Six-year-old Sunderland fan Bradley Lowery died Friday of neuroblastoma.
Lowery's parents confirmed the news on Facebook:
The youngster, from Blackhall Colliery, near Hartlepool, England, was diagnosed with the illness at just 18 months, and although he initially beat the disease, it returned in July 2016, and the cancer was subsequently found to have become terminal, per the BBC.
In late May Bradley's family announced his cancer was spreading and he did not have much longer to live, per Sky News.
Football fans around England and the world were touched by the close friendship Bradley formed with striker Jermain Defoe in the final months of his life.