Miroslav Koubek

Miroslav Koubek (born 1 September 1951) is a Czech professional football manager and former player who played as a goalkeeper. He last managed the Czech Republic national team. He won the Czech First League with Viktoria Plzeň in the 2014–15 season.

Coaching career Koubek coached several Czech clubs. He led SK Kladno to the Czech Second League title in the 2005–06 season, securing the club's return to top-flight football for the first time since 1970. In the 2008–09 season, he led FC Zenit Čáslav to second place in the Czech Second League and promotion to the First League, although Čáslav eventually sold the First League license to rivals and remained in the Second League. Koubek joined FC Baník Ostrava in June 2009, leading them to third place in the 2009–10 Czech First League. The 2010–11 season however started with miserable results for Baník, with the club losing seven of the opening 13 matches, and Koubek was sacked in October.

Koubek returned to the Czech First League as the manager of Mladá Boleslav on 28 May 2011. Koubek led Boleslav to fourth place in the 2011–12 Czech First League and qualification for the following season's UEFA Europa League. However, after a run of three consecutive league defeats, he resigned from his position in September 2012. Koubek was appointed to the manager's position at Slavia Prague in September 2013 following the resignation of former boss Michal Petrouš. He was sacked in March 2014.

In August 2014, Koubek became the new manager of FC Viktoria Plzeň and in May 2015 won his first league title. In July 2015 he celebrated the Czech Supercup with his side, who defeated Liberec 2–1. In spite of his league success, Plzeň only won once in their first four league matches of the 2015–16 season and were eliminated in the qualifying rounds of the Champions League, culminating in his departure from the role by mutual consent in mid-August 2015.

On 30 May 2016, Koubek was announced as the new manager of Bohemians 1905. Koubek was appointed to the manager's position at Hradec Králové in June 2021 following the resignation of manager Zdenko Frťala. In June 2023, Koubek returned to Plzeň for a third spell in charge of the club, signing a one-year contract, which made him the oldest coach in the league.

On 19 December 2025, Koubek was hired as manager of Czech Republic national team. In March 2026, he led his nation to qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup after winning both play-off ties on penalties against the Republic of Ireland and Denmark in the 2026 World Cup qualification European play-off round, marking their first appearance since 2006. On the opening day of the 2026 World Cup, Koubek became the oldest coach to manage a World Cup team, only hours after South Africa's coach Hugo Broos had broken the record. However, less than three days later, the title was passed to Dick Advocaat of the Curaçao national team, who surpassed Koubek by roughly four years.

Managerial statistics

Honours Managerial Kladno Czech Second League: 2005–06 Viktoria Plzeň Czech First League: 2014–15 Czech Supercup: 2015

Individual Czech First League Manager of the Season: 2024