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David Beckham pays tribute to Diogo Jota on Thursday after his tragic death at the age of 28.
The former footballer, 50, said he was ‘devastated’ over the news as he shared an update to his Instagram Story.
Portuguese forward, Diogo, died after his Lamborghini careered off a road in northern Spain – just two weeks after he married his childhood sweetheart.
He was travelling in the supercar with his younger brother Andre, 26, a fellow professional footballer who also died in the crash in the early hours of this morning.
Sharing a photo of Diogo to Instagram, David wrote: ‘Devastating to hear this such sad news… sending love to Diogo and Andre’s families.’
The tyre of Diogo’s car is said to have blown out while overtaking on the A-52 at Cernadilla near Zamora in northwestern Spain, close to the border with Portugal.
David Beckham pays tribute to Diogo Jota on Thursday after his tragic death at the age of 28
The former footballer, 50, said he was ‘devastated’ over the news as he shared an update to his Instagram Story (Diogo pictured in March)
The supercar came off the road, rolled and then burst into flames at around 12.35am, also igniting the surrounding vegetation. The emergency services were called but the brothers could not be saved. Police say they don’t yet know who was driving.
Liverpool FC said in a statement that the club is ‘devastated’ by the tragedy and that Diogo’s family, friends and fans had suffered an ‘unimaginable loss’. Flowers and tributes are being laid outside Anfield today, with many fans in tears.
Jota had just married Rute Cardoso, the 28-year-old mother of his three children and partner since the age of 16. He had described himself as the luckiest man in the world to be her husband, sharing moving footage of their wedding day in his final Instagram post on Wednesday afternoon.
The couple married on June 22 in Porto, the footballer’s home city. Rute shared more wedding day pictures in a social media post yesterday and said: ‘My dream come true.’ Jota replied in the comments: ‘I’m the lucky one.’
The Lamborghini crash happened on the A-52 in the province of Zamora. The Spanish dual carriageway is a key route taken by drivers after leaving northern Portugal as they head for the ports of Santander and Bilbao or drive north-east towards France.
Emergency services in the Castilla and Leon region confirmed the crash and two fatalities at around 12.35am on Thursday morning. Diogo and Andre’s deaths were then confirmed by the Portuguese Football Federation at around 8am.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Jota’s friend and teammate and Portugal’s greatest player, said today: ‘It doesn’t make any sense. Just now we were together for the national team, you were just married.
‘To your family, to your wife and children, I send my condolences and wish them all the strength in the world. I know you will always be with them. RIP. Diogo and Andre. We will all miss you’.
Sharing a photo of Diogo to Instagram, David wrote: ‘Devastating to hear this such sad news… sending love to Diogo and Andre’s families’
Portuguese forward, Diogo (R), died after his Lamborghini careered off a road in northern Spain with his younger brother Andre (L), 26, who also died in the crash
Cristiano Ronaldo led tributes to his friend and teammate
Diogo was born Diogo Silva, but changed his surname to Jota to stand out because it is a common surname. His brother Andre kept the family name.
The boys were the only children of parents Joaquim and Isabel Silva.
Jota was part of Liverpool’s Premier League-winning side in the 2024/25 campaign, scoring six goals in 26 appearances. He also played for Portugal’s national team and helped it win the Nations League last month in an extraordinary win over rivals Spain on penalties.
His younger brother played for Penafiel, in the second tier of Portuguese football.
