Juraj Kucka (; born 26 February 1987), also known by his nickname Kuco (), is retired Slovak footballer who last played as a midfielder for Slovak club Baník Prievidza.
Club career Early career Kucka made his Corgoň Liga debut for Ružomberok on 11 March 2007. He played six games in his first season. Overall, Kucka played 49 games and scored eight goals for Ružomberok.
Czech manager Michal Bílek, who managed Ružomberok in 2008, recommended Kucka to sign for AC Sparta Prague. The footballer eventually signed a three-year contract for said club in January 2009. Kucka later scored a goal on his league debut against FC Vysočina Jihlava.
Genoa In January 2011, Kucka joined Italian side Genoa for a fee of around €3.6 million, signing a contract for 4.5 years. He made his debut in the 3–2 Coppa Italia loss against Inter Milan on 12 January 2011, playing the whole match. La Gazzetta dello Sport wrote of him, after five appearances, that he was the club's second-best player behind Kakha Kaladze. He scored his first goal for Genoa in a 2–1 away victory against Lazio on 18 September 2011.
AC Milan On 28 August 2015, Kucka was signed by AC Milan for €3 million transfer fee. However, Milan also paid an unknown parties an additional €1 million. He made his league debut on 29 August 2015 in a 2–1 home victory against Empoli, and scored his first Milan goal on 9 January 2016 to equalize against AS Roma in a 1–1 draw.
Trabzonspor On 7 July 2017, Kucka was signed by Trabzonspor on a three-year contract worth €2.25 million a season, for a transfer fee of €5 million.
Parma Kucka joined Parma upon returning to Italy on 14 January 2019, stating that he intended to score more goals in Parma and improve from where he left off, when he left Italy a year and a half ago.
Kucka debuted for Parma in his first opportunity, when he came on as a substitute for Alessandro Deiola in the 73rd minute of a Serie A away fixture against Udinese. Parma won the game 2–1 by goals of Roberto Inglese and Gervinho.
In his third appearance for Parma, Kucka got his first two assists with the side. On 2 February, he assisted Barillà in the 64th minute and Ivorian international Gervinho in the 74th minute. Parma had managed to upset Juventus away, who was on top of the league table, by coming back from a two-goal margin twice to tie the game 3–3. Kucka played 86 minutes of the game.
Kucka scored his first goal after the return to Italy in his fifth match, on 16 February 2019 against Cagliari after an assist from Massimo Gobbi, setting the score to 1–0 for Parma. However, two second-half goals by Leonardo Pavoletti meant Parma lost the game 2–1.
Watford On 6 August 2021, it was announced that Kucka had signed for newly promoted Premier League club Watford. Parma confirmed on the same day that the transfer is a season-long loan.
On 14 August 2021, he made his Watford debut in their league opener against Aston Villa, where Watford won 3–2. He scored his first goal for the club in a 5–2 victory away against Everton.
Slovan Bratislava Following Watford's relegation from the Premier League, Kucka signed a two-year contract with reigning Slovak champions of the past four seasons Slovan Bratislava, where he was coached by Vladimír Weiss under whom Kucka debuted in the Slovak national team and participated in 2010 FIFA World Cup. On 23 July 2022, Kucka marked his league debut with his first goal in a 4–0 victory against AS Trenčín.
On 26 November 2024, Kucka captained Slovan in the 2024–25 UEFA Champions League game against his former side AC Milan, with Davide Calabria, the only former teammate of his still at the club, as the opposing captain. He received a warm welcome and some chants of homage from the travelling Milan fans.
International career A former Slovakia under-21 player, Kucka made his senior international debut in a friendly match against Liechtenstein on 19 November 2008, replacing Branislav Obžera in the 53rd minute. He scored his first international against Austria in 2011.
Slovakia manager Vladimír Weiss called him up for the 2010 World Cup despite the fact that Kucka had not played in any qualification matches. He played in all three group stage matches against New Zealand, Italy and the Netherlands.
Kucka was called up to the Slovakia squads for the Euro 2016, Euro 2020 and Euro 2024 tournaments. In 2023, he played his 100th match during a UEFA Euro 2024 qualification against Portugal which saw the Slovaks losing 0–1.
On 10 March 2025, Kucka announced end of his international career due to health problems.
Career statistics Club
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueCupEuropeOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsRužomberok2006–07Slovak Super Liga60———602007–08Slovak Super Liga245———2452008–09Slovak Super Liga183———183Total488———488Sparta Prague2008–09Czech First League123———1232009–10Czech First League205205Appearances in UEFA Europa League1—2762010–11Czech First League133—11Six appearances in UEFA Champions League, five appearances in UEFA Europa League2—245Total451120163—6314Genoa2010–11Serie A17010——1802011–12Serie A26210——2722012–13Serie A33320——3532013–14Serie A11210——1222014–15Serie A34200——3422015–16Serie A1000——10Total122950——1279AC Milan2015–16Serie A29150——3412016–17Serie A30321—1Appearance in Supercoppa Italiana0334Total59471—10675Trabzonspor2017–18Süper Lig25330——2832018–19Süper Lig8020——100Total33350——383Parma2018–19Serie A18400——1842019–20Serie A26620——2862020–21Serie A28700——287Total721720——7417Watford (loan)2021–22Premier League26110——271Slovan Bratislava2022–23Slovak First League2867015Four appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA EUropa League, nine appearances and two goals in UEFA Conference League2—5082023–24Slovak First League2332014Four appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League, eight appearances and two goals in UEFA Conference League2—3952024–25Slovak First League501011Appearances in UEFA Champions League0—170Total569100404—10613Career total452613215671054169
International
+ Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsSlovakia2008102009402010902011612012602013912014422015602016922017302018712019822020712021110202251202392202481Total11214
Scores and results list Slovakia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kucka goal. + List of international goals scored by Juraj KuckaNo.DateVenueCapOpponentScoreResultCompetition110 August 2011Wörthersee Stadion, Klagenfurt, Austria171–02–1Friendly215 November 2013Stadion Miejski, Wrocław, Poland351–02–0Friendly39 October 2014Štadión pod Dubňom, Žilina, Slovakia371–02–1UEFA Euro 2016 qualification415 November 2014Philip II Arena, Skopje, Macedonia391–02–0UEFA Euro 2016 qualification529 May 2016WWK Arena, Augsburg, Germany463–13–1Friendly611 November 2016Štadión Antona Malatinského, Trnava, Slovakia542–04–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification716 November 2018642–04–12018–19 UEFA Nations League B811 June 2019Bakcell Arena, Baku, Azerbaijan672–05–1UEFA Euro 2020 qualification910 October 2019Štadión Antona Malatinského, Trnava, Slovakia701–11–1UEFA Euro 2020 qualification1012 November 2020Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland771–02–1 UEFA Euro 2020 qualification1117 November 2022City Stadium, Podgorica, Montenegro952–02–2Friendly1217 June 2023Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland981–02–1UEFA Euro 2024 qualification1316 November 2023Tehelné pole, Bratislava, Slovakia1031–04–2UEFA Euro 2024 qualification149 June 2024Štadión Antona Malatinského, Trnava, Slovakia1071–04–0Friendly
Honours Sparta Prague Czech First League: 2009–10 Czech Supercup: 2010
AC Milan Supercoppa Italiana: 2016
Individual Slovak Super Liga Team of the Season: 2022–23
See also List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps
References
External links
Official website