Family, friends, and football stars gathered in solemn silence on Saturday for the funeral of Portuguese footballer Diogo Jota, 28, and his younger brother André Silva, following their tragic death in a car crash in Spain on Thursday.
The funeral took place in the brothers’ hometown of Gondomar, a suburb of Porto, where hundreds of mourners lined the streets outside the local church. Among them were current and former teammates, including Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson, alongside national dignitaries and football leaders.
The atmosphere was heavy with grief as the coffins of Jota and Silva were carried out of the church to the sound of Ave Maria and a ringing bell. The crowd erupted into quiet applause as the procession made its way to the cemetery for a private burial ceremony.
The brothers died when their Lamborghini veered off a Spanish road and caught fire after a suspected tyre blowout during an overtaking manoeuvre. Authorities confirmed they were en route to catch a ferry to the UK. Jota had been advised to avoid flying following recent lung surgery for a fractured rib.
Jota, a star forward for Liverpool FC, had recently married his longtime partner, Rute Cardoso, with whom he shared three children. The couple began dating at 15 while attending the same high school in Gondomar and had moved to Madrid together when Jota joined Atlético Madrid in 2016.
The tragic accident has rocked the football community and Portugal as a whole. At a wake held on Friday, key figures including Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, FC Porto President André Villas-Boas, and Portuguese Football Federation President Pedro Proença paid their respects. “Diogo was an icon of Portuguese football, a silent hero on and off the pitch,” said Villas-Boas.
In Liverpool, fans gathered outside Anfield Stadium, leaving flowers, scarves, and handwritten messages in tribute. “Teammates come and go, but not like this,” wrote Mohamed Salah. “It’s going to be extremely difficult to accept that Diogo won’t be there when we return.”
Flower tributes are left outside Liverpool’s Anfield Stadium after Liverpool’s Portuguese soccer player Diogo Jota died in a car crash near Zamora, Spain, in Liverpool, Britain, July 4, 2025. REUTERS/Temilade Adelaja
At the Diogo Jota Academy in Gondomar, which he founded in 2022 to nurture young football talent, children and residents laid candles, jerseys, and national flags in his memory. The academy’s motto, “It’s not important where we come from, but where we are going,” now resonates more deeply than ever.
The shock has been felt globally, with top clubs like PSG, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, and Real Madrid observing moments of silence during training sessions. At the Club World Cup in the U.S., players paid tribute to Jota and Silva before their quarter-final matches.
As the town of Gondomar mourns its hometown hero, the message from Liverpool manager Arne Slot echoed worldwide: “You will never walk alone.”
Written By Rodney Mbua
