In the summer of 2026, European football lost two of the outstanding players of its 1970s and 1980s within eleven days: Kevin Keegan, twice Ballon d’Or winner, and Franco Baresi, Milan’s captain for a generation. American sport had already lost a NASCAR champion at 41 and the manager of baseball’s great Atlanta Braves teams. These are the best-known athletes and coaches who have died in 2026 so far.
1. Martin Chivers (January 7, aged 80)
The Tottenham and England centre forward scored both goals in the first leg of the 1972 UEFA Cup final as Spurs won the trophy.
2. Glenn Hall (January 7, aged 94)
The Hall of Fame goaltender played 502 consecutive NHL games without a mask and won the Stanley Cup with Chicago in 1961.
3. Sonny Jurgensen (February 6, aged 91)
One of the great passers of the 1960s, with Philadelphia and Washington, and a Pro Football Hall of Famer.
4. Lou Holtz (March 4, aged 89)
He coached Notre Dame to the 1988 national championship and became a fixture of college football broadcasting.
5. Mircea Lucescu (April 7, aged 80)
Romania’s 1970 World Cup captain won eight Ukrainian titles and the 2009 UEFA Cup as coach of Shakhtar Donetsk, and had only just stepped down as Romania’s coach when he died.
6. Garret Anderson (April 16, aged 53)
The Angels’ all-time leader in hits drove in three runs in Game 7 of the 2002 World Series.
7. Oscar Schmidt (April 17, aged 68)
The Brazilian holds the record for most points in Olympic basketball history, 1,093, over five Games.
8. Alex Zanardi (May 1, aged 59)
The former Formula One and CART driver lost both legs in a crash in 2001 and came back to win Paralympic gold in handcycling.
9. Bobby Cox (May 9, aged 84)
He managed the Braves to 14 straight division titles and the 1995 World Series, and holds the record for managerial ejections.
10. Jason Collins (May 12, aged 47)
In 2013 he became the first openly gay man to play in one of North America’s four major leagues. He died of glioblastoma.
11. Kyle Busch (announced May 21, aged 41)
The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion won more races across NASCAR’s national series than any other driver.
12. Kevin Keegan (announced July 20, aged 75)
European Cup winner with Liverpool, twice Ballon d’Or winner with Hamburg, and manager of Newcastle and England.
13. Franco Baresi (announced July 31, aged 66)
He spent twenty years at AC Milan, won three European Cups and the 1982 World Cup, and had his number 6 shirt retired.
14. Don Nelson (August 9, aged 86)
A five-time champion as a Celtics player who retired as the winningest coach in NBA history.
15. Tommy John (August 15, aged 83)
In 1974 he became the first pitcher to have the elbow operation that now carries his name, then pitched for fourteen more years.
16. Bob Pettit (September 23, aged 93)
The NBA’s first MVP and first 20,000-point scorer. Read our obituary.
17. Gordon Johncock (September 28, aged 90)
The two-time Indianapolis 500 winner died at home in Michigan. Read our obituary.
Busch and Collins were the youngest on this list, and both had been ill. Zanardi, at 59, had already survived a crash in 2001 that nearly killed him and another in 2020 that left him with severe head injuries.