Vladimir PetkoviÃÂ (; born 15 August 1963) is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player. He is currently the head 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.
PetkoviÃÂ is from Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Apart from his Bosnian one, he also holds Swiss and Croatian passports.
Petkoviàwas born in Sarajevo, SFR Yugoslavia, modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina, in 1963 to a Bosnian Croat family. He is a naturalized Swiss and holds Bosnian, Swiss and Croatian passports. His parents worked in education and due to the family's frequent moving, Petkoviàchanged schools several times. They first lived in Vrelo Bosne and then when he was five years old, in Hadà ¾iÃÂi near Sarajevo.
A midfielder with good technique, Petkoviàstarted playing football in Ilidà ¾a as an eleven-year-old before joining the youth sector of his hometown side FK Sarajevo as a fifteen-year-old.
He remained at FK Sarajevo and began his professional career there in the early 1980s. Petkoviàmade only a handful of appearances in a strong Sarajevo side led on the pitch by Bosnian Safet Suà ¡iÃÂ. Petkoviàwas a part of the Sarajevo side that won the 1984âÂÂ85 Yugoslav First League, but made only two league appearances for them. His time at Sarajevo was interrupted by two brief stints elsewhere: first, a successful time with Rudar Prijedor where Petkoviàshowed good scoring ability; and then a less successful season in the Yugoslav Second League with a poor NK Koper side which was relegated after finishing last.
PetkoviÃÂ emigrated from Yugoslavia in 1987, leaving FK Sarajevo and moving permanently to Switzerland, where he joined second division club Chur 97. After a season with Chur, PetkoviÃÂ moved to the Swiss top division, joining a strong Sion side. Sion achieved a third-place finish in the Nationalliga but PetkoviÃÂ left the club at the end of the season after only making six league appearances.
After leaving Sion, PetkoviÃÂ moved back into the lower tiers, first joining Martigny-Sports before returning to his first Swiss club, Chur 97. PetkoviÃÂ enjoyed a career as a regular goalscoring midfielder in the Swiss second division, which included two more stints at Bellinzona and Lugano.
PetkoviÃÂ completed his playing career as a player-manager with Bellinzona and Malcantone Agno, the latter having later merged with financially stricken Lugano.
After his retirement from playing, Petkoviàbecame a coach and his first job was player-manager at Bellinzona in 1997. In 2004, he took over the reins at Lugano before returning to Bellinzona for the fourth time in his career, where he led the club to the 2008 Swiss Cup final, only to lose out to Basel, and promotion to the Swiss Super League. At the beginning of the 2008âÂÂ09 season, he was appointed as manager of Young Boys. After taking charge at the club, Petkoviàinstalled a 3âÂÂ4âÂÂ3 formation and took the Bern side to a second-placed league finish. After two more seasons with Young Boys, he was sacked after a 1âÂÂ1 draw against Luzern on 7 May 2011. The club finished in third place in the league behind their rivals Zürich and Basel.
In 2011, he became the new manager of Turkish side Samsunspor. He resigned from that position in January 2012 with the club in the relegation zone. On 15 May 2012, he was named the new temporary manager of Sion until the end of the 2011âÂÂ12 season.
On 2 June 2012, Petkoviàbecame the new manager of Italian side Lazio in Serie A. He won the Coppa Italia with the club in the 2012âÂÂ13 season, thanks to a 71st minute goal from compatriot Senad Luliàin the final.
On 23 December 2013, it was announced that PetkoviÃÂ was to succeed Ottmar Hitzfeld as the manager of the Switzerland national team after the 2014 FIFA World Cup. As a result, Claudio Lotito fired PetkoviÃÂ claiming a breach of the contract due to not having been duly informed by PetkoviÃÂ about the latter's ongoing negotiations with the Swiss Football Association. PetkoviÃÂ was sacked as Lazio manager on 4 January 2014 and was replaced by Edy Reja, which resulted in a legal dispute concerning the contract termination.
Since his appointment to the national team spot in July 2014, Petkoviàhas guided the Swiss to the Round of 16 stages of both the UEFA Euro 2016 and the 2018 FIFA World Cup, along with the quarter-finals of UEFA Euro 2020. They also reached the 2019 UEFA Nations League Finals. At the UEFA Euro 2020, he led Switzerland to defeat world champions France 5âÂÂ4 on penalties in the Round of 16, after a 3âÂÂ3 draw, to qualify to the quarter-finals of the European Championship for the first time in their history.
In late July 2021, PetkoviÃÂ became the manager of French club Bordeaux. In February 2022, he was sacked as the team was struggling in the relegation positions in Ligue 1.
On 29 February 2024, Petkoviàbecame the head coach of the Algerian national team. Later that year, on 6 June, he lost his first competitive match 2âÂÂ1 at home against Guinea during the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification. Four days later, he achieved his first win in a 2âÂÂ1 victory over Uganda. On 9 October 2025, Algeria qualified for the 2026 World Cup.
While living in Switzerland, PetkoviÃÂ worked for Caritas Ticino, a Catholic relief development and social service organisation, for five years.
Sarajevo
Malcantone Agno
Lazio