In January 2024 Erikson shared that he had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and shocked the footballing world saying he had "at best maybe a year (to live), at worst a little less."

The former England manager, whose 42-year managerial career saw him manage numerous national teams and high-profile clubs, had resigned from his final job as sporting director at Karlstad in his native Sweden early last year citing “health issues which are under investigation.”

On Monday morning, 26 August 2024, Eriksson's agent shared that the 76-year-old had passed away "peacefully" surrounded by family at his home in Sweden.

In the knowledge that his final days were numbered, Eriksson approached the last several months with meritorious fortitude. Undeterred by life's inevitable vicissitudes he candidly discussed failures, successes, and controversial moments of his career including notorious high-profile affairs.

Following the diagnosis, numerous clubs and individuals showed Eriksson what he meant to the footballing community. David Beckham flew out to Sweden to spend time with the former England manager at his Bjorkefors farm bringing with him “six litres of wine” from dates that were significant to Eriksson and his career. 

In March, Liverpool Football Club then fulfilled Eriksson's lifelong dream of managing the club by putting him in charge of a charity match against Ajax, an experience the Swede was immensely grateful for calling it "a beautiful day in all meanings."

Born in the rural Swedish town of Sunne on 5 February 1948, Eriksson had a playing career as a self-described "distinctly average defender" before finding far more success in the dug-out.

His managerial career began at Swedish club Degerfors IF in 1977 and oversaw their promotion the following year which earned him a move to IFK Göteborg in 1979. As a relatively unknown manager in his early thirties, few of his players had ever heard of him but unfazed he won the Swedish title and the Uefa Cup in 1982 ultimately attracting the interest of Europe's elite. 

He joined Benfica in 1982 and went on to win consecutive Primeira Divisão league titles before Roma came calling and, after five years in the Italian league at Roma and Fiorentina, he returned for a second managerial spell at his beloved Benfica.

In 1992 a second stint at Benfica came to a close and he was tempted back to Italy's Serie A managing both Sampdoria and Lazio over the space of nine years before famously becoming the first foreign coach to be recruited by the England national football team in 2001.

In his five-year tenure, he led the country to the World Cup quarter-finals in 2002 and 2006 as well as the last eight of the 2004 Euros. Despite a promising managerial debut beating Germany 5-1, his time was ultimately marred by a failure to fine-tune a star-studded "golden generation" squad featuring the likes of David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Paul Scholes, Wayne Rooney, Ashley Cole, and John Terry.

With two years left on his England contract, Eriksson stepped down following the 2006 World Cup. His time was somewhat tainted by a controversial scandal in which he admitted interest in managing Aston Villa to an undercover ‘Fake Sheikh’ reporter who had sold him a false story of a big-money Middle Eastern takeover.

He went on to manage Manchester City, Mexico, Ivory Coast, and Leicester City before managing three teams in China and finally taking charge of the Philippines national team from 2018 to 2019.

In a touching new Amazon Prime film titled 'Sven' Eriksson recalls his path in football and expresses gratitude for the good life he led telling viewers to smile. 

"I think we are all scared of the day when we die, but life is about death as well. You have to learn to accept it for what it is. Hopefully, at the end people will say, yeah, he was a good man, but everyone will not say that" he said.

"I hope you will remember me as a positive guy trying to do everything he could do. Don't be sorry, smile. Thank you for everything, coaches, players, the crowds, it's been fantastic. Take care of yourself and take care of your life. And live it. Bye."

"Beautiful place. It makes you calm. Makes me calm" he says in the recently released documentary. "The mountain, below that mountain is where my father grew up. And if you look straight on, that's Torsby, where I grew up, and Sunne where I was born. I always thought it a great place to sleep."