Who was Diogo Jota: Liverpool footballer dies aged 28
Liverpool and Portugal footballer Diogo Jota has died aged 28 in a car accident, just two weeks after his wedding day.
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The sad news was reported by Portuguese media on Thursday morning, with the forward said to have been in the vehicle with his brother, Andre Silva, 26, in Spain.
Andre, also a footballer, is said to have also died in the crash on the A-5 road, in the Spanish province of Zamora.
Jota married his long-term girlfriend Rute Cardoso just a fortnight ago, after winning the Premier League with Liverpool.
He had played for the Reds for five years since joining from Wolves in 2020 in a £44m transfer and had also won the League Cup and FA Cup.
“A car was reported to have been involved in an accident, and the vehicle was on fire,” a statement from the local authorities said.
“The 1-1-2 Castilla y León operations room received several calls reporting a vehicle accident at Km. 65 of the A-52, in the municipality of Cernadilla, Zamora.”
Tributes are now being made with club legend Jamie Carragher paying respects.
“Liverpool Football Club are devastated by the tragic passing of Diogo Jota, Liverpool said in a statement.
“The club have been informed the 28-year-old has passed away following a road traffic accident in Spain along with his brother, Andre.
“Liverpool FC will be making no further comment at this time and request the privacy of Diogo and Andre’s family, friends, teammates and club staff is respected as they try to come to terms with an unimaginable loss.
“We will continue to provide them with our full support.”
The Portuguese Football Federation has said it is "devastated" by the loss.
Who was Diogo Jota?
Diogo José Teixeira da Silva was born in Porto, Portugal, on December 4, 1996, and took the nickname Jota to distinguish himself from his contemporaries with similar names. In Portuguese, the pronunciation for ‘J’ is ‘Jota’, which is how his nickname came about.
He played for Paços de Ferreira in the Portuguese league before transferring to Atlético Madrid, and then being loaned to Porto before signing for Wolverhampton Wanderers. He made an instant impact in the black country and signed for Liverpool in 2020.
Jota was first capped for Portugal in 2019 and was a member of the European Championship squads in both 2020 and 2024. He missed the 2022 World Cup with an injury.
Who was Andre Silva?
Andre Silva, 26, played for Penafiel in the Portugal Liga 2 and is said to have got married last week.
He had played for the team since 2020.
According to reports, he was very close to his brother and they regularly took trips together.
How did Diogo Jota die?
Jota and Andre Silva were both travelling in a car on the A-52 near the town of Zamora in Spain shortly after midnight.
It is not known where they were travelling to or why, but it is understood that the car crashed and was engulfed in a fire, according to Portuguese emergency services.
"The information we have so far is that the car, which was a Lamborghini, was in a road traffic accident and left the road due to a tyre blowout while overtaking," local police have said.
"The car caught on fire and the two occupants were killed."
Who was Diogo Jota married to?
Jota married his long-term partner Rute Cardoso on June 22. Just nineteen hours ago on Instagram he posted a video of his wedding day, writing, “A day we will never forget.”
The pair had three young children, a son called Dinis, borm in 2021, a daughter, born in 2023, and a second daughter, born in 2024. The names of the younger two have not been revealed.
All of the children were present at Jota’s wedding.
Cardoso is 28 and from Portugal. She and Jota were childhood sweethearts, having met at school, and have been an item since at least 2013, when she first posted an image of the two on Instagram.
The pair regularly shared sweet images of each other and their family on Instagram.
Diogo Jota - Career goals and games
Liverpool FC (2020-2025)
- Games: 190
- Goals: 61
Wolverhampton Wanderers (2017-2020)
- Games: 131
- Goals: 44
FC Porto (2016-2017, loan)
- Games: 40
- Goals: 21
Atlético Madrid (2016-2017)
- Games: 1
- Goals: 0
Paços de Ferreira (2014-2016)
- Games: 36
- Goals: 15
Total club career
- Games: 398
- Goals: 141
International Career
Portugal Senior Team
- Games: 49
- Goals: 14
Portugal U21
- Games: 20
- Goals: 8
Portugal U19
- Games: 9