Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva were driving through Spain prior to their fatal car crash in order to catch a ferry to the UK.
WHAT HAPPENED?
Liverpool and Portugal forward Jota was involved in a tragic accident shortly after midnight on the morning of July 3, 2025. The Lamborghini he was travelling in is said to have suffered a tyre blowout, leading to it careering off the road and ultimately bursting into flames.
Jota and his sibling lost their lives in the incident, with CNN reporting on how they were heading through the Zamora province of Spain en route to Santander in order to catch an overnight ferry to Britain.
WHAT JOURNALISTS SAID
Premier League title winner Jota, who was due to link up with Liverpool for pre-season training on Monday, had been advised against flying after undergoing lung surgery. CNN’s Portugal's sports editor Rui Laura said: “The surgery he had was lung surgery and he had been advised against flying following this. He was on his way to the northern Spanish port city of Santander to cross by ferry and reach the UK that way and carry on with the car once he reached Britain. He was on his way to Liverpool with his brother.”
Another journalist, Victor Pinto, told CMTV: “Diogo Jota sometimes chose to travel by road because he had some pulmonary discomfort, nothing serious, and as we know, there is a ferry boat that connects the south of England to Spain.”
TRIBUTES TO JOTA
Diogo Jota LiverpoolGetty Images
Jota married childhood sweetheart Rute Cardoso on June 22, with the pair having been together since the Portugal international was 16. They have three children, with tributes pouring in on the back of the family’s “unimaginable loss”.