 respectively, Štimac led India to a 1–0 victory over Myanmar and a 2–0 victory over Kyrgyzstan at the Khuman Lampak in Imphal. These were the first internationals to be played in northeast India and culminated in India winning the 2023 Tri-Nations Series Trophy, under Štimac's guidance.
On 18 June 2023, under Štimac's leadership, India won a second Intercontinental Cup after overcoming Lebanon 2–0 in the final at the Kalinga Stadium.
Under Štimac, on 24 June 2023 at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru, India achieved eight consecutive clean sheets with a 2–0 victory over Nepal, breaking the previous record of seven between 3 June 1948 and 23 March 1952. It was also India's ninth consecutive clean sheet at home (stretching back to the 4–0 victory over Hong Kong on 14 June 2022), the 11th of an undefeated run (from the 22 March 2023 victory over Myanmar), and the 15th undefeated at home (since a 15 October 2019 draw with Bangladesh). The latter run includes 10 wins, three draws and two draws that ended as penalty shoot-out wins - the last being an extended penalty shoot-out victory at home against Kuwait on 4 July 2023 in the 2023 SAFF Championship Final.
Štimac became the first foreign head coach to win back-to-back SAFF Championship titles. The 2023 SAFF Championship was the first time India had defeated two West Asian countries in back-to-back matches, after winning the semi-final against Lebanon, also on penalties.[45]
Štimac has led India to three titles in 2023, the most ever won by India in a calendar year.
Igor Stimac, the current head coach of the India national football team, is poised to become the longest-serving coach in the history of independent India. Stimac, who has been at the helm since 2019, received a contract extension that will keep him in charge of both the senior and under-23 men’s national football teams until June 2026.[46] Furthermore, if Stimac guides India to the third round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, which commence in November 2024, his contract will automatically be renewed until 2028.
2024: Poor run and termination
India lost all matches in the group stage, against Australia (0–2), Uzbekistan (0–3), and Syria (0-1). India was the worst-ranked according to points table and goal difference in the competition. Following the poor run of results during the AFC Asian cup and India's second round exit during the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign, Štimac was sacked by the AIFF on 24 June 2024.[47]
India U23
Štimac took charge of the India national under-23 football team at the start of their qualification campaign for the 2022 AFC Under-23 Cup in Uzbekistan, by playing three games for Group E in the centralised venue at the Fujairah Stadium, Fujairah, UAE. On 24 October 2021, he started with a 2–1 victory over the Oman U23 team in Group E encounter in Fujairah.
