He played the vast majority of his professional club career for Hajduk Split and Red Star Belgrade in the Yugoslav Federal League and for the Yugoslavia national football team.

[1][2] Beara was born into an ethnic Serb family to parents Jakov and Marija in the village of Zelovo Sutinsko near Sinj in present-day Croatia.

[5] For Hajduk Split (1946–55) Beara played 308 games, and helped his team to win the Yugoslav League title in 1950, 1952 and 1955.

[7] Immediately after being selected to play for the Yugoslavia national team, he became famous mostly due to his fabulous stops in a match against England at Highbury Stadium of Arsenal.

Beara participated in the 1952 Summer Olympic Games; he was a member of the team that reached the final against Hungary, winning a silver medal.

""My confidence in goal, the way I seemed to be able to catch a ball easily, and my technique for taming shots I put down to Barba Luka.

""There was an entertaining, aesthetic air about him, that's why his jumps and dives with feet curled and body perfectly poised appealed.