Diogo Jota’s widow Rute Cardoso heartbreakingly shared footage of his wedding speech to mark their one-year anniversary on Monday night.
The couple, who were teenage sweethearts after meeting at school when they were 15, married on June 22, 2025 and had three children together.
However, less than two weeks after they tied the knot in a ceremony in Porto, Jota and his brother Andre Silva tragically died in a car crash on July 3.
And on Monday night, Cardoso shared a post on Instagram which showed footage from their wedding day.
The video was around 20 seconds long and it featured wholesome content from the wedding, clips of the couple celebrating alongside their delighted guests and an extract of Jota’s wedding speech.
Jota, who was emotional and heartfelt with his words, said: ‘Where the future takes us, maybe there’s someone here who knows better than I do.
Diogo Jota’s widow Rute Cardoso heartbreakingly shared footage of his wedding speech in an emotional Instagram post on Monday to mark their one-year wedding anniversary
Jota and Cardoso married on June 22 last year but he tragically died just a few weeks later
‘But the truth is, I don’t know and it doesn’t really matter to me as long as I’m with you. I love you forever, my Branquinha.’
The post was met with support, with Ruben Neves, one of Jota’s closest friends, replying with a love heart and a star emoji.
Jota’s memory remains strong as it approaches one year since his tragic passing.
At the World Cup, Portugal boss Roberto Martinez named Jota as an honorary member of his squad, while their players are all wearing bracelets to honour the Liverpool legend.
These were handed out ahead of the tournament by Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro and each one has Jota’s name on it.
‘Basically, the story of the wristband is, when we went to meet with the prime minister, he offered us this wristband,’ midfielder Vitinha explained.
‘They made sure that it was a wristband that we could wear on the pitch. It has all the specifics for us to be able to enter the pitch with it, with the name of all the players, plus the special name of Diogo Jota.
‘He let us choose if we wanted to use it or not, how [we use it], during the day or during the match. We received it with a lot of affection, and we chose to use it.’
Jota’s parents, Isabel and Joaquim Silva, were also invited by the Portuguese Federation to attend their opening game against DR Congo in Houston.
During the national anthems, an image of Jota was shown on the screens inside the stadium as his parents watched on emotionally.
Portugal’s players are wearing a bracelet in honour of Jota at the World Cup in North America
Scotland captain Andy Robertson, who played with Jota at Liverpool, also vowed to Cardoso that he would play for both him and Jota at the World Cup.
Jota and Robertson had spent the previous World Cup together at Liverpool’s training ground, bonding over their shared dream of representing their respective countries at the 2026 tournament.
Jota turned out 123 times for Liverpool, scoring 47 goals, and played a significant role in their 2024-25 Premier League title-winning season.
The Anfield faithful continuously paid their respects to Jota last season, singing his name in the 20th minute of every match, while the club also retired his No.20 shirt.
