Sergej Jakirović (; born 23 December 1976) is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player who is the current manager of Croatian Football League club Rijeka. Club career Jakirović played in the Croatian Prva HNL for Neretva, Istra, Kamen Ingrad, NK Zagreb and Rijeka. International career Jakirović made his debut for Bosnia and Herzegovina in an August 2005 friendly match away against Estonia and has earned a total of 5 caps, scoring no goals. His final international was a February 2006 friendly against Japan. Managerial career Early career Between 2017 and 2018, Jakirović managed Sesvete in the Croatian second division. On 20 June 2018, Jakirović was appointed manager of Prva HNL club Gorica, which he led to fifth place in the 2018–19 league season. On 24 February 2020, following a 6–0 loss to Hajduk Split, he was sacked by the club. On 23 April 2020, Jakirović was named new manager of Slovenian PrvaLiga club Maribor, replacing Darko Milanič. He was sacked on 29 August 2020 after getting eliminated by the semi-professional Northern Irish team Coleraine in the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League first qualifying round. Zrinjski Mostar On 28 December 2020, Jakirović became the new manager of Bosnian Premier League club Zrinjski Mostar, signing a three-and-a-half year contract with the club. In his first game in charge, Zrinjski beat Krupa in a league match on 27 February 2021. He oversaw his first loss as Zrinjski manager in a Bosnian Cup game against Sarajevo, played on 10 March 2021. On 20 January 2022, Jakirović signed a two-and-a-half year contract extension until 2024. After beating Radnik Bijeljina on 19 March 2022, Zrinjski broke the all-time Bosnian Premier League record with 13 consecutive victories, overpassing the previous record of 12 victories set by Željezničar in the 2011–12 season. On 16 April 2022, he managed Zrinjski to a 4–0 win against Sarajevo, clinching the club's record seventh league title seven rounds before the end of the season. After getting eliminated from the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League first qualifying round by Moldovan club Sheriff Tiraspol, Jakirović led Zrinjski to the 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League play-off round, where they got eliminated by Slovak club Slovan Bratislava following a penalty shoot-out, missing out on a chance to play in the group stage. On 29 November 2022, the board of Zrinjski confirmed that Jakirović had left the club, as he was set to sign a contract with