Former AC Milan defender Franco Baresi has died, the club announced on Thursday, July 30, calling him an “integral and fundamental part of the DNA and the path of the whole club.” The Italian soccer legend was 66.
A cause of death has not been released, but Baresi underwent surgery last year to remove a pulmonary nodule and had been prescribed recovery treatment by a cancer specialist.
He was in the public eye as recently as February, when he was a torch bearer for the Olympic flame at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. Baresi served alongside Giuseppe Bergomi, his former rival from Inter Milan, in a moment of unity for the host nation.
As news of Baresi’s death has started to spread, tributes from the Italian soccer world have begun to pour in, including from his former teammate, Paolo Maldini.
“Today I feel the same way as I did whenever, for whatever reason, you couldn’t take to the pitch alongside us: how will we manage without our Captain?” Madini wrote via Instagram. “You taught me to fight until my very last breath, what it means to be devoted to the shirt, and the value of being a true leader. You did so by example, every single day: few words, but so many deeds.”
Madini, 58, continued, “You protected me when I was a child, guided me as a teenager and inspired me as a man. You were the greatest footballer I’ve ever had the honour of playing alongside.”
Giovanni Malagò, president of the Italian Football Federation, also released a statement, calling Baresi one of the country’s legends.
“An extraordinary champion who, throughout his entire career, wore only two shirts: that of Milan and the Azzurri,” he said. “A romantic choice that earned him a rightful place in the hearts of fans and millions of Italians.”
The statement continued, “We will honour his memory as he deserves during the national team’s upcoming matches — the very national team to which he always showed exceptional loyalty, becoming one of its most glorious symbols.”
Baresi, regarded as one of the greatest defenders of all-time, competed for AC Milan from 1977 to 1997, and for Italy on the national stage from 1982 to 1994. When he retired as a player, AC Milan retired his No. 6 jersey, a first in Italian football.
His death comes just one day after Italy’s Tuttosport prematurely reported his death on Tuesday, July 29, forcing AC Milan to shoot down the report. The club clarified at the time that he had merely experienced a setback in his health as players and celebrities began to pay tribute, including Italy’s deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini.
“The true Milan, the true Football,” he wrote via X in a since-deleted post. “Fly with your curve Captain, you have been and will always be our flag.”
