Željko Kopić

Željko Kopić
Kopić as coach of Dinamo Zagreb in 2021
Personal information
Date of birth (1977-09-10) 10 September 1977
Place of birth Osijek, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia
Position Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Wieczysta Kraków (head coach)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Čakovec
2000–2001 Marsonia 17 (2)
Sydney United
Hrvatski Dragovoljac
Managerial career
2009 Zagorec
2009–2010 Segesta
2011–2012 Lučko
2012 Cibalia
2014–2015 NK Zagreb
2015–2017 Slaven Belupo
2017–2018 Hajduk Split
2018–2019 Pafos
2021–2022 Dinamo Zagreb
2022 Botev Plovdiv
2023–2026 Dinamo București
2026– Wieczysta Kraków
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Željko Kopić (born 10 September 1977) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player who is currently in charge of Ekstraklasa club Wieczysta Kraków.

Playing career

In his playing days, Željko Kopić played as a midfielder. He played in the younger age categories of Osijek and Dinamo Zagreb. In his senior career, he played for Croatian clubs Čakovec, Marsonia and Hrvatski Dragovoljac and an Australian club Sydney United.

Managerial career

After his playing career, Željko Kopić became a coach. In 2006, he received the UEFA B coaching diploma, and since 2013 he has the UEFA PRO coaching diploma. At the beginning of his coaching career, he worked at the football school of Hrvatski Dragovoljac, and later became an assistant coach of the first team.

His first independent job in senior football was Zagorec from Krapina, after which he took over Segesta from Sisak. Then, he worked first as an assistant, and later as the first coach at Lučko, which was then playing in the Croatian top division. After that, he worked for a short time in Cibalia. In June 2014, he became the coach of NK Zagreb.

Towards the beginning of the next season, he became the coach of Slaven Belupo from Koprivnica, where he stayed for 96 games and became the longest-serving coach in the 110-year-old history of the club. With Slaven Belupo, he played the final of the Croatian Football Cup against Dinamo Zagreb. He left them in October 2017.[1]

On 13 November 2017, he was named as the new Hajduk Split manager.[2] In 34 official matches at Hajduk, he achieved 6 consecutive victories away from home and 6 consecutive victories in the national league and cup.

In October 2018, he was appointed coach of the Cypriot first league side Pafos, where he won the Coach of the Month award and achieved significant victories against the big Cypriot clubs such as Apoel, Omonia and AEK.[3]

Upon his return to Croatia, he became the academy director of Dinamo Zagreb's football school, which is known as one of the best football schools in the world. In December 2021, after the departure of Damir Krznar, he was appointed as the coach of the first team and became the seventh coach to lead the two biggest Croatian clubs, Dinamo and Hajduk Split.[4] With Dinamo, he achieved seven consecutive victories in the HNL and European competitions, among which the 1–0 victory against West Ham United and the 1–0 victory against Sevilla in the knockout phase of the UEFA Europa League stand out the most. The win over West Ham United was the first victory of a Croatian club against an English side on their home ground in the history of Croatian club football.

In August 2022, Kopić became the coach of the Bulgarian first division side Botev Plovdiv and during his engagement, which lasted four months, he raised the club from the last place in the table to the 10th place.[5][6]

In December 2023, he became the head coach of Dinamo București.[7] Despite the tough situation when he arrived, Kopić managed to save the club from relegation, and Dinamo București remained in Liga I.[8] After the first half of the 2024–25 season, Dinamo held second place with a 24–17 goal difference in 15 games, making it one of the biggest surprises in the Romanian Superliga. He was honored as Manager of the Month for August 2024, an award bestowed by Gazeta Sporturilor. At the end of 2024, he won the "Manager of the Year" award.[9]

In his first full season with the club, Dinamo had a record of thirteen wins, twelve draws and five losses in 30 games in the regular season, totalling 51 points, and qualified for the championship play-offs for the first time in eight years, finishing the season in the sixth place.[10][11]

The 2025–26 season saw the team improve even further under Kopić's management, finishing the regular season with 52 points, qualifying for championship play-offs where they finished in fourth position which gave them the opportunity to play in the European competition play-offs final. Dinamo also reached the semifinals of Cupa României.[12]

In terms of personal awards, during his time in Romania, Kopić has won several times the "Manager of the Month" award and twice the "Manager of the Year" award.[13][14][15]

On 26 August 2026, Kopić was appointed manager of Polish top division newcomers Wieczysta Kraków, replacing Kazimierz Moskal.[16]

Managerial statistics

As of match played 29 August 2026
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team Nat From To Record
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Lučko Croatia 23 August 2011 31 May 2012 2451272429−5020.83
Cibalia Croatia 30 July 2012 25 November 2012 154381424−10026.67
NK Zagreb Croatia 6 June 2014 10 June 2015 37137175363−10035.14
Slaven Belupo Croatia 10 June 2015 24 October 2017 96292740109114−5030.21
Hajduk Split Croatia 13 November 2017 6 September 2018 34161086339+24047.06
Pafos Cyprus 19 October 2018 6 November 2019 36149134552−7038.89
Dinamo Zagreb Croatia 2 December 2021 21 April 2022 1913242710+17068.42
Botev Plovdiv Bulgaria 3 August 2022 7 December 2022 156182519+6040.00
Dinamo București Romania 1 December 2023 5 June 2026 115434032144121+23037.39
Wieczysta Kraków Poland 26 August 2026 Present 100102−2000.00
Career total 392144110138503473+30036.73

Honours

Manager

Hajduk Split

References

  1. ↑ Željko Kopić više nije trener Slaven Belupa, evo tko će voditi Farmaceute - ePodravina (in Croatian)
  2. ↑ Rogulj, Daniela. "Carrilo's Successor Confirmed! Former Slaven Belupo coach Zeljko Kopic to Lead Hajduk". Total Croatian News. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
  3. ↑ "Željko Kopić u novoj misiji spašavanja, preuzeo je Pafos..." www.24sata.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 2022-12-04.
  4. ↑ "Željko Kopić postao je sedmi trener koji je u karijeri vodio i Hajduk i Dinamo". Telesport.hr (in Croatian). 2021-12-02. Retrieved 2022-12-04.
  5. ↑ "Željko Kopić je novi trener Boteva iz Plovdiva". NACIONAL.HR (in Croatian). Retrieved 2022-12-04.
  6. ↑ "Желко Копич е новият треньор на Ботев". botevplovdiv.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 2022-12-04.
  7. ↑ "Nakon Dinama, opet Dinamo: Željko Kopić sjeda na klupu velikana". Gol.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 2023-12-29.
  8. ↑ "2023-2024 Dinamo București Stats, Liga I". FBref.com.
  9. ↑ "Superlativele GSP 2024". GSP.ro.
  10. ↑ Titor, Cezar (March 1, 2025). "De pe vremea lui Busuladzic! Cum s-a transformat Dinamo de la ultimul meci în play-off". GSP.ro.
  11. ↑ "2024–25 FC Dinamo București season". June 19, 2026 – via Wikipedia.
  12. ↑ "2025–26 FC Dinamo București season". June 20, 2026 – via Wikipedia.
  13. ↑ "Zeljko Kopic, discurs în premieră în limba română la Super Gala Fanatik 2025. Dialog de senzație cu Gigi Becali: „Ești singurul antrenor care mă bate"". December 9, 2025.
  14. ↑ Crăiţoiu, Andrei (May 1, 2026). "Zeljko Kopic, „Antrenorul lunii aprilie" » Interviu EXCLUSIV pentru GSP: „Dar de ce credeți că vom fi noi la barajul cu FCSB?!"". GSP.ro.
  15. ↑ Crăiţoiu, Andrei (January 9, 2025). "Zeljko Kopic, „Antrenorul lunii decembrie 2024"". GSP.ro.
  16. ↑ Ptak, Jakub (26 August 2026). "Wieczysta Kraków ma nowego trenera. To Zeljko Kopić". sport.tvp.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 26 August 2026.
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