Saturday, 12 July 2025

28-Year-Old Soccer Star Dies In Horrific Car Crash Days After Wedding


Liverpool soccer star Diogo Jota died in a horrific car crash on Thursday.

The 28-year-old Portuguese footballer was on a 10-hour drive in Spain with his brother because doctors told him not to fly following surgery.

His 25-year-old brother, André Silva, who was also a professional footballer, also died in the crash.

According to reports, Jota was traveling from Portugal to the United Kingdom for pre-season training when his Lamborghini crashed in Zamora, Spain.

Jota married the mother of his three children, Rute Cardoso, less than two weeks before the crash.

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The New York Post shared additional details:

Jota had been traveling with his brother, Andre Silva, from Porto, Portugal, to Santander, Spain, where there’s a ferry route to Portsmouth, England, when tragedy struck, the outlet reported. It’s unclear who was driving.

The soccer star had opted to take the longer route because he’d been advised by doctors not to get on a plane while recovering from a minor lung-related surgery, according to Telegraph Sport.

The Lamborghini’s tire appeared to have burst as it was “overtaking” another vehicle and both men died when the car veered off the road and burst into flames, according to investigators.

The deadly crash happened along an isolated stretch of highway near the Portuguese border.

The Premier League winner married the mother of his three children, Rute Cardoso, two weeks before the crash.

Meanwhile, disturbing images of the soccer player’s burned and mangled Lamborghini on the side of a road emerged Friday, according to the Spanish media outlets.

Fans and fellow players were devastated by his untimely death.

The soccer world paid tributes to Jota and Silva.

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Jota’s final Instagram post was a video from his wedding day with his wife:

More from CNN:

The authorities identified the remains based on documents recovered at the scene of the accident, as well as the car’s license plate, CNN Portugal reported. Further forensic testing at a morgue in Zamora confirmed the brothers’ identities, according to CNN Portugal.

For investigation, the remains were moved to the nearby town of Puebla de Sanabria, a source close to the sub-delegate of the Spanish government in Zamora told CNN. The players’ family was present in Puebla de Sanabria on Thursday afternoon to finalize the administrative requirements which allow the remains to be released and returned to Portugal, CNN Portugal reported.

A source from the Government Sub-delegation in Zamora told PA that the crash is being investigated as “a possible speeding incident.”

A wake for Jota and André Silva’s family began on Friday morning at a church in the brothers’ hometown of Gondomar, near Porto, the church told CNN. It added that the doors at the Igreja Martiz de Gondomar will open to the public on Friday afternoon.

A funeral is set to take place on Saturday at 10 a.m. local time (5 a.m. ET), the church said.

Jota played an important role in the Liverpool team which lifted the Premier League trophy just over two months ago, equaling the English record of 20 top-flight titles. He featured in 26 of the club’s 38 league games, scoring six goals and providing four assists. In total, he scored 65 goals across five years on Merseyside, also winning one FA Cup and two EFL Cups.

Jota was part of the Portugal national team which won the Nations League in June this year, having also won the competition in 2019.

André Silva played for Futebol Clube de Penafiel in the Liga Portugal 2, the country’s second division. In total, he scored 12 goals and contributed 10 assists in 105 matches at full and youth level throughout his career.

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