Portugal plays ahead of the World Cup with a special dedication: Neves says Diogo Jota is still part of the dressing room
Rúben Neves enters Portugal’s preparations for the 2026 World Cup with a message that goes beyond the usual sporting objective. The Al Hilal midfielder and one of Diogo Jota’s closest friends said that Portugal will also play at the tournament in the United States of America, Canada and Mexico for the Liverpool forward who died far too soon. According to him, the desire to win Portugal’s first world title has become even stronger after the tragedy that struck the national team, Liverpool and the wider football world in July 2025. In an interview for the programme Futebol Arte on Sport TV, Neves said that the players had inherited part of Jota’s strength, fighting spirit and will from his character, and that they would do everything so that, symbolically, he too could win the title with them. That message has taken on special meaning within the Portuguese national team because Jota was more than an important forward: he was a teammate, a friend and a person whose influence has remained present in the dressing room.
Neves’s personal dedication and the national team’s shared motivation
Neves’s statement is not an isolated emotional gesture, but part of the broader mood within the Portuguese national team ahead of the tournament that begins on 11 June 2026. According to reports by Portuguese media that carried the interview with Sport TV, Neves stressed that the World Cup is the most difficult competition he has played in and that Portugal had already had a major ambition to go all the way. After Jota’s death, he added, that ambition gained additional inner strength. In his interpretation, Jota was a player recognisable for his energy and endurance, and it is precisely those qualities that are now being mentioned as part of the team’s identity. For a national team that has several generations of top-level players, from Cristiano Ronaldo to Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, Vitinha and younger leaders, such a dedication acts as an emotional framework for the attempt to win the title that Portugal still lacks.
The bond between Neves and Jota was especially strong because they shared different stages of their careers together. PortuGOAL states that the two played together at FC Porto, Wolverhampton and the Portuguese national team, and that their families were very close. Such a relationship explains why Neves in particular became one of the most visible voices of collective remembrance of Jota within the national team. After the accident, Neves was among the players who publicly expressed grief, and Portuguese and British media reported that he also attended the final farewell in Gondomar. That is why his message about the World Cup is not merely a sporting motivational sentence, but a personal promise to a friend and teammate whose absence is strongly felt ahead of the tournament.
Roberto Martínez and the symbolism of the “27 plus one” team
Portugal head coach Roberto Martínez has also incorporated Jota’s memory into the way the national team talks about its World Cup campaign. When the squad for the tournament was presented in May 2026, the Portuguese team was publicly described as a group of 27 players plus one, with that symbolic addition referring to Jota. According to an announcement by the Portuguese Football Federation, Martínez presented 27 players for the World Cup in Canada, the USA and Mexico at Cidade do Futebol on 19 May 2026. In its preview of the Portuguese national team, FIFA stated that Portugal are in Group K with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uzbekistan and Colombia, while the final registration for the tournament is limited by competition rules.
The number 27 in the Portuguese context also has a practical dimension. According to The Irish Times’s report on Martínez’s list, fourth goalkeeper Ricardo Velho travels with the team, but can be included in the official 26-player squad only in the event of an injury to one of the three registered goalkeepers. Such an administrative detail became less important than the symbolism with which the head coach consciously emphasised that Jota remains part of the national-team story. According to FourFourTwo, Martínez said that Jota had become a real inspiration within the group and that his example reminds the players of the importance of every day. In the context of a major tournament, that is a message that speaks at the same time about mourning, togetherness and an attempt to turn personal loss into stable competitive energy.
The tragedy that marked Portugal and Liverpool
Diogo Jota died on 3 July 2025 in a traffic accident in Spain together with his brother André Silva. Liverpool announced on the same day that the club had been informed of the death of the 28-year-old Portuguese forward and his brother following a road accident in Spain and requested respect for the privacy of the family, friends, teammates and club staff. Spain’s Civil Guard and international media reported at the time that the accident had occurred in the Zamora area, and investigators later stated, according to Sky Sports reports, that the evidence gathered up to that point indicated that Jota had been driving the car. Details of the investigation developed publicly during the summer of 2025, but from the beginning it was clear that this was an event that deeply affected both club and national-team football.
After the tragedy, Liverpool organised a series of commemorations and permanent tributes. The club announced that it would retire Jota’s number 20 at all levels, including the women’s team and the academy, after consultations with his family. In May 2026, Liverpool unveiled images of the future permanent memorial at Anfield titled “Forever 20”, dedicated to Diogo Jota and André Silva. According to the club’s announcement, the memorial will include elements connected with Jota’s recognisable goal celebration, the numbers 20 and 30 that the brothers wore on their shirts, and items that fans left outside the stadium. These details are important because they show that the memory of Jota has not remained only in the Portuguese dressing room, but has become a lasting part of Liverpool’s identity and the community around the club.
The number 21 shirt as a national-team tribute
Portugal also honoured Jota through the national-team symbolism of the shirt. ESPN, citing a statement by head coach Roberto Martínez, reported that Jota’s number 21 in the Portuguese national team would be taken over by Rúben Neves, his long-time friend and teammate. That decision was not presented as an ordinary change of number, but as a way for the memory of the forward to continue being carried within the team. In national-team football, numbers often carry personal and emotional weight, and in this case they additionally connect two players who together made the journey from Portuguese club football to the Premier League and the national selection. For Neves it is both a burden and an honour: every appearance in the shirt with that number will recall his friend, but also the responsibility not to reduce his name only to the past.
Jota was valued in the Portuguese national team for his ability to play several attacking roles, his aggressive pressing and his directness in front of goal. At Liverpool, from 2020 onwards, he became an important part of the attacking rotation and a player who often provided solutions in big matches, while with Portugal he won trophies and created continuity in a national team that, after the European title in 2016, sought to retain its place among the elite. That is why his absence has both a sporting and an emotional effect. Portugal in 2026 are not left without only one attacking profile, but without a player whose work habits and character were strongly recognised within the group. That is exactly what Neves referred to when he said that the players had inherited part of what Jota brought to the pitch.
Portugal seek their first world title in an expanded format
The 2026 World Cup will be the largest in the history of the competition. According to FIFA’s schedule, the tournament runs from 11 June to 19 July, and in the new format 48 national teams will take part, playing 104 matches in 16 host cities in Canada, Mexico and the United States of America. Portugal will open Group K on 17 June against the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Houston, then on 23 June they will play against Uzbekistan, also in Houston, and on 27 June against Colombia in Miami, according to FIFA’s group schedule. The format with 12 groups of four national teams increases the number of possible scenarios in the fight for the knockout stage, because alongside the two best teams from each group, the eight best third-placed national teams also progress. For the favourites, that means a broader route toward the final stages, but also an additional level of caution because the schedule and knockout-stage paths can change quickly.
Portugal arrive at the tournament as one of the national teams that have both experience and squad depth. FIFA and the FPF highlight in their previews a generation in which veterans such as Cristiano Ronaldo meet players who have already been leading figures in the biggest European leagues for years and younger profiles who bring freshness. Ronaldo is once again at the centre of attention ahead of the tournament because an appearance in 2026 would be his sixth at World Cups, which further increases the historical significance of Portugal’s campaign. But unlike in earlier periods, Portuguese identity no longer rests on a single star alone. The squad contains players with experience of winning major club and national-team trophies, and Martínez is trying to balance technical quality, possession, transition and depth of options in all lines.
The recent Nations League trophy as proof of competitiveness
Portugal’s ambition is not without foundation. UEFA announced that Portugal won the Nations League on 8 June 2025 in Munich after defeating Spain 5:3 on penalties, following 2:2 in regular time and extra time. They thereby became the first national team to win that UEFA competition twice, after their earlier triumph in 2019. That result carries important weight for the World Cup because it shows that Martínez’s team is capable of beating a top opponent in a high-pressure match. In that final, according to match reports, Neves had an important role in the penalty shootout, which further strengthened his status as an experienced player trusted by the head coach in key moments.
Nevertheless, the World Cup remains a different challenge. Neves himself stressed that it is the most difficult competition he has played in, and history confirms that Portugal, despite great generations, have never won the world champion title. Successes at the Euros and in the Nations League create expectations, but also pressure, especially in a national team that knows that part of the current generation may be facing its last opportunity for a major collective breakthrough. In such an environment, the memory of Jota can have a dual role: it can be a source of strength, but also an emotional burden that must be carried carefully. Martínez’s task is therefore not only tactical, but also psychological, because he must maintain the balance between grief, motivation and cold competitive discipline.
Jota’s presence as part of the Portuguese dressing room
The most important message from the Portuguese camp is that Jota’s presence is not being treated as a passing commemoration. When Neves says that the national team will try to win the title for him as well, and Martínez mentions the symbolic addition to the player list, it is about creating a shared narrative that can accompany the team throughout the tournament. Such narratives in football do not decide results by themselves, but they can influence the way a team deals with crises, extra time, penalties and moments when physical quality is no longer the only factor. If Portugal want to go all the way, they will have to find a balance between emotional dedication and professional performance, between the memory of a teammate and the concrete demands of the matches in Group K.
For Rúben Neves, that balance will be especially personal. He comes to the tournament not only as a midfielder who must connect the lines, control the rhythm and make decisions under pressure, but also as a player who publicly carries the memory of a friend. That also contains the broader significance of the Portuguese story ahead of the 2026 World Cup. Portugal will compete in North America with the ambition of winning a historic title, but also with a clear reminder of a player who left a mark in the dressing room, at Anfield and among the fans. Neves’s message that the team will do everything so that Jota can symbolically win the title with them is therefore not merely an emotional sentence before the tournament. It is a summary of the way Portugal are trying to turn loss into togetherness, and togetherness into energy for the hardest road in national-team football.
Sources:
- Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) – official announcement on Roberto Martínez’s squad list for the 2026 World Cup. (link)
- FIFA – preview of the Portuguese national team, groups and match schedule at the 2026 World Cup. (link)
- FIFA – 2026 World Cup schedule and Portugal’s match against DR Congo in Group K. (link)
- PortuGOAL – reported statements by Rúben Neves about Diogo Jota and the 2026 World Cup. (link)
- The Irish Times – report on the symbolic “27 plus one” list and the role of the fourth goalkeeper in Portugal’s squad. (link)
- FourFourTwo – context of Martínez’s statements about Jota’s influence on the Portuguese dressing room. (link)
- ESPN – report on the decision for Rúben Neves to take over Jota’s national-team number 21. (link)
- Sky Sports – report on the findings so far by Spanish police after the accident. (link)
- Liverpool FC – official announcement on the death of Diogo Jota and André Silva. (link)
- Liverpool FC – announcement on permanent tributes and the retirement of the number 20. (link)
- Liverpool FC – presentation of the “Forever 20” memorial at Anfield. (link)
- UEFA – official report on the 2025 Nations League final between Portugal and Spain. (link)