Croatia national team Ivanković then became an assistant manager to
Miroslav Blažević, who led the
Croatia national team to a sensational third-place finish at the
1998 World Cup finals in France. In the 1999–2000 season, he coached German club
Hannover 96, which was playing in the
2. Bundesliga at the time. He briefly returned to the Croatia national team as the assistant to
Mirko Jozić during the qualifications for the
2002 World Cup, before he took over the
Iran national team, where he replaced Blažević, who had managed them since 2001.
Iran Ivanković was appointed to the head of the Iranian team on 29 January 2002. Under Ivanković, Iran's U23 football team won the
2002 Asian Games in
Pusan. He remained the coach of the national team until the end of 2002, when he was replaced by
Homayun Shahrokhi. Ivanković also led Iran to qualify for the
2006 World Cup, the third time in the country's history (they had previously been eliminated in the first round in 1978 and 1998). This in turn resulted a FIFA suspension for Iran's football due to political interference.
Dinamo Zagreb On 6 November 2006, Ivanković replaced
Josip Kuže as the head coach of Croatian club
Dinamo Zagreb. He led the club to the
Double in 2007 without losing a single competitive match. On 14 January 2008, he resigned as the coach of Dinamo Zagreb, mostly due to his differences with the club's executive vice-president
Zdravko Mamić. Ivanković returned as the manager of Dinamo Zagreb on 21 May 2008. He replaced
Zvonimir Soldo, who resigned immediately after Dinamo won the domestic double. In July 2009, Ivanković was offered the role of
Persepolis manager in Iran, but he rejected the offer.
Shandong Luneng On 17 December 2009, Ivanković was appointed as the new head coach of Chinese giant
Shandong Luneng. He was sacked on 29 April 2012 after finishing the 2011–12 season in fourth.
Al Wahda In May 2012,
UAE Pro-League side
Al-Wahda said it signed a two-year contract with Ivanković and that he would take charge at the club in the 2012–13 season, but his contract was terminated on 27 April 2013, after a 3–4 loss to
Ajman Club. At the time of his dismissal, Al Wahda was ranked at the 7th place.
Return to Dinamo Zagreb On 2 September 2013, Ivanković returned to
Dinamo Zagreb, the club he led from 2006 to 2008. However, he was sacked on 21 October 2013, after just five games.
Persepolis , 3 October 2015 On 5 April 2015, Ivanković was confirmed as the new manager of
Persepolis, signing a -year contract with the club. After good performances with the club, which left the team in the first place with six matches remaining, Ivanković extended his contract with Persepolis in April 2016 to the end of the 2017–18 season and in 2017 to the end of the 2019–20 season. After the end of the 2018–19 season, it was reported that he was signed for Ahli Jeddah before returning to Croatia for his annual vacation. Ivanković announced that he will leave Persepolis on 11 June 2019.
Al-Ahli On 18 June 2019, he was confirmed signing a two-year contract with
Al-Ahli. On 16 September 2019, Ivanković was officially sacked after just five games due to poor results.
Oman On 19 January 2020, Ivanković was announced as the head coach of the
Oman national team to succeed
Erwin Koeman after the latter's dismissal. Under Ivanković, Oman pulled off a historic win over
Japan in the
final round of the
2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. In December 2021, he extended his contract with Oman until 2023. Following Oman's group stage exit from the
2023 AFC Asian Cup without a single win, Ivanković was sacked by the
Oman Football Association.
China On 24 February 2024, Ivanković was announced as the head coach of
China national football team, replacing former Yugoslav compatriot
Aleksandar Janković. This disappointed some fans who were expecting
Joachim Löw as the new head coach. Under his tenure, China only managed to reach the
third round of the World Cup qualification by the slimmest margin, thanks to China's superior head-to-head record against Thailand after both teams were equal on points, goals scored and goal difference. Following China’s elimination in the third round of World Cup qualification, Ivanković was sacked by the
Chinese Football Association.
Retirement On 30 October 2025, Ivanković announced his retirement from management in a social media post. ==Personal life==