Bodies of Liverpool footballer Diogo Jota and his younger brother André Silva have arrived home
The small northern Portuguese town of Gondomar was draped in sorrow on Friday, July 4, 2025, as the bodies of Liverpool footballer Diogo Jota and his younger brother André Silva arrived home, just hours before mourners gathered to bid a final farewell.
A convoy of hearses carried the brothers’ coffins overnight from the Spanish town of Puebla de Sanabria, near the spot where their Lamborghini veered off the road and burst into flames early Thursday, July 3, 2025. Police suspect a tyre burst may have caused the tragic crash.
Outside the local chapel, crowds of grieving supporters and residents stood in silence long before midnight, some with flowers, others holding Liverpool scarves tight to their chests.
As the vehicles pulled up just after 11 p.m., quiet applause broke the night, a final gesture for a hero taken too soon.
Jota’s wife, Rute Cardoso, who married the striker only weeks ago, was seen leaving the Spanish morgue alongside Jota’s long-time agent, Jorge Mendes, to make the heartbreaking journey home.
A wake will be held this afternoon in Gondomar, with the funeral set for Saturday, July 5, 2025, at a nearby church.
Tributes have poured in from across the footballing world. Outside Liverpool’s Anfield stadium, flowers, candles and handwritten notes have piled up, many from children who idolised the Portuguese forward.
European clubs, including PSG, Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Real Madrid, held moments of silence at training camps, while Portugal’s Prime Minister Luís Montenegro travelled to Gondomar in person to pay his respects.
Jota’s physiotherapist, Miguel Goncalves, revealed that the striker had chosen to drive home because he’d been advised not to fly for six weeks after lung surgery to treat a fractured rib. He was returning to Liverpool by car and ferry when tragedy struck.
Watch the video below:
Diogo Jota was killed along with his brother just 10 days after the Portugal forward got married. He had three children. Fans applauded as the bodies arrived in Porto. https://t.co/PoQssxvkXP pic.twitter.com/3AmD8UjwRd
— Sky News (@SkyNews) July 4, 2025
FKA/EB
Meanwhile, watch the latest edition of Sports Check with former Hearts of Oak midfielder Frederick Ansah Botchway
