Raúl Jiménez honoured his late friend and former teammate Diogo Jota in an emotional tribute during Sunday night’s Gold Cup final between Mexico and the United States.
Before kick-off, Jiménez walked onto the pitch wearing a black Mexico jersey with the name “DIOGO J.” and the number 20, a tribute to Jota’s shirt number at Liverpool.
Then in the 27th minute, after scoring Mexico’s equaliser, Jiménez made the tribute even more personal.
He sat on the grass, pulled out the same jersey, and laid it gently in front of him. Then, just like Jota used to do, he performed the FIFA gaming celebration, pretending to play a video game with an invisible controller. Jota was a known gamer and had used that celebration many times.
Raúl Jiménez honors Diogo Jota after his goal for Mexico ❤️🎮
AdvertisementThe two were teammates at Wolverhampton 🙏 pic.twitter.com/0FQz0uY6Uf
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 6, 2025
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Jiménez and Jota were teammates at Wolves from 2018 to 2019 and formed a strong friendship. Speaking before the match, Jiménez said:
“He was a great teammate. We shared many beautiful moments being important parts of what Wolves achieved in those times. It’s very tough to learn this type of news about someone so close to you and who was a great friend.”
The tribute came just one day after Jota’s funeral in Gondomar, Portugal. Jota, 28, and his brother André Silva, 25, died in a car crash last Thursday in Spain.
Jiménez joins many footballers who have honoured Jota this week. Kylian Mbappé formed the number 20 with his fingers after scoring for Real Madrid, while Ousmane Dembélé copied Jota’s gaming celebration for PSG. Nashville’s Hany Mukhtar and Nigeria’s Rinsola Babajide also paid tribute during their games.
