MILAN — Cesare Maldini, a defender who captained AC Milan to its first European Cup championship, has died, the club said in a statement on its website. He was 84.

Mr. Maldini played for Milan between 1954 and 1966, then became coach for the club and for the Italian national team.

Mr. Maldini made 412 appearances for the club, with which he won four Italian league titles. As captain, he lifted Milan’s first European Cup in 1963 at Wembley Stadium — the first one won by an Italian club — after beating a Benefica team that included Portuguese great Eusebio.

Mr. Maldini made 14 appearances for Italy, which he also captained. He retired in 1966 but returned to Milan six years later as coach until a defeat to Verona in 1974 cost him his job.

Mr. Maldini, who as a coach won the European Championship three successive times with Italy’s under-21 side, coached the senior Italy side during the 1998 World Cup in France, losing in the quarterfinals on penalties to the hosts and eventual champions.

After a spell back at Milan as head scout — and also briefly as a caretaker coach at the end of the 2000-01 season — Mr. Maldini took charge of Paraguay, taking it to the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, where it was knocked out by Germany in the Round of 16.

His son Paolo followed his footsteps to play at Milan.

Material from the Associated Press and Bloomberg News was used in this obituary.