The anniversary of Diogo Jota's tragic passing is on Friday and Cristiano Ronaldo - and his Portugal teammates - paid tribue to the late Liverpool star at the World Cup
02:37, 03 Jul 2026Updated 02:39, 03 Jul 2026
Cristiano Ronaldo dons Diogo Jota's jersey at fulltime
Cristiano Ronaldo dons Diogo Jota's jersey at fulltime(Image: FOX Sports)
Cristiano Ronaldo paid tribute to Diogo Jota after Portugal's wild World Cup win over Croatia by donning his national jersey.
Portugal came from a goal down to beat Croatia with a wild VAR ruling cruely denying Luka Modric and co an equalizer and extra time. Following the final whistle, Ronaldo put on Jota's No. 21 shirt to pay tribute to his former teammate.
Jota passed away one year ago from tomorrow, on July 3, 2025, when he and his brother Andre were involved in a fatal car crash. The Portuguese international was unable to fly as part of his post-surgical recovery plan and was driving to catch a ferry to England.
Jota, 28 at the time, scored 14 goals in 49 appearances for his national team. He was first called up to the Portugal side in 2019 as a member of Wolves in the Premier League.
The Portugal tribute comes as a Jota memorial was set up to honor both Diogo and Andre.
Jota joined Liverpool during the 2020 summer transfer window and saw his international profile rise. He was included in the 2020 Euro squad (played in 2021), starting in a 4-2 group-stage win against Germany. He would also feature at the 2024 Euros.
He was injured in the fall of 2022 and missed the Qatar World Cup. Jota long called playing in the prestigious international tournament his career-long dream.
Cristiano Ronaldo applauds the fans while paying tribute to his former teammate
Cristiano Ronaldo applauds the fans while paying tribute to his former teammate(Image: FOX Sports)
Scotland qualified for the World Cup last November for the first time in its international career. Jota's longtime Liverpool teammate, Andy Robertson, spoke about how much he was thinking about his old friend.
"I couldn't get my mate Diogo Jota out of my head today," Robertson told reporters. "We spoke so much about going to the World Cup because he missed the last one with Portugal, and I did with Scotland. I know he'll be smiling over me today."
Jota was extremely close with Portuguese midfielder Rueben Neves, his longtime international peer and teammate at Wolves from 2017 to 2020.
"We have a WhatsApp group with Rute (Jota's widow) and Diogo, and it's still there, and we continue to talk there," Neves said earlier in the tournament.
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"Whenever something special happens, I have the conversations archived on my WhatsApp so I can continue to send him messages."