Liverpool and the football world are marking one year since the tragic deaths of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva in a car crash in Spain on June 3, 2025. The 28-year-old Portugal international had just secured the Premier League title with Liverpool and married his long-term partner Rute 11 days earlier. His younger sibling Andre, 25, was a professional footballer for Portuguese club Penafiel.
Details of the Crash
The brothers were driving a Lamborghini Huracan on the A-52 motorway about 70 miles west of Valladolid, Spain, heading to the port city of Santander to catch an overnight ferry to Portsmouth, England. Jota had been advised against flying after recent lung surgery. Around 12:40am, while overtaking another vehicle at a speed that "significantly exceeded the limit," a tyre blowout caused the car to leave the road and burst into flames, according to the Civil Guard investigation. Firefighters and emergency services extinguished the blaze, but both occupants were confirmed dead at the scene.
Police Statement
A statement from the Civil Guard in Zamora read: "The investigation into the crash is being carried out by Civil Guard traffic officers. We believe the car suffered a blowout from the marks on the road. The full police report, once it is completed, will be submitted to a duty court in Zamora, which has launched an ongoing judicial investigation into this crash. That report is going to take time to complete, probably about four or five days, but possibly longer. At this moment in time, it is impossible to say exactly what speed the car was going, but that is something the Civil Guard investigators will be able to detail at least approximately in their final report from things like the skid marks. What I can confirm is that no other vehicle was involved and no one else was hurt."
Tributes on the Anniversary
On the eve of the anniversary, Portugal beat Croatia in a dramatic World Cup round of 32 match. The team wore wristbands in Jota's honour throughout the tournament, and his image appeared on stadium screens before games, visibly moving his parents. After the win, Cristiano Ronaldo held up a No.21 shirt in Jota's memory and broke down in tears. He said: "We knew what does this date mean for us. We knew it. We won for Diogo, for us, for Portugal. We knew it before the game, it was such a special moment. We speak today before the game, our group, that the coincidence of life, it's unbelievable. It means a lot to us, not only because we won the game."
Impact on Portugal and Liverpool
Jota's last competitive outing was lifting the Nations League trophy with Portugal. His wife Rute revealed that it was his dream to represent his nation at a World Cup. International teammate Ruben Neves said he still sends WhatsApp messages to Jota. Portugal manager Roberto Martinez told The Athletic: "Diogo is our light. Diogo is our reference of wanting to do or needing to do what his dream was, which was winning titles for Portugal, like he did winning the Nations League. He was a big part of what we built in the dressing room. He wanted to win the World Cup, so it becomes a bit of a responsibility, an example, because Diogo was the pure example of believing in whatever could be possible, always with that tenacity, always finding the answer in the right moment in the difficult moment in the game."
Jota made 37 appearances for Liverpool in the 2024/25 season, scoring nine goals and providing four assists, and lifted the Premier League title just over a month before his death. His funeral in Gondomar was attended by Liverpool stars.
