Ibrahima Konate expressed his gratitude to his "brothers" after Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele paid tribute to the late Diogo Jota at the Club World Cup.
Mbappe ran to the pitchside camera and made out the number 20 with his hands as he celebrated scoring Real Madrid's third goal against Borussia Dortmund.
Meanwhile, after scoring for PSG against Bayern Munich, Dembele mimicked Jota's gaming celebration — sitting on the ground cross-legged and pretending to hold a gaming controller.
As well as being a fantastic soccer player, Jota was a world-class gamer: in 2021, he achieved the world No.1 ranking on FIFA 21 on PlayStation after going an unbeaten 30-0 in the soccer game's Ultimate Team Champions mode.
Konate shared pictures of Mbappe's and Dembele's celebrations on Instagram, alongside the captions "my brother" as well as a number of love heart emojis, dove emojis and clapping emojis.
After Jota's death was confirmed on Thursday, Konate shared a heartfelt tribute on social media, writing: "Diogo... I still can’t believe it. I’m devastated. I have no words to express my feelings. Beyond the extraordinary footballer you were, there was an exceptional man, a friend, and brother! May you and André rest in peace.
"I am truly devastated by this news. This club, this family that we shared together, will never forget you! I think back to all the moments we shared and I still can’t believe it, they all seemed perfect... You can be sure of one thing: your family won’t walk alone. We’ll be there to help them through this devastating moment.
"I would like to address the world: today it’s Diogo and his brother. Yesterday it was someone else. Tomorrow it could be us. Let’s enjoy every moment that life offers us, with our families, friends, even strangers. Let’s try to live in peace and send each other love. We don’t know what tomorrow brings. I LOVE YOU, MY BROTHER."
Ibrahima Konate paid tribute to Jota following his death
Ibrahima Konate paid tribute to Jota following his death (Image: 2025 Liverpool FC)
Mbappe's new Real Madrid teammate, Trent Alexander-Arnold, who played alongside Jota at Liverpool for five years, lined up in the 3-2 win against Dortmund, which took place several hours after the funeral of Jota and his brother Andre in Portugal.
After the game, the England right-back paid tribute to his good friend. "It's been very difficult for everyone that knew him, not just me and his teammates, friends or family, but the footballing world," Alexander-Arnold told DAZN. "Some things are bigger than the game.
"It's been difficult, but also very heart-warming to see the footballing world unite and come together to show their love and support for his family and his brother for what must be mind-blowingly hard times for his family.
"I've been around his family, his brother, his amazing wife and amazing three children, so it's truly heart-breaking. It's something you would never expect. He was a very close friend, somebody who lit up a room."