Franco Baresi has died at the age of 66, with AC Milan saying their former captain’s “example and integrity will be forever etched into the club’s DNA”.

Baresi spent his entire 20-year playing career with the club from 1977 until he retired in 1997, winning six Serie A titles and three European Cups/Champions Leagues.

Regarded as one of the greatest defenders to play the game, Baresi captained Milan for 15 seasons, making 719 appearances and scoring 33 goals.

He was capped 81 times by Italy and was part of the squad which won the 1982 World Cup. He played and was captain in the 1994 final, which Italy lost to Brazil.

In 2020, Baresi became honorary vice-president of AC Milan, with the club retiring his number six shirt four years later.

Image source: Getty Images
Image caption: In the 1993-94 season, Baresi and AC Milan manager Fabio Capello lifted a third consecutive Serie A title, the Champions League and the Supercoppa Italiana

Baresi formed part of one of European football’s most celebrated defences alongside Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Costacurta and Mauro Tassotti.

He also lifted four Supercoppa Italianas, two European Super Cups and the Intercontinental Cup twice.

In the 1994 World Cup, he returned from a knee injury to play in the final and largely nullified the threat of Brazil’s Romario and Bebeto in a 0-0 draw.

It was the first World Cup final to be decided by a shootout and Baresi missed the first penalty, with Brazil eventually winning it 3-2.

Baresi had surgery in August 2025 to remove a lung nodule, and his last public appearance was at the San Siro Stadium for the Winter Olympics opening ceremony in February.

In a statement on X, AC Milan wrote: “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.”

In a further post on the club’s website, they added: “Announcing the loss of someone who embodied the heart and soul of AC Milan is incredibly difficult. But everyone at the club and all the Milanisti must live up to Franco Baresi’s memory.

“In memory of Franco, we stand united, knowing he’ll guide and push us throughout our Rossoneri journey. Forever. Because Baresi is forever.”

• ‘How will we manage without our captain?’ – tributes to Baresi

Maldini, 58, who also spent his entire career at Milan, paid tribute to his former team-mate, writing on Instagram: “Today, I feel the same way I did whenever – for whatever reason – you couldn’t take the field alongside us: how will we manage without our captain?

“You taught me to fight until my very last breath, and showed me the meaning of devotion to the jersey and the true value of leadership.

“You protected me when I was a child, guided me as a young man, and inspired me as an adult.

“You were the greatest footballer I ever had the honour of playing with.”

Former Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon shared memories of his debut for Parma competing against Baresi as a 17-year-old in 1995.

He wrote: “For a boy my age, finding myself on the field against champions like him was something incredible. From that day on, I had an even clearer understanding of what it meant to represent football with class, leadership and respect.”

Inter Milan said: “Farewell to Franco Baresi, protagonist of the great clashes in the Milan derby and one of the figures who most defined the history of the rivalry.

“Captain, team man and flagbearer of AC Milan, he lived every match-up with Inter between competition and respect, within a challenge that wrote unforgettable pages of Italian soccer.”

Inter Milan manager Cristian Chivu said Baresi’s death “is a sad day for the whole world, he represented being one of the greats in the history of football”.

Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni said Baresi “was not only one of the greatest champions in (Italian) sports history, but also an example of loyalty, seriousness, and dedication”.

The head of the Italian football federation (FICG), Giovanni Malago, praised Baresi for the “romantic choice” of staying loyal to AC Milan throughout his career, “which rightfully made him enter the hearts of the fans and millions of Italians.”