AC Milan announced on Friday morning that Franco Baresi, the club’s legendary former captain and one of the most celebrated defenders in football history, had died at the age of 66. No cause of death was given, though the club confirmed Baresi had undergone surgery in August 2025 to remove a lung nodule and had continued receiving treatment since.
Milan’s statement described the loss as deeply felt across the entire club. The Rossoneri said Baresi’s integrity and example would remain permanently woven into the club’s identity, as enduring as his iconic number 6 shirt.
A Career Defined by Loyalty and Trophies
Baresi spent his entire professional career at San Siro. Over 20 seasons he made 719 appearances for Milan, winning six Serie A titles and three European Cups. His first Scudetto arrived in the 1978-79 campaign, when he was still a teenager establishing himself under coach Nils Liedholm. Further league titles followed in the late 1980s and early 1990s, forming the core of one of European football’s most dominant club sides. He also collected two Intercontinental Cups and four Italian Supercups.
He became captain at just 22. That armband defined him for the rest of his playing days.
Italy’s World Cup Winner
On the international stage, Baresi was part of the Italy squad that lifted the World Cup in 1982, earning 81 caps across his Azzurri career. He also featured in the 1994 World Cup final. Gazzetta dello Sport described him as widely regarded as one of the finest sweepers the game has seen, an assessment shared by opponents and teammates alike.
His path to the top was shaped early by adversity. Orphaned at 14, he joined Milan’s youth set-up in 1974 after being rejected by Inter, who considered him too slight. The club never let him go.
Final Public Appearance at the Winter Olympics
His last appearance at San Siro came in February 2026, when Baresi carried the Olympic flame into the stadium’s opening ceremony for the Milano-Cortina Winter Games. It was a fitting final chapter at the ground where he had spent a lifetime.
AC Milan became the club’s honorary vice-president in 2020. The club’s tribute on Friday described the loss as one felt by every Rossonero supporter as though it were personal.
Tributes Pour In
Milan’s official statement, posted across the club’s channels, said the entire history of AC Milan was in mourning. The club called the announcement of such a loss incredibly difficult, and urged supporters to draw on Baresi’s example even in the grief of the moment.
He leaves behind a legacy built across four decades at a single club. Few careers in Italian football have matched it for consistency, honour, or devotion.
