Diogo Jota’s family life, from childhood sweetheart wife to three young kids

The footballing world is in mourning after Liverpool forward Diogo Jota and his brother died in a car crash in Spain this morning.

Jota and his brother, Andre Silva, were both killed in a car accident when their car left the road and burst into flames in the northern province of Zamora.

Tributes have poured in from around the world, with Liverpool releasing a statement saying they have been left ‘devastated’ by the ‘unimaginable loss’.

Follow Metro’s live blog for full coverage of Diogo Jota’s death

Jota scored 65 goals in 182 games for Liverpool after moving from Wolves in 2020 and is survived by his wife and three young kids.

Wedding to wife and childhood sweetheart Rute Cardoso

Jota’s tragic passing comes less than two weeks after he married Rute Cardoso, the mother of his three children.

The couple had been in a relationship since 2012, and are childhood sweathearts, having attended the same high school together in Porto.

Cardoso was regularly seen in the stands watching Jota player, documenting her travels following him play for both club and country.

Jota proposed to Cardoso in July 2022 at a lakeside setting and, less than a fortnight ago, the pair got married in their hometime of Porto.

In his last post on social media prior to his death, Jota shared an emotional video from the pair’s wedding day, captioning the post: ‘A day we will never forget’.

Only 48 hours ago, Cardoso released more photos of her wedding-day outfit, labelling it ‘My dream come true’. In the comments, Jota responded: ‘But I’m the lucky one’.

Diogo Jota and Rute Cardoso’s three kids

Jota and Rute had three children together and three pet beagles.

They have a son named Dinis, who was born in 2021, Another son, Duarte, was born in 2023, and a third child, a daughter, was born in 2024. The name of the youngest child has never been revealed.

The couple regularly shared pictures of their family online, most recently following Liverpool’s Premier League title win in May this year.

Diogo Jota’s brother Andre Silva played for Penafiel

Jota’s brother, Andre Silva, was also a professional footballer and played for Portuguese second division side Penafiel.

Silva came through the Porto youth set-up before leaving to join Pacos de Ferreira in 2017, where Jota had played in the previous two seasons.

The midfielder later had spells at Familicao and Boavista before spending two seasons at lower division side Gondomar. In July 2023, he joined Penafiel.

Porto, where Jota also spent a season as a player, said they were in ‘shock’ at the brothers’ passing.

‘Porto is in mourning. It is with shock and deep regret that we send our most sincere condolences to the family and friends of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva, who was also our youth player. May they rest in peace,’ the statement said.

How Diogo Jota’s parents raised two footballing sons

While many players spend their teenage years in academies, Jota was still playing for his local club Gondomar until the age of 16.

And with no income to chase his dreams, Jota’s ambitions were financed by his parents Joaquim and Isabel who paid for him to continue playing football until he got his first break.

‘It was not me paying, it was my parents,’ he told Sky Sports in 2022.

‘In Portugal, things are different to England. I was playing for a small club and we had to pay monthly to be able to play.

‘It was only when I was transferred to Pacos [de Ferreira in 2013] that I started to receive some money.’

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