Romanian football coach Mircea Lucescu died on April 7, 2026, in Bucharest after a heart attack. He was 80 years old, according to sports.ru.

During his coaching career, Lucescu worked with “Corvinul” (Hunedoara), “Dynamo” and “Rapid” (both Bucharest), Italian clubs “Brescia”, “Pisa”, “Reggiana” and “Inter”, Turkish “Galatasaray” and “Besiktas”, Donetsk “Shakhtar” (2004–2016), St. Petersburg “Zenit”, Kyiv “Dynamo”, and also headed the national teams of Romania and Türkiye.

The most celebrated period of his career was his 12 years at “Shakhtar” Donetsk, which, under his leadership, became the dominant force in Ukrainian football. His most important European trophy was the 2009 UEFA Cup—the last European triumph for a Ukrainian club to date.

As a coach, Lucescu won 38 official trophies in various countries, which is one of the highest numbers in the history of world football.

On March 29, it was reported that Lucescu was urgently hospitalized before a Romanian national team training session. He subsequently suffered a heart attack. He was scheduled to be discharged on Friday, but complications forced him to be transferred to intensive care. On Sunday night, the coach's body stopped responding to treatment, requiring him to be transferred to the anesthesiology and intensive care unit, and Lucescu himself was placed in a medically induced coma.

The Romanian Football Federation expressed its condolences over the coach's death, calling him "a true legend." Romanian league matches will be held with a minute of silence in his memory. The federation also suspended the process of selecting a new head coach indefinitely.

Lucescu's final match under his leadership was Romania's 0-1 defeat to Türkiye in the semi-final of the European Qualifying Playoffs for the 2026 World Cup.