Body of Liverpool footballer Jota arrives in Portugal for hometown wake

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Flower tributes are left outside Liverpools Anfield Stadium after Liverpools Portuguese soccer player Diogo Jota died in a car crash near Zamora, Spain, in Liverpool, Britain, July 4, 2025. REUTERS/Temilade Adelaja TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

GONDOMAR, Portugal - The bodies of Liverpool footballer Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva arrived in northern Portugal on Friday for a wake in their hometown, as tributes continued to pour in after they died in a car accident in Spain.

A convoy of hearses left for Gondomar near Porto on Thursday evening from the morgue of Puebla de Sanabria, near where the Lamborghini the brothers were travelling in had veered off the road and burst into flames after midnight early on Thursday. Police said they suspected a tyre had burst.

Jotas wife Rute Cardoso, who had married the footballer just weeks earlier, was seen leaving the morgue and joining the convoy, as was Jotas longtime agent Jorge Mendes.

A wake is expected to take place at a chapel in Gondomar from 4:00 p.m. (1500 GMT) and a funeral on Saturday at a church nearby at 10:00 a.m. local time, Gondomars mayors office said.

Portugals Prime Minister Luis Montenegro arrived in the village on Friday morning.

The death of Jota at the age of 28 has jolted the world of football, with messages of homage pouring in from former teammates, clubs, national leaders and fans. Outside Liverpools Anfield stadium fans left flowers, scarves and hand-written