In the 2002–03 season, Čačić was at the helm of Inter Zaprešić in the South Division in the Druga HNL. In March 2003, he resigned after losing to the first-placed team Uljanik, leaving Inter at the second place in the table and five points behind the leaders. He was replaced with Ilija Lončarević, who achieved promotion to Prva HNL.
Libya (2005–2006)
When Lončarević was appointed as the manager of Libya national football team, he named Čačić as his assistant. During his time at Libya, he was chosen to lead their under-20 squad at the 2005 Mediterranean Games held in Spain. After losing to the hosts in the semi-finals, they won the bronze medal after defeating Morocco in the penalty shoot-out.
Kamen Ingrad (2006–2007)
In June 2006, Čačić returned to Croatia and was appointed as manager of Kamen Ingrad, but after only three months he terminated his contract.
Inter Zaprešić (2007)
In October 2006, he again took over the helm of Inter Zaprešić after they sacked Srećko Bogdan. Čačić led Inter to the first place in the 2006–07 Druga HNL and the team was promoted to Prva HNL. After a disappointing start in the following season, he was sacked in August 2007.
Lokomotiva (2011)
In October 2011, Čačić was appointed as manager of Lokomotiva. They finished in the sixth place at the winter break, undefeated in four games led by Čačić.
On 23 December 2011, it was announced that Čačić had signed a one-and-a-half-year contract with Dinamo Zagreb. He was sacked from Dinamo in November 2012.
Čačić left Radnik Sesvete in early June 2013, when he accepted an offer from Slovenian champions Maribor.
Slaven Belupo (2014–2015)
Čačić became manager of Slaven Belupo on 4 November 2014 and the club finished 6th in his only season at the club.
Lokomotiva (2015)
Čačić became manager of Lokomotiva on 3 June 2015 and was with the club for only 3 months before being selected as head coach of the Croatia national team.
Croatia (2015–2017)
Euro 2016: Qualifying and finals
Following the sacking of Niko Kovač, which was caused due to a poor run in the Euro 2016 qualifying, Ante Čačić was appointed as the head coach of the Croatia national team. His appointment was very controversial and left fans of the national team in shock. Croatia finished 2nd in their qualifying group, securing a place in the group stages of Euro 2016. Croatia enjoyed a memorable group stage run, topping their group after beating European champions Spain by a scoreline of 2–1 on 21 June 2016, despite key-player Luka Modrić not playing due to injury problems. However, Croatia fans had earlier sparked controversy during a match against the Czech Republic, which finished 2–2, when flares were lit at the near end of the match. After beating Spain, Croatia were tipped as one of the favorites to win the tournament, but they were knocked out by future winnersPortugalin the round of sixteen. Čačić was voted as the 7th Best National Team Coach by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics.
Čačić took Croatia to a strong start in their qualifying campaign, with Croatia leading their group and remaining undefeated. However, defeats to Iceland and Turkey, as well as a draw to Finland threatened their progression and caused a public outcry against Čačić, who was criticized for his poor team selection, decreasing player morale and losing support from players and fans. Čačić was also criticized by former Croatia head coach Miroslav Blažević. He was sacked on 7 October 2017, with Zlatko Dalić being named as his successor.
Pyramids FC (2019–present)
On 27 December 2019, he was named the new manager of Egyptian club Pyramids FC.
