Mircea Lucescu has passed away at the age of 80. The legendary coach did not manage to overcome the recent heart attack he suffered at the University Hospital, where he had been hospitalized for several days.
The first issues arose after he felt unwell during the national team camp of Romania, at the technical meeting before the friendly match with Slovakia (0-2), which he did not attend. „Il Luce” was taken to the hospital, where he suffered a heart attack on Friday, April 3, and has not recovered since.
Mircea Lucescu's death comes just a few days after he finished his second term as the coach of the Romanian national team. The coach left the national team after failing to qualify for the 2026 World Cup following the lost match against Turkey (0-1, in Istanbul). Lucescu had been appointed as the coach of Romania in August 2024.
Furthermore, his death comes in the context of health problems he had earlier this year, and doctors from Romania and Belgium advised him to stop coaching.
Mircea Lucescu, a career crowned with success
Mircea Lucescu became one of the legendary coaches in world football. Throughout his career, "Il Luce" won 37 trophies, ranking as the third coach in the all-time list for the number of titles won, after Sir Alex Ferguson and Pep Guardiola.
The significant milestones in Lucescu's career are linked to the Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk, a team he completely transformed and with which he won eight Ukrainian league titles, as well as the UEFA Cup in 2009.
Moreover, Lucescu was also an important figure in Turkish football, where he won league titles with Galatasaray and Beşiktaş, as well as the UEFA Super Cup with Galatasaray in 2000.
In Romania, Mircea won the league title with two different teams, Dinamo and Rapid.
In his coaching career, "Il Luce" trained teams such as Corvinul, Dinamo, Pisa, Brescia, Reggiana, Rapid, Inter, Galatasaray, Beşiktaş, Shakhtar, Zenit Saint Petersburg, Dynamo Kyiv, and the Turkish national team.
Mircea Lucescu's first term as the coach of the Romanian national team, held in the early '80s, remains a historic milestone for Romanian football: under his guidance, Romania qualified for the 1984 European Championship, marking the first appearance of the "Tricolors" at a European final tournament.