Italian football is paying tribute to one of its greatest icons, Franco Baresi, the legendary captain of AC Milan and the Italian national team, who has died at the age of 66.
Widely regarded as one of the finest defenders of all time, the news was announced on Thursday morning by the Rossoneri club in a message posted on its official channels.
"The entire history of AC Milan is in tears following the passing of Franco Baresi. His example and integrity will be forever etched into the Club's DNA, just as his iconic number 6 shirt is. The condolences AC Milan extends to Franco Baresi's family at such a difficult time are shared by every Rossonero, who feels this loss as their own."
His death symbolically closes an era for Milan and for Italian football, which has lost one of its most iconic leading figures.
A one-club man
Born on 8 May 1960 in Travagliato, in the province of Brescia, Baresi began his football journey as Milan's youth academy. He made his Serie A debut in 1978, aged just 17, and went on to build a career that would bind him forever to the Rossoneri red and black colours.
In twenty years with Milan he experienced all the highs and lows of the club's recent history: from the star scudetto won in 1979 to the difficult years in Serie B, through to the return to the topof European football with Arrigo Sacchi's team and, later, with the side coached by Fabio Capello, which enjoyed a remarkable 58-game unbeaten run.
A quiet but charismatic leader, he became the face of the all-conquering Milan of the 1980s and 1990s which won several domestic and European titles.
Throughout those times, Baresi always wore the captain's armband and the number 6 shirt. He played more than 700 official matches before retiring at the end of the 1996-1997 season.
As a mark of gratitude, Milan has announced it is retiring his number 6 shirt permanently, an honour reserved for the greatest figures in the club's history.
Success with Milan and with the national team
Franco Baresi's trophy haul tells the story of an extraordinary career. With Milan he won 6 scudetti, 3 European Cups/Champions Leagues, 2 Intercontinental Cups, 2 UEFA Super Cups, 4 Italian Super Cups, 2 Serie B championships and 1 Mitropa Cup.
He also wrote important chapters in the history of Italian football with the national team. Called up by Enzo Bearzot for the 1982 World Cup, he was part of the squad that became world champions in Spain, even though he did not play.
In the following years he became a mainstay of Italy, taking third place at Italia '90 and captaining the Azzurri all the way to the final of the 1994 World Cup in the United States. In that tournament, after suffering a serious meniscus injury during the competition, he managed to recover in time for the final against Brazil, delivering a performance of the highest level before the side was defeated on penalties.
He remains the only Italian footballer to have ended his World Cup career with a first, a second and a third place finish.
Illness and the worsening of his condition
In 2025 Milan announced that routine tests had revealed a lung nodule. Baresi underwent a minimally invasive surgical procedure to remove the lesion, which was completed without complications, followed by consolidating immunotherapy.
In the months that followed he spent his convalescence away from the club's official commitments, reassuring fans with a message in which he explained that he needed time to recover.
In recent days unfounded reports of his death had circulated on social media. These were denied by Milan, which had nevertheless confirmed how delicate the situation was. His condition subsequently deteriorated, leading to his death.
With the death of Franco Baresi, Milan has lost its most emblematic standard-bearer and world football one of the most elegant, intelligent and successful defenders in its history. His sporting legacy will continue to live on through the exploits that defined an entire era of Italian football.
