László Kubala

Childhood and youth

Kubala was born in Budapest, as were his parents, who came from mixed backgrounds. His mother, Anna Stecz, a factory worker, had Polish and Slovak roots, while his father, Pál Kubala Kurjas, a bricklayer, was Slovak. Kubala described himself as a "cosmopolitan". He began his career as a junior player with Ganz TE, a factory team that played in the Hungarian third division. At the age of 11, he was playing in teams with other players who were three to five years older. At the age of 18, he signed for Ferencvárosi where he was a teammate of Sándor Kocsis. In 1946, Kubala moved to Czechoslovakia, allegedly to avoid military service, and joined Slovan Bratislava. In 1947, he married Anna Viola Daučíkova, the sister of the Czechoslovak national coach, Ferdinand Daučík. In 1948, Kubala returned to Hungary, again to allegedly avoid military service, and joined Vasas.

Refugee

In January 1949, as Hungary was occupied by the Soviet Union and became a communist satellite state, Kubala fled the country in the back of a truck. Initially, he arrived in the United States zone of Allied-occupied Austria and then moved on to Italy, where he played briefly for Pro Patria. In May 1949, he also agreed to play for Torino in a testimonial against Benfica, but pulled out after his son became ill. On the way back from Lisbon, the plane carrying the Torino team crashed into the Superga hills, killing all 31 people on board. Meanwhile, the Hungarian Football…

Kubala played for three international teams – Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Spain. While playing with ŠK Slovan Bratislava, he appeared in six games and scored four goals for Czechoslovakia between 1946 and 1947. After returning to Budapest in 1948, he played three games for Hungary but failed to score. After adopting Spanish nationality, Kubala played 19 times and scored 11 goals for Spain between 1953 and 1961, being one of a small group to have played for the country having been born elsewhere. The highlight of his international career was a hat-trick for Spain against Turkey in 3–0 win in November 1957. Despite playing for three countries, Kubala never played in the finals of a major international tournament. He was included in the Spain squad for the 1962 World Cup but, along with Alfredo Di Stéfano, did not play due to injury. As well as playing for three international teams, Kubala also played for both a Europe XI and the Catalan XI. On 21 October 1953, England played a Europe XI at Wembley Stadium to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Football Association and Kubala scored twice in the 4–4 draw. He also played four games and scored four times for the Catalan XI. On 26 January 1955, in a game against Bologna at Les Corts, he was joined by guest player Alfredo Di Stéfano; the Catalan XI won 6–2 with two goals from Kubala and one from Di Stéfano. His last game for the Catalan XI was his own testimonial on 4 March 1993 at the Montjuïc Stadium against an International…

After leaving Barcelona, Kubala accepted a contract as a player-coach with Espanyol and teamed up with Alfredo Di Stéfano. During his time at Espanyol, he gave a La Liga debut to his son, Branko. In 1966, he joined Zürich, again as player-coach, and made his last appearance in a European Cup game against the competition's eventual winners, Celtic. In 1967, Kubala went to Canada, where at Toronto Falcons he enjoyed something of family reunion with his father-in-law, Ferdinand Daučík, his brother-in-law, Yanko Daucik and his son Branko. He appeared in 19 matches for Toronto, scoring five times. By the end of 1968, he had returned to La Liga, and after a brief spell at Córdoba, he became coach of the Spain national team. Kubala ended the team's eleven-year absence from the World Cup when he guided the team to the 1978 World Cup, but could not steer them through the first-round group stage. He also managed them at Euro 80, where they were again eliminated in the first round. In 1980, he returned to Barcelona as a manager for a second short spell before moving to Saudi Arabia where he managed Al-Hilal. He subsequently managed three other La Liga clubs, including Málaga, whom he guided to the Segunda División title in 1988. His last coaching position was with Paraguay in 1995.

Club

International

Kubala's team's score listed first, score column indicates score after each Kubala goal.