EXPLAINER
The football world remains in shock after tragic road accident involving Liverpool forward Diogo Jota and his brother.
In the early hours of Thursday, Diogo Jota, forward for Liverpool FC and the Portuguese national team, and his younger brother, died in a car accident in northwestern Spain.
At just 28 years old, Jota was enjoying some of the best moments of his career and personal life; he won the UEFA Nations League with Portugal, the Premier League with Liverpool, and he recently married his childhood sweetheart.
The tragedy has left a deep void in the football world, which is still trying to come to terms with the loss.
What caused the car crash?
The two were travelling in a Lamborghini Urus SUV, which, according to reports, suffered a tyre blowout just after midnight while overtaking another vehicle on the A-52 highway, at kilometre 65.300, near the town of Cernadilla, Zamora, just 15 kilometres from the Portugal border.
The car veered off the road, crashed, and instantly caught fire.
By the time firefighters arrived at the crash scene, the vehicle was completely burned out.
The charred remains of the two footballers could only be identified through their identification papers.
Why was Jota driving back to England?
Jota was travelling by car to catch a ferry from the Spanish port of Santander back to northern England after being advised not to fly as a result of a previous lung surgery, according to multiple media reports in Portugal and Spain.
His club side, Liverpool, are due to begin preseason training on Monday.
What was Cristiano Ronaldo’s reaction?
Ronaldo, Portugal’s national team captain, was deeply shaken by the news of teammate Diogo Jota’s death.
“It doesn’t make sense. We were only just in the national team together, you had only just got married,” Ronaldo posted on the social media platform X.
“To your family, your wife and your children, I send my condolences and wish them all the strength in the world. I know you’ll always be with them. Rest in peace, Diogo and Andre. We’ll all miss you.”
Who was travelling with Jota?
His brother Andre Silva, his only sibling.
Though less known internationally, Silva, 25, was also a professional footballer.
He played for Futebol Clube Penafiel in Portugal’s second division and was previously part of FC Porto’s youth academy.
O Futebol Clube do Porto está de luto.
É com choque e profundo pesar que enviamos as sentidas condolências à família e amigos do Diogo Jota e irmão André Silva, que também foi nosso atleta nos escalões de formação.
Descansem em paz.#FCPorto pic.twitter.com/BXlR8v7y7Z
— FC Porto (@FCPorto) July 3, 2025
What family does Jota leave behind?
A wife and three children.
Rute Cardoso has suddenly and painfully become the widow of Diogo Jota, less than two weeks after they were married at a ceremony in his home city of Porto on June 22.