Mario Kempes

Lore & Background

Kempes was the focal point of Argentina's 1978 FIFA World Cup win where he scored twice in the final and received the Golden Boot as top goalscorer. He also won the Golden Ball for the player of the tournament, making him one of only three players to have won all three awards at a single World Cup, along with Garrincha in 1962 and Paolo Rossi in 1982. Kempes won South American Footballer of the Year, Onze d'Or European Footballer of the Year and World Cup Golden Ball in 1978. In 2004, he was named as one of the Top 125 greatest living footballers as part of FIFA's 100th anniversary celebration. Kempes was nicknamed El Toro and El Matador.

Reader's Guide

Kempes' career started at local club Instituto, where he played alongside Osvaldo Ardiles before quickly moving on to Rosario Central, where he established himself as a remarkable goalscorer, scoring 85 goals in 105 matches, prompting Valencia to sign him. At Mestalla he would go on to win the Copa del Rey, the European Cup Winners' Cup and the European Super Cup as well as two consecutive Pichichis, scoring 24 and 28 goals in the 1976–77 and 1977–78 seasons.

Famous as a hard-working forward, he used to strike from outside the penalty area with his surging runs towards goal and was not the traditional center-forward operating solely inside the box. Many defenders found difficulty handling his attacking style. After leaving Valencia in 1984, Kempes spent two years at Hércules in nearby Alicante before spending six years at various Austrian clubs. His play declined in his 30s and he did not compete for top scorer honours in the Austrian top flight. He rounded off his career with stints at more obscure clubs in Indonesia, Chile and Albania during the 1990s.

Did You Know?

• Kempes was the only foreign-based player on the list of coach César Luis Menotti's Argentina national team before the 1978 World Cup.
• He scored six goals in the 1978 tournament, all in braces: two against Poland, two against Peru, and two in the final against the Netherlands.
• Kempes made his full-time managing debut in Albania with Lushnja, becoming the first foreign manager who signed a foreign player in Albanian football history.
• He currently works as a football analyst and commentator in Spanish for ESPN Deportes and provides commentary in the Latin American version of FIFA video games from FIFA 13 up until FIFA 23.