A somber procession in Gondomar, northern Portugal, saw grieving supporters line the streets outside Capela de Ressurreição as the bodies of Portugal’s football star Diogo Jota and his brother André Silva arrived just after 11 pm.
Tears flowed as hearses carrying the coffins of the siblings, aged 28 and 26, reached the chapel for a wake set for early Friday morning. The brothers tragically lost their lives in a car crash in Spain earlier that day, plunging the football community into mourning.
The accident occurred at 12:30 a.m. on the A-52 motorway near Cernadilla, Zamora, near Portugal’s border. The Daily Mail reported that a tyre on Jota’s Lamborghini Huracán burst while overtaking, causing the vehicle to veer off the road, roll multiple times, and erupt in flames, killing both instantly.
Spanish official Ángel Blanco confirmed the siblings died before emergency services could act. The crash sparked a fire in nearby vegetation, prompting a swift response from firefighters. It remains unclear who was driving.
Father José Macedo, the local priest, told CNN the wake would start at 8 a.m. on July 4 at Capela de Ressurreição, with a funeral mass planned for 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 5, at the neighboring Igreja Matriz de Gondomar.
“We’re available to celebrate [their life] with everyone and to share the pain and the Christian hope,” Macedo said. Earlier, the brothers’ bodies were taken to a funeral home in Puebla de Sanabria, Spain, where Jota’s agent, Jorge Mendes, supported the grieving family, including Jota’s mother. “We lost two great people. Diogo is an example as a person, husband, son, professional. I still can’t believe it. It’s very difficult,” a tearful Mendes said.
The journey to Gondomar, 30 minutes from Jota’s hometown of Porto, followed a day of profound loss. Just two weeks earlier, on June 22, Jota married Rute Cardoso in Porto. The brothers were traveling to Santander for a ferry to the UK, as Jota’s recent lung surgery for a pneumothorax ruled out flying, ahead of Liverpool’s pre-season.
What You Should Know
- Diogo Jota, 28, and André Silva, 26, died in a car crash on Spain’s A-52 motorway on July 3, 2025, after a tyre blowout caused their Lamborghini to crash and ignite.
- Their bodies reached Gondomar, Portugal, on July 3 for a wake on July 4 and funeral on July 5, near Jota’s recent wedding venue.
- Jota, a Liverpool and Portugal star, and André, a Penafiel FC player, were en route to a ferry due to Jota’s post-surgery travel restrictions.
- Tributes from Jorge Mendes and fans underscore Jota’s legacy as a Premier League and Nations League champion.
- Spanish police are investigating the crash, with the A-52’s hazardous conditions under review as a possible factor.
