Diogo Jota's death turns one year old: remember the former player's career

Exactly one year has passed since the death of Diogo Jota.

The Liverpool and Portuguese national team striker died at the age of 28 in a car accident in Spain, in the early hours of July 3, 2025. His brother, André Silva, also a professional player, died in the same accident, at the age of 25.

The accident happened around 00:30 local time (19:30 Brasília), on the A-52 highway, in the province of Zamora, in northwestern Spain. The Lamborghini in which the two were traveling left the road and caught fire.

Witnesses called the Castilla y León Emergency Center, which mobilized teams from the Guardia Civil de Tráfico, firefighters, an emergency medical unit and health professionals from the region. Despite the quick response, the two brothers were already dead when help arrived.

Initial identification was made using documents found at the scene and the vehicle registration number. Subsequently, forensic examinations carried out at the Institute of Legal Medicine in Zamora officially confirmed the identities of Diogo Jota and André Silva.

After being repatriated to Portugal, the bodies were laid to rest in Gondomar, the city where Diogo Jota took his first steps in his football career.

The tragedy happened just 11 days after Jota's wedding to Rute Cardoso, long-time partner and mother of the player's three children.

Career
Born in Massarelos, in the Porto region, Diogo Jota began his professional career with Paços de Ferreira in 2015. The following year, he was signed by Atlético de Madrid, but gained prominence during his time at Wolverhampton.

In January 2018, the English club invested 14 million euros (R$83 million at current prices) to sign him permanently. In his first season, Jota scored 18 goals, 11 of them in the campaign that guaranteed Wolverhampton's access to the Premier League, under the command of coach Nuno Espírito Santo.

The performance caught the attention of Jürgen Klopp, who took him to Liverpool in September 2020 for 41 million pounds (around R$285 million).

Even though he was competing for position with Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mané and Roberto Firmino, Jota quickly gained space in the team. In five seasons for the Reds, he played an important role in the club's reconstruction, scored 65 goals and won a Premier League, an FA Cup and two English League Cups.

In the 2024-25 English title campaign, he featured in 26 of the competition's 38 matches, scoring seven goals and four assists, helping Liverpool equal their record of 20 English top-flight titles.

For the Portuguese national team, Diogo Jota also built a successful career. He was two-time champion of the Nations League, winning the titles in 2019 and 2025. With the national team shirt, he scored 14 goals in 49 games.

André Silva, in turn, defended Penafiel, from the Portuguese second division. Throughout his career, between the youth teams and the professional squad, he played 105 matches, scored 12 goals and distributed 10 assists.

The death of the brothers generated a wave of commotion in the sport. Clubs, athletes, managers, fans and football personalities paid tribute in different parts of the world, remembering the trajectory of Diogo Jota and André Silva and expressing solidarity with the family.

Liverpool, the team that Jota was defending when he died, has retired the number 20 shirt in all its teams. The Reds announced this Thursday (2) a permanent memorial at Anfield in honor of the former athletes.

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Source: CNN