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Jota started playing for Portugal at under-19 level, scoring his first goal on 29 May 2015 in a 6–1 home win over Turkey in 2015 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification. He won his first cap for the under-21 team on 17 November of the same year at not yet 19, playing 15 minutes in the 3–0 away defeat of Israel in another qualifier. On 25 May 2018, he netted a brace for the under-21s in their 3–2 friendly win over Italy held in Estoril. In March 2019, Jota was called up to the senior side for the first time, ahead of the opening UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying matches against Ukraine and Serbia. Still uncapped, he was part of the squad that won the 2019 UEFA Nations League Finals on home soil in June but did not make an appearance. On 14 November, he made his debut by coming on as an 84th-minute substitute for Cristiano Ronaldo in a 6–0 win against Lithuania in a UEFA Euro 2020 qualifier. He scored his first international goal on 5 September 2020 in a 4–1 home win over Croatia in the UEFA Nations League. Jota was named in Portugal’s final squad for the delayed UEFA Euro 2020 tournament, scoring in a 4–2 group stage defeat to Germany. He played all games in a round of 16-exit defeat to Belgium. On 18 October 2022, Jota was ruled out of the 2022 FIFA World Cup due to a calf injury he sustained during a league match with Liverpool against Manchester City on 16 October 2022. On 11 September 2023, Jota scored a brace in Portugal’s 9–0 home defeat of Luxembourg in the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers, their biggest win in international history. On 21 May 2024, he was named in Portugal’s squad for final tournament in Germany, where he made three appearances against Czech Republic and Georgia in the group phase and Slovenia (3–0 victory in a penalty shootout) in the knockout stage, before Portugal was eliminated from the tournament by France in the quarter-finals after losing 5–3 in another penalty shootout. In May 2025, Jota was selected for Portugal’s 2025 UEFA Nations League Finals squad. He and his team went on to win the tournament 5–3 in a penalty shoot-out over rivals Spain, which would be Jota’s final match as a footballer. Jota, whose actual surname was Silva, chose to use the name “Jota” to distinguish himself from other players named Diogo and Silva in the youth academy. “Jota” is the Portuguese name of the letter “J”, making this equivalent to calling himself “Diogo J”. Jota’s brother, André Silva, was also a professional footballer. Like his brother, André started playing football at Gondomar and played for Paços de Ferreira at youth level. When Jota joined Porto on loan in 2016, André was in the club’s youth ranks. André was playing for Liga Portugal 2 side Penafiel at the time of their deaths. Jota was an avid gamer and was ranked world No. 1 in FIFA 21’s Champions Leaderboard in February 2021. He had his own eSports team known as Luna Galaxy (formerly “Diogo Jota eSports”) and regularly streamed on Twitch.[114] During the lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic he took part in an invitational series of FIFA matches, run by the Premier League, eventually defeating future Liverpool teammate Trent Alexander-Arnold in the final of the competition. Jota married his high school sweetheart Rute Cardoso on 22 June 2025, just 11 days before his death. The couple had three children. Jota underwent minor lung surgery at some point before his 22 June 2025 wedding and was advised by doctors not to fly. He travelled from Liverpool by ferry to Santander in northern Spain, then drove south to Porto. He was making the return journey to Liverpool for pre-season training, along with his brother André, when they were involved in a car crash prior to reaching Santander. Both men were killed. According to the Spanish Civil Guard, Jota’s Lamborghini Hurucán suffered a tyre blowout while overtaking another car, and veered off the road before catching fire. The incident occurred on 3 July 2025 at around 00:40 CEST on the A-52 motorway (kilometre point 65 in the direction of Benavente), in the municipality of Cernadilla in the Province of Zamora. Spanish newspaper Marca was the first outlet to publish news of the brothers’ deaths. Later in the day, Spanish emergency services confirmed the crash and that both brothers died at the scene.