David Beckham and former England coach Roy Hodgson were among the mourners who attended the funeral of Sven-Goran Eriksson on Friday in the Swedish manager's small hometown of Torsby.
Eriksson's wooden coffin was covered in white flowers and surrounded by six tall candles and other floral wreaths as the ceremony began inside the 600-seat Fryksande church.
“It is a day of grief but also a day of thankfulness,” the priest, Ingela Alvskog, told those in attendance.
Beckham, who arrived by private jet on Thursday, greeted Eriksson's 95-year-old father Sven and other family members with hugs inside the church before the funeral started.
Eriksson became England's first foreign-born coach when he led the national team from 2001-06, and made Beckham his captain.
Eriksson, who also won trophies at club level in Italy, Portugal and Sweden, died on August 26 at the age of 76, eight months after he revealed he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and had at most one year to live.
Some 200 seats in the neo-Gothic church from 1898 were reserved for his family, friends and players from his career in the football world, according to his agent.
The remaining seats were open for the public, according to Eriksson's wish, with a big screen set up outside the church where dozens more gathered to watch the ceremony. The funeral was also broadcast live on some Swedish media websites.
The wooden coffin was wheeled in by pallbearers at the church on Friday morning as fog wrapped Torsby – a town of about 4,000 people, about 310km west of Stockholm.
Next to the casket was a photo of Eriksson on a small table. The floral wreaths included ones sent by Fifa and Lazio, the Italian team that Eriksson led to the Serie A title in 2000.
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England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, who died on August 26 aged 76, talks with captain David Beckham during a training session in 2004. Getty Images -
Eriksson meets Britain's Queen Elizabeth II at the England training ground at Bisham Abbey in Berkshire in the run-up to the 2002 World Cup. Reuters -
Eriksson with the 'Scudetto' in 2000 after winning Serie A with Lazio. He also won the Uefa Cup Winners Cup with the club in 1999, the Uefa Super Cup in '99, the Coppa Italia in 1998 and 2000, and the Supercoppa in '98 and 2000. Allsport -
Eriksson acknowledges Lazio fans alongside the trophies he won as manager of the club, from 1998-2000, at Stadio Olimpico, Rome, in May 2024. Getty Images -
Eriksson leads a Liverpool Legends XI v Ajax Legends at Anfield, Liverpool, in March 2024. Reuters -
Eriksson takes the applause of Lazio supporters before the derby against Roma at Stadio Olimpico in March 2023. Getty Images -
Eriksson leads a training session as head coach of Shanghai SIPG in Melbourne, Australia in 2016. Getty Images -
Lazio coach Eriksson is thrown up into the air by his team during the official party to celebrate winning Italy's Serie A in May 2000. ML/ME -
Eriksson directs his Lazio team during a Champions League game against Sparta Prague. Allsport -
Leicester City manager Eriksson greets Robbie Savage in 2011. Getty Images -
Eriksson waves to fans after joining Notts County FC as director of football in 2009. Reuters -
Eriksson managed Manchester City from 2007-08. Getty Images -
Eriksson as England manager during a 2006 World Cup quailfier against Poland in 2004. Getty Images -
Eriksson talks with Michael Owen during England's Euro 2004 quarter-final against Portugal. Getty Images -
Eriksson won the Coppa Italia with Sampdoria in 1994. Allsport -
Eriksson managed Benfica from 1982 to '84, winning the Primeira Liga twice and reaching the Uefa Cup final in 1983. He returned to the club in 1989 and won the league title in 1991 and took them to the European Cup final in 1990. Empics -
Eriksson before the Uefa Cup final victory against Hamburg during his spell as Gothenburg manager in 1982.
The ceremony began with sombre piano and organ music, but later took on a more upbeat note with Swedish singer Charlotta Birgersson performing Elton John’s song Candle In The Wind and then My Way in a duet with Johan Birgersson.
Beckham had visited Eriksson in Sweden in June to say goodbye. Others attending the funeral included the Swedish coach's longtime partner Nancy Dell’Olio. Eriksson's agent had said that guests from England, Italy and Spain were expected.
After Friday’s church ceremony, a musical procession was set accompany the coffin to a nearby museum where speeches and eulogies to the coach fondly known as “Svennis” would be given.
The local football club Torsby IF, where Eriksson started his career in the 1960s, wrote on its webpage that “you also showed your greatness by always being yourself, the caring Svennis who talked to everyone and took the time, for big and small, asking how things were and how the football was going. We will miss you.”
