Rúben Neves is still sending Diogo Jota messages on WhatsApp. He said he will carry Jota with him when Portugal faces Colombia in Miami Gardens with first place in Group K on the line.
Neves and Jota on WhatsApp
Neves said he keeps archived conversations on WhatsApp so he can continue to message Jota. On Portuguese television program Alta Definição on SIC, he said, "I still talk to him," and added, "Few people know this. We have a WhatsApp group with [Jota’s wife] Rute [Cardoso] and Diogo, and it's still there, and we continue to talk there. Whenever something special happens, I have the conversations archived on my WhatsApp so I can continue to send him messages."
He also tied that ritual to the World Cup itself. Before Portugal's match against Colombia in Miami Gardens, he said, "More than anything, it is to be able to have him with me and with us in this World Cup," and, "Because I know that one of his great goals in his career was to participate in the championship."
Portugal's Group K stakes
Portugal entered Saturday night second in Group K with four points, while Colombia had six. Both sides had already advanced to the round of 32, so the match was about place as much as progress.
That is the practical tension for Portugal. The tournament path was already secure, but Neves said the squad was still carrying Jota's memory into the game, and Francisco Trincão said that memory was giving Portugal "more strength" and "more belief" after an emotional qualifier win over Ireland.
Jota's long reach
Neves and Jota shared 164 matches across Porto, Wolverhampton Wanderers and the Portugal national team. That shared history makes the tribute more than a gesture before kickoff; it is part of how Neves has kept Jota present in the routine of matchday.
Last October, Neves kissed the No. 21 on his shirt after heading in a stoppage-time winner for Portugal against Ireland, then showed a tattoo of himself and Jota etched into his calf. In July 2025, Jota and his brother André Silva died in a car accident in Spain, and Neves carried Jota's coffin at the funeral.
Portugal's remaining tournament path will keep asking the same thing of Neves and the rest of the squad: turn that memory into output, not just emotion. The match against Colombia offered the first test of that balance, with Group K positioning and Jota's absence sitting in the same frame.
