The football world has been left devastated by the death of the Liverpool and Portugal star Diogo Jota in a car accident in north-western Spain. The 28-year-old father of three, who married his long-term partner, Rute Cardoso, 11 days earlier, was killed alongside his brother André Silva when the Lamborghini they were travelling in veered off a road.
Jota and the 25-year-old Silva died at about 12.40am local time on Thursday in the province of Zamora. The cause of the accident has not been confirmed but Spain’s Civil Guard said it believed the car had sustained a puncture while overtaking, causing the driver to lose control. The Lamborghini burst into flames and firefighters had to extinguish a blaze in the surrounding vegetation caused by the accident. The wreckage of the vehicle was visible by the side of the A-52 near Cernadilla on Thursday. The brothers’ funeral will be on Saturday morning in the Gondomar area of Porto where they grew up.
Liverpool said they were devastated and their former manager Jürgen Klopp, who signed Jota from Wolves, posted on Instagram that he was heartbroken. Klopp, a religious man, wrote: “This is a moment where I struggle! There must be a bigger purpose! But I can’t see it!” Liverpool’s head coach, Arne Slot, said Jota was “a loved one to all of us” and “the essence of what a Liverpool player should be”. Slot added: “The last time we spoke, I congratulated Diogo on winning the Nations League and wished him luck for his forthcoming wedding. In many ways, it was a dream summer for Diogo and his family, which makes it all the more heartbreaking that it should end like this.”
Tributes were paid from across the football spectrum to Jota and Silva, a professional footballer with the second-tier Portuguese club Penafiel. Cristiano Ronaldo said the death “doesn’t make any sense. Just now we were together in the national team, just now you were married. To your family, to your wife, your children, I send my condolences and wish them all the strength in the world. I know you will always be with them. R.I.P Diogo and André. We will all miss you.”
Fans of varying allegiances laid flowers, football shirts and scarves in memory of Jota on a grass verge behind the Main Stand at Anfield. The Liverpool legend Sir Kenny Dalglish said: “Football is not important at this sad time. You feel helpless, knowing there’s so little we can do to ease the pain for his wife of just two weeks, his three beautiful children.” Darwin Núñez, Dominic Szoboszlai and Harvey Elliott were among the Liverpool players to post tributes. Elliott described the forward as “humble, hardworking, kind, and always there for anyone that needed anything”. The Liverpool squad are due to report back for pre-season training early next week and are scheduled to play their first friendly at Preston on Sunday 13 July.
Jota joined Liverpool for £41m in 2020 and scored 65 goals in 182 appearances for the club. A superb finisher, known as “Jota the slotter” by Liverpool fans, he won the Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup with Liverpool and the 2018 Championship title with Wolves. He was also a two-time winner of the Nations League with Portugal. His last game was the Nations League final penalty shootout victory over Spain on 8 June. Uefa’s president, Aleksander Ceferin, said: “Just three weeks ago, I had the honour of presenting Diogo Jota with a medal after the Uefa Nations League final – a moment of joy, pride, and celebration that will now for ever be burned in memory with sorrow.”
Jota, who scored 14 goals in 49 Portugal appearances, was an immensely popular figure in the Liverpool dressing room. “Liverpool Football Club are devastated by the tragic passing of Diogo Jota,” said a club statement that also requested “the privacy of Diogo and André’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.”
Liverpool have opened a book of condolence that can be signed at Anfield until Sunday, along with a digital version. Flags at the stadium and at Liverpool town hall were lowered to half mast. The club’s stores, museums and tours have been closed until Monday.
“We all feel utterly bereft right now,” said Michael Edwards, the chief executive of football at Fenway Sports Group, Liverpool’s owner, and Richard Hughes, the club’s sporting director, in a statement. “As his teammates, friends and colleagues, we are consumed by shock and sorrow. We know our supporters, his national team, former clubs and teammates and the wider football community share in this grief. This is a tragedy that transcends Liverpool Football Club.
“In the coming days, we as a club will look to honour our beloved No 20 with the respect and affection he so richly deserves. We will strive to make these tributes meaningful and inclusive of our supporters, to whom Diogo meant so much. For now, we express a love that is filled with deep sorrow and pain. We have lost someone truly irreplaceable. Rest in peace, Diogo. YNWA.”
Jota and his partner were married in Porto on 22 June and announced the news in an Instagram post a few days ago. On Monday Rute shared more pictures from their wedding day and wrote: “My dream came true.” Jota commented: “I’m the lucky one.” They had met in high school and started going out in 2013, a year before he turned professional. The couple have three young children: Denis, Duarte and a daughter born last year whose name has not been revealed.
The British prime minister, Keir Starmer, and his Portuguese counterpart, Luís Montenegro, expressed sympathy for Jota, Silva and their families. Angela Raynor, the deputy prime minister, paid her respects at Anfield while on government business in Liverpool.
Portugal’s president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, said: “Diogo Jota represented Portuguese football at the highest level and demonstrated a high level of professionalism and dedication as part of a generation that has taken Portuguese football to the highest level. The president sends his deepest condolences to his family, friends and professional colleagues for a loss that has dismayed all Portuguese.”
Pedro Proença, the president of the Portuguese FA, wrote on social media: “We have lost two champions. The passing of Diogo and André Silva represents irreparable losses for Portuguese football and we will do everything we can to honour their legacy every day.”