George Cohen, a member of England's 1966 World Cup-winning team, passed away at the age of 83. SIR Geoff Hurst led the tributes.
Following an injury to regular right-back Jimmy Armfield, Cohen entered Sir Alf Ramsey's lineup and played every home match of the finals.
With his passing, there are now just Hurst and the dementia-stricken Sir Bobby Charlton left from the starting lineup for the 4-2 victory over West Germany.
Hurst, whose hat-trick in that game was pivotal, tweeted: "Very sad to hear the passing of my friend and England teammate George Cohen.
"Without fail, everyone praised George for being such a nice man. My sincere condolences go out to George's wife Daphne and family. He will be sorely missed.
At the Euro 2024 qualifying match against Ukraine on March 26 at Wembley, England will fully honour Cohen, who earned a total of 37 caps for his nation.
Fulham, the club where Cohen played from 1956 to 1969, made the initial announcement of his passing. At age 29, he had a knee injury that ended his playing career.
For the 50th anniversary of the victory in 1966, the club commissioned a statue of Cohen in 2016.
Cohen expressed his delight at being considered for the award at the time, saying: (a statue). especially as it was next to Fulham's finest ever player, Johnny Haynes.
It was quite unbelievable to be with him. It was wonderful to consider that both the club and the fans wanted to erect a statue of me there.
At the end of his professional career, Cohen transitioned into the real estate industry. He was diagnosed with bowel cancer at the age of 36 and was given the all-clear from the disease in 1990.
Three years after Bobby Moore, his England 1966 captain, passed away from cancer, Cohen served as a patron for the Bobby Moore Fund.
In addition, he collected money for research into dementia, which was a problem for some of his teammates in 1966. He declared in 2017 that after his passing, he will donate his brain to medical research.
Gary Lineker, who scored 10 goals for England at the 1986 and 1990 World Cup finals, paid Cohen tribute.
"I'm sorry to learn of George Cohen's passing. Another member of the World Cup-winning team from 1966 has passed away, the BBC football broadcaster said on Twitter.
"He'll always be indestructible in football. Adieu, George.
Debbie Hewitt, the chairwoman of the Football Association, expressed her sadness at learning of George Cohen's passing today.
"George was the vice captain of our World Cup-winning side and earned 37 caps for England.
We want to send George's family and friends our sincere condolences at this difficult time.
Cohen's teammate at Fulham and for a brief period of time with England, Alan Mullery, told Sky Sports News that Cohen was a fantastic athlete and that there were very few opponents he could not totally outrun. "He did half my running up and down the flank," said Mullery.
He was a great right-back and hit opponents hard when he tackled.
"George was adored by all. He was a gentlemanly man who developed into a very astute businessman.
Fulham manager Marco Silva paid tribute to Cohen before the team's Boxing Day encounter against Crystal Palace in the Premier League.
He is a major loss for our football team as well as for English football, according to Silva.
It is a terrible day for all of us, and as manager of Fulham, I would want to express our condolences to his family and let them know that for the time being, our thoughts are with them.
"With his extraordinary amount of appearances, he is one of the biggest examples in the entire football club, and they speak for themselves.
"I am aware of what he represents for this football team and how significant a person he was, both during and after his playing career.
We will play away from home in our next game, but we will undoubtedly do something special in his honour.
In a statement to the PA news agency, Stephanie Moore, the wife of England's World Cup-winning captain and the head of the Bobby Moore Fund, said: "George was a close friend of Bobby's and he, too, had colon cancer in the mid-1970s, but he made a good recovery.
"We will all deeply miss George, who was a devoted supporter of the Bobby Moore Fund.
"We extend our deepest sympathies to Daphne and the entire family."
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