The tragic and sudden death of one of the smartest footballers in the world in recent years, Diogo Jota has thrown a lot of people into tears and sorrow. His sudden death came almost 2 weeks after he exchanged conjugal vows with his long term partner and mother of his 3 children, Rute Cardoso in North Portugal.
The Premier League and UEFA Champions League winner not only displayed his talent for the club sides he played for but also wore his nation’s national team jersey with pride. While fans continue to pay tribute to the him and his brother, Softfootball takes a look at Jota’s national team journey.
Jota in the U19s and U21s
Jota started his national team career at under-19 level. He scored his first national team goal on 29 May 2015 in a 6–1 home win over Turkey in the 2015 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification. After a promising U19 display, he won called to the under-21 team that same year at not yet 19 and earned his first cap playing 15 minutes in the 3–0 away defeat of Israel in an U21 European qualifier. On 25 May 2018, he netted a brace for the under-21s in their 3–2 friendly win over Italy. And from there he was unstoppable in the national team colours.
Jota in the senior team
After blistering performances at Wolverhampton Wanderers for 3 years, Diogo was called up to the senior side for the first time in March 2019, ahead of the opening UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying matches against Ukraine and Serbia. Although he did not get to play in the matches, he was still invited and part of the squad that won the 2019 UEFA Nations League trophy on home soil in June. His debut would come later in November, where he came on as an 84th-minute substitute for Cristiano Ronaldo in a 6–0 win against Lithuania in a UEFA Euro 2020 qualifier.
Shortly after joining Liverpool, he scored his first senior goal in September 2020 in a 4–1 home win over Croatia in the UEFA Nations League. He would then go on to be named in the squad to play at the UEFA Euro 2020 scoring in the 4-2 loss to Germany in the group stage and playing till Portugal were knocked out by Belgium.
Despite an impressive start to the 2022/23 season for Liverpool, Jota would go on to miss the 2022 FIFA World Cup due to a calf injury sustained during a league match against Manchester City which eventually ruled him out for almost a year.
Jota was part of Portugal’s historical win as he scored a brace in the 9–0 home defeat of Luxembourg in the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers in 2023, their biggest win in international history. Months later, he was named in Portugal’s squad for the final tournament in Germany where he made three appearances against Czech Republic and Georgia in the group phase and Slovenia in the knockout stage before Portugal was eliminated from the tournament by France in the quarter-finals.
This year, Jota was selected in Portugal’s 2025 UEFA Nations League Finals squad and he would help Portugal to win the Nations League for a second time via penalties over rivals Spain.
That game would be Diogo Jota’s final match as a footballer and he appeared 49 times for Portugal, scoring 14 goals and winning 2 trophies.
Softfootball reported how Diogo Jota alongside his brother, Andrea Silva passed on this morning and there has been lots of tributes to them on social media.
The Portuguese winger, aged 28, was involved in the accident in Zamora, Spain, reports local media. The news comes just two weeks after he married his long-term girlfriend
According to Marca, the accident occurred on the A52, near the municipality of Palacios de Sanabria, and the star was reportedly in the car with his brother Andre when the vehicle went off the road
