Liverpool FC winger Diogo Jota passed away two weeks after marrying his long-time partner, Rute Cardoso. He was returning from a holiday following a long season in which he helped Liverpool win the Premier League title.

Family and friends of Diogo Jota and his brother, André Silva, gathered on Friday at a church where the bodies were taken for the wake and funeral, after the two Portuguese footballers died in a car accident in Spain.

Some embraced and cried before entering the Chapel of the Resurrection in São Cosme, where the brothers’ funeral is scheduled for Saturday.

Jota, 28, and his 25-year-old brother were found dead near Zamora, in northwest Spain, after the Lamborghini they were traveling in veered off the road in a remote area of the highway shortly after midnight on Thursday, catching fire afterward.

The bodies were repatriated to Portugal after identification by the family, Spanish authorities reported.

Tribute to Diogo Jota made by former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson at Anfield Stadium on July 4, 2025
Photo: AP

Jota and his parents had homes in Gondomar, where he started his football career as a child. Gondomar is a working-class town near Porto, where Jota was born.

His death occurred two weeks after his wedding to Rute Cardoso, his long-time partner, during a holiday taken after a demanding season in which Jota helped Liverpool secure the Premier League title. The couple had three children, the youngest born last year.

Spanish police are investigating the cause of the accident, which, according to authorities, did not involve another vehicle.

His brother, Silva, played for Penafiel, a Portuguese lower-division club.

Messages of condolence arrived from Portuguese authorities and the football world as news of the accident spread.

Diogo Jota celebrates a goal during a Premier League match at Carrow Road Stadium in Norwich, on August 14, 2021
Photo: AP

Liverpool fans left wreaths and club scarves near Anfield Stadium, while a minute of silence was observed before the Portugal vs. Spain match in the Women’s European Championship in Switzerland.

The loss was particularly felt in his hometown, especially at his first club, where he began playing at nine years old.

“He never forgot his roots, nor his friends, because he had a group of friends he trained with here in Gondomar and who, from time to time, he invited to watch Liverpool games in England,” said Anselmo Serra, director of Gondomar SC.

“It was a group of friends he never forgot over the years.”