--- title: "Football prepares to honor Diogo Jota a year after his death" description: "A year after the Liverpool and Portugal forward Diogo Jota was killed in a car crash alongside his brother, football is preparing to remember him. Liverpool has retired his No. 20 shirt — the first squad number in the club's history to be withdrawn — and fans and teammates are expected to mark the anniversary." category: "Sports" category_url: https://newsparlor.com/category/sports author: "Chloe Bennett" published: 2026-07-02T11:28:00.000Z updated: 2026-07-02T11:28:00.000Z canonical: https://newsparlor.com/article/football-prepares-to-honor-diogo-jota-a-year-after-his-death tags: ["diogo-jota", "liverpool", "portugal", "football", "tribute"] --- # Football prepares to honor Diogo Jota a year after his death A year after the Liverpool and Portugal forward Diogo Jota was killed in a car crash alongside his brother, football is preparing to remember him. Liverpool has retired his No. 20 shirt — the first squad number in the club's history to be withdrawn — and fans and teammates are expected to mark the anniversary. A year on from the death that stunned the football world, the game is preparing to remember Diogo Jota — a player mourned not only for his goals, but for the warmth with which teammates and supporters remember him. ## A death that shook football Jota, the Portugal international and Liverpool forward, was killed on July 3, 2025, in a car crash in northwestern Spain, alongside his younger brother, André Silva, [CNN reported](https://www.cnn.com/sport/live-news/diogo-jota-liverpool-star-dies-spain-spt). Spanish authorities said the car left the road and caught fire after a tire blew out while overtaking on a road near Zamora. Jota was 28; his brother, also a professional footballer, was 25. The news broke just weeks after Jota had married his long-term partner, Rute Cardoso, with whom he had three children — a juxtaposition of joy and loss that deepened the shock. Tributes poured in from across the sport, including from his compatriot Cristiano Ronaldo and his former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp. ## 'Forever our number 20' In the days after his death, Liverpool made an unprecedented gesture: it retired his No. 20 shirt across all of its teams — men's, women's and academy — the first time in the club's long history that it has withdrawn a squad number, [Euronews reported](https://www.euronews.com/2025/07/12/forever-our-number-20-liverpool-retires-diogo-jotas-shirt-number). The club said the decision, taken in consultation with Jota's wife and family, honored both his contribution on the pitch and the personal impact he had on those around him. "Forever our number 20," the club said. The move was a rare one in English football, where retiring numbers is far less common than in some other sports, and it underscored how deeply Jota had been embraced at Anfield in five years at the club. ## What he meant on the pitch Signed by Liverpool in 2020, Jota became a valued forward known for his sharp finishing and his knack for important goals. He was part of the squad that won the Premier League in the 2024–25 season, one of several honors he collected in England, and he was a regular for Portugal's national team. Teammates and coaches remembered him as much for his character as his ability — an unassuming, popular figure in the dressing room whose loss was felt well beyond the club. ## Remembering him As the first anniversary arrives, Liverpool, the Portugal national team and supporters are expected to pay tribute, continuing the outpouring of grief and affection that followed his death. Fans have kept his memory present at Anfield, where his name and number remain part of the club's identity. For a player taken so young, and so suddenly, the anniversary is a moment for football to pause — a reminder that behind the results and records are people, and that some are remembered long after the final whistle. ## Sources - ['Forever our number 20': Liverpool retires Diogo Jota's shirt number](https://www.euronews.com/2025/07/12/forever-our-number-20-liverpool-retires-diogo-jotas-shirt-number) - [July 3, 2025: The death of Liverpool star Diogo Jota](https://www.cnn.com/sport/live-news/diogo-jota-liverpool-star-dies-spain-spt)