Igor Štimac

Igor Štimac(pronounced[îgorʃtǐːmats];born 6 September 1967) is a Croatian professionalfootballmanagerand formerplayer.

Igor Štimac

Štimac asSepahanhead coach in 2016
Personal information
Date of birth	(1967-09-06)6 September 1967
Place of birth	Metković,SR Croatia,Yugoslavia
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s)	Centre-back
Youth career
	Neretva Metković
1984–1985	Hajduk Split
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1985–1992	Hajduk Split	64	(3)
1986–1987	→Dinamo Vinkovci(loan)	31	(2)
1992–1994	Cádiz	62	(4)
1994–1995	Hajduk Split	27	(2)
1995–1999	Derby County	84	(3)
1999–2001	West Ham United	43	(1)
2001–2002	Hajduk Split	11	(2)
Total		322	(17)
International career
1987	Yugoslavia U20	14	(2)
1990–2002	Croatia	53	(2)
Managerial career
2005	Hajduk Split
2006	Cibalia
2009–2010	NK Zagreb
2012–2013	Croatia
2015	Zadar
2015–2016	Sepahan
2016–2017	Al-Shahania
2019–2024	India
2019–2023	India U23
Medal record Men'sfootball RepresentingYugoslavia FIFA U-20 World Cup 1987 UEFA U-21 Euro 1990 RepresentingCroatia FIFA World Cup 1998
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

In his playing career, Štimac had three spells withHajduk Splitand also played forCádizin Spain, and forDerby CountyandWest Ham Unitedin England. He represented theCroatia national team53 times, playing atEuro 1996and at the1998 World Cup,when Croatia finished third. He also representedYugoslaviawhen they won the1987 FIFA World Youth Championship.

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 clubSepahanand Qatari clubAl-Shahania.On 15 May 2019, Štimac was appointed as the head coach of theIndia national football teamon a two-year contract,where he served as the head coach until 2024.

Club career

At the club level Štimac played for his local Croatian clubHajduk Splitand, most notably, the English clubDerby County.Štimac arrived at theBaseball Groundon 31 October 1995 for a fee of £1.5 million from Hajduk Split.He scored a goal on his debut forthe Ramsaway atTranmere,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 withDean Yatesin the centre of Derby's defence.

Štimac played nearly four years with the Rams,and made 84 league appearances for the Rams, in addition to sevenFA Cupappearances and two League Cup appearances. He was sold on 29 August 1999 toWest Ham Unitedfor £600,000, where he scored once, against Newcastle United.

International career

Štimac played for theCroatia national team,winning 53capsand scoring two goals,and formed part of a Croatia squad that won the bronze medal at the1998 FIFA World Cup.His final international was a February 2002friendly matchagainstBulgaria.

Previously, Štimac was a member of the highly talentedYugoslavia under-20 teamthat won the1987 FIFA World Youth Championshipin Chile, playing four games and scoring two goals in the tournament.

International goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	3 September 1995	Maksimir,Zagreb,Croatia	Estonia	6– 1	7 – 1	Euro 1996 Qualifying
2	26 March 1996	Stadion Varteks,Varaždin,Croatia	Israel	1– 0	2 – 0	Friendly

Managerial career

Štimac duringSepahantraining session in November 2015

Early days

Štimac started his managerial career in 2001, taking charge of theHajduk Splitfootball academy and also acting as the club's sport director. Hajduk won two championships during this time (2003–04 and 2004–05).In 2004–05 season he took managerial position for the last 10 games after replacingBlaž Slišković.With many difficulties he managed to win championship but lost the cup final toHNK Rijeka.In the spring of 2006, he also spent a few months coaching Croatian first division sideCibalia,saving them from relegation. On 14 September 2009, he was appointed as the newNK Zagrebmanager after they lost the first seven games of the season, replacing Luka Pavlović.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 newCroatia national football teammanager, after the departure of his former national team teammateSlaven Bilić.His first match as Croatia manager came in a friendly game againstSwitzerlandatPoljud Stadium,which ended in a disappointing 2–4 loss.Despite that loss, Croatia entered the2014 World Cup qualifiesin 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.Then started a period of very poor results starting with a 0–1 loss toScotlandatMaksimiron 7 June 2013.Following this Croatia lost 0–1 in a friendly match toPortugalon 10 June 2013 and then barely beat 148th rankedLiechtenstein3–2 in a friendly match thanks to an 86th-minute goal byEduardoon 14 August 2013.

In their next world cup qualifying match, Croatia drew 1–1 against rivalsSerbiain Belgrade, despite only having one shot on target and two shots overall.This was followed by another loss at home at Maksimir, this time to eventual group winnersBelgiumwith a result of 1–2.With only one World Cup qualifying match to go, Štimac had become widely unpopular in Croatia with one poll conducted by popular domestic newspaper24sataresulting in 98% of voters in favor of sacking Štimac.On 15 October 2013, Croatia lost their final World Cup qualifying match 0–2 against Scotland.After the 0–2 loss to Scotland, Štimac tendered his resignation to theHNSpresident, former star footballer and national team teammate of Štimac,Davor Šuker.The following day, Šuker accepted his resignation.Croatia ending qualifying as the second to last ranked second place team, having only one more point than last placedDenmark,thus taking the final play-off round spot.

Despite some criticism Štimac managed to take theFIFA Rankingof Croatia to 4th position just behindSpain,GermanyandArgentina,respectively.Players likeMateo KovačićandAlen Halilovićalso made their debuts for the Croatia national team during Štimac's stint.

Zadar

In the beginning of 2015, Štimac was named as new manager atPrva HNLclubZadar.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.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".

Sepahan

Štimac during a match between Sepahan andNaft Tehran

On 12 November 2015, Štimac became head coach ofSepahan,replacingHossein 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 CupandAFC Champions League.

India national team

On 15 May 2019, theAll India Football Federationannounced Štimac as the country's head coach after the departure ofStephen Constantine.His first campaign with India was2019 King's Cupwhere his first match as head coach was againstCuraçao,which ended up as a 3−1 losswhere he gave six players their international debutbut in the next match against the hostThailandhe managed the team to a 1−0 victory earning third place in the tournament and his first win as head coach.

For2022 World Cup qualification,Štimac's campaign with India started with a 1–2 home loss toOman,but he steered the team to a respectable draw against the2019 Asian Championand2022 FIFA World CuphostsQatar.Despite this, India only managed draws against much lower ranked teams,Bangladeshat home andAfghanistanaway.India were beaten by Omanand Qatar,gained only a draw with Afghanistan, and their only win in qualification came with a 2–0 victory over neighbour Bangladesh.A third place finish with only six points meant India did not qualify for the2022 FIFA World Cup.However, it was India's highest position since the2002 qualificationand guaranteed India a place in the upcoming2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification.

Under Štimac, India reached the2023 AFC Asian Cupfinals in Qatar after a 2–0 victory overCambodia,a 2–1 victory over Afghanistan and a 4–0 victory overHong Kong,on 8, 11 and 14 June 2022 respectively, at theVivekananda Yuba Bharati Kriranganstadium inKolkata.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 overcameMongolia2–0 at theKalinga Stadiumin 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 overMyanmarand a 2–0 victory overKyrgyzstanat theKhuman Lampakin 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 secondIntercontinental Cupafter overcomingLebanon2–0 in the final at the Kalinga Stadium.

Under Štimac, on 24 June 2023 at theSree Kanteerava Stadiumin Bengaluru, India achieved eight consecutive clean sheets with a 2–0 victory overNepal,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 againstKuwaiton 4 July 2023 in the2023 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.

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.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, againstAustralia(0–2),Uzbekistan(0–3), andSyria(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 the2026 FIFA World Cup qualificationcampaign, Štimac was sacked by the AIFF on 24 June 2024.

India U23

Štimac took charge of theIndia national under-23 football teamat 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.

Managerial statistics

As of match played 11 June 2024

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				P	W	D	L	Win %
Hajduk Split		10 April 2005	1 July 2005	12	4	5	3	033.3
NK Zagreb		14 September 2009	14 May 2010	27	11	7	9	040.7
Croatia		5 July 2012	16 October 2013	15	8	2	5	053.3
Zadar		8 January 2015	16 July 2015	19	5	4	10	026.3
Sepahan		11 November 2015	21 April 2016	21	2	11	8	009.5
Al-Shahania		28 December 2016	23 May 2017	16	2	7	7	012.5
India		15 May 2019	11 June 2024	53	19	14	20	035.8
India U23		15 May 2019	11 June 2024	9	2	4	3	022.2
Total				172	53	54	65	030.8

Honours

Player

Hajduk Split

• Croatian First League:1992,1994–95
• Croatian Cup:1995
• Yugoslav Cup:1991
• Croatian Super Cup:1994

Derby County

• First Divisionrunner-up:1995–96

Yugoslavia U-20

• FIFA U-20 World Cup:1987

Manager

Hajduk Split

• Croatian First League:2004–05

India

• SAFF Championship:2021,2023
• Tri-Nation Series:2023
• InterContinental Cup:2023

Orders

• Order of Danica Hrvatska with face of Franjo Bučar– 1995
• Order of the Croatian Trefoil– 1998

External links

• Igor Štimacat Soccerway
• Igor Štimacat WorldFootball.net
• Igor Štimacat National-Football-Teams
• Igor Štimacat 11v11
• Igor Štimacat BDFutbol
• Igor Štimac profileatHajduk Splitwebsite(in Croatian)