Wife contacts via WhatsApp
Last message before Diogo Jota’s death revealed
April 4, 2026 – 12:25 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
A biography is published as a tribute to the life of Diogo Jota. Many companions report there – and remember.
An upcoming publication has revealed new tragic details surrounding the death of the late Diogo Jota. The focus is, among other things, on a message from his wife that was supposed to reach him shortly before the accident, as the British “The Sun” reports. “Darling, when you take a break, call me because I have something here that I want to show you,” wrote Rute Cardoso to the professional footballer on WhatsApp. The message was never read.
We need your consent to be included by our editorial team Instagram-View content. You can use this one (and all others as well). Instagram-Content on t-online.de) can be displayed and deactivated again with one click.
28-year-old Diogo Jota died in a car accident in Spain on July 3 last year. He drove a luxury sports car off the road on a highway in the northwestern Spanish province of Zamora, and the car immediately caught fire. For him and also for his brother André Silva, himself a professional footballer for the Portuguese second division club FC Penafiel, any help came too late.
Just a week and a half before his death, Diogo Jota married his then girlfriend Cardoso. He had been with her since he was a teenager. Jota left behind three children – aged four and two, as well as a baby born in November 2024.
In Jota’s biography, which will be published on April 9th and is entitled “Never again and for a very long time”, the widow describes how she desperately tried to reach Jota after he did not respond. Cardoso called him and also asked the hotel where he and his brother were supposed to stay on the way to England.
The book was created in collaboration between Jose Manuel Delgado and Jota’s widow Cardoso, his parents, former teammates and coaches. Father Joaquim reports, among other things, the moment when Cardoso contacted him: “I received a call from Rute, who said in a desperate voice: ‘Please come here.'” Mother Isabel describes that she had written to her son André – but also without success. Her husband later broke the news to her. She remembers the moment and says: “It was both sons, editor’s note).”
In addition to the family insights, the biography also contains contributions from the sporting environment. Among others, Liverpool coach Arne Slot, former coach Jürgen Klopp as well as Portugal national coach Roberto Martínez and several national players commented. The publisher describes the publication as a tribute to Jota’s life both as a professional footballer and as a person.
