Pentouch 
The 28-year-old Liverpool star Diogo Jota died in a car accident near Zamora, in northwestern Spain.
Jota had just married Rute Cardoso, the 28-year-old mother of his three children and partner since the age of 16 two weeks ago. He had described himself as the luckiest man in the world to be her husband, sharing moving footage of their wedding day in his final Instagram post on Wednesday afternoon.
The Portuguese forward was travelling in the supercar with his younger brother Andre, 26, a fellow professional footballer who also died in the crash in the early hours of this morning.
The football star died when the tyre of the Lamborghini, reportedly a £150,000 Urus SUV, is said to have blown out while overtaking on the A-52 at Cernadilla near Zamora in northwestern Spain, close to the border with Portugal.
The supercar came off the road, rolled and then burst into flames at around 12.35am, also igniting the surrounding vegetation. The emergency services were called but the brothers could not be saved. Police say they don’t yet know who was driving.
Liverpool FC said in a statement that the club is ‘devastated’ by the tragedy and that Diogo’s family, friends and fans had suffered an ‘unimaginable loss’. Flowers and tributes are being laid outside Anfield today, with many fans in tears.
Diogo was born Diogo Silva, but changed his surname to Jota to stand out because it is a common surname. His brother Andre kept the family name.
The boys were the only children of parents Joaquim and Isabel Silva.
Jota was part of Liverpool’s Premier League-winning side in the 2024/25 campaign, scoring six goals in 26 appearances. He also played for Portugal’s national team and helped it win the Nations League last month in an extraordinary win over rivals Spain on penalties.
His younger brother played for Penafiel, in the second tier of Portuguese football.
The Portuguese national football team have said they are ‘devastated’ by the death of Liverpool forward Diogo, adding that he ‘was not only a fantastic player with almost 50 caps for the national team, but also an extraordinary person who was respected by all his teammates and opponents’.
Liverpool posted on Instagram on Thursday morning: ‘Liverpool Football Club are devastated by the tragic passing of Diogo Jota.
‘The club have been informed that 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.’
Pedro Proenca, head of the Portuguese Football Federation,said in a statement that ‘The Portuguese Football Federation and all of Portuguese football are completely devastated by the deaths of Diogo Jota and André Silva, this morning, in Spain’.
