Liverpool retire Diogo Jota's jersey number to ensure he's never forgotten

Liverpool has retired the No. 20 shirt worn by Diogo Jota following his death in a car crash last week.

The 28-year-old Jota died along with his brother Andre Silva, also a soccer player, near the northwestern city of Zamora, Spain.

On Friday, Liverpool said his number would be retired across all levels of the club, including the women's team and academy.

“It was the number he wore with pride and distinction, leading us to countless victories in the process — and Diogo Jota will forever be Liverpool Football Club's number 20,” the Premier League club said in a statement.

Jota had just completed the most successful season of his career — helping Liverpool to a record-equaling 20th English league title and winning the UEFA Nations League with Portugal.

In total, he played 182 games for Liverpool and scored 65 goals, while winning the FA Cup and English League Cup along with the Premier League.

Liverpool said it made the decision after consulting with his family.

“As a club, we were all acutely aware of the sentiment of our supporters and we felt exactly the same way,” said Michael Edwards, CEO of football for Liverpool's owner Fenway Sports. “I believe this is the first time in Liverpool Football Club’s history that such an honour has been bestowed upon an individual. Therefore, we can say this is a unique tribute to a uniquely wonderful person.

“By retiring this squad number, we are making it eternal, and therefore never to be forgotten."

Players from Liverpool and Portugal joined family and friends for the funeral of Jota and his brother last weekend. Floral tributes were laid outside the club's Anfield stadium as part of an outpouring of grief following his death.

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Dutch player Virgil Van Dijk, captain of Liverpool, walks to the church to attend the funeral of his teammate Diogo Jota and his brother André Silva, in Gondomar, near Porto, Portugal, on Saturday, July 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

A boy wearing a jersey with the name of Liverpool and Portugal player Diogo Jota, sits on a man's shoulders as they look at tributes in memory of Jota, who died in a car crash with his brother in Spain in the early hours of Thursday, at Anfield Stadium, England, Sunday, July 6, 2025. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)

FILE - Liverpool's Diogo Jota in Liverpool, Aug. 21, 2021. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP, File)

Fans sign a mural in memory of late Liverpool player Diogo Jota, on Sybil Road near Anfield in Liverpool, England, Tuesday, July 8, 2025. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Sunday fired off another warning to the government of Cuba as the close ally of Venezuela braces for potential widespread unrest after Nicolás Maduro was deposed as Venezuela's leader.

Cuba, a major beneficiary of Venezuelan oil, has now been cut off from those shipments as U.S. forces continue to seize tankers in an effort to control the production, refining and global distribution of the country's oil products.

Trump said on social media that Cuba long lived off Venezuelan oil and money and had offered security in return, “BUT NOT ANYMORE!”

“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA - ZERO!” Trump said in the post as he spent the weekend at his home in southern Florida. “I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.” He did not explain what kind of deal.

The Cuban government said 32 of its military personnel were killed during the American operation last weekend that captured Maduro. The personnel from Cuba’s two main security agencies were in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, as part of an agreement between Cuba and Venezuela.

“Venezuela doesn’t need protection anymore from the thugs and extortionists who held them hostage for so many years,” Trump said Sunday. “Venezuela now has the United States of America, the most powerful military in the World (by far!), to protect them, and protect them we will.”

Trump also responded to another account’s social media post predicting that his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, will be president of Cuba: “Sounds good to me!” Trump said.

Trump and top administration officials have taken an increasingly aggressive tone toward Cuba, which had been kept economically afloat by Venezuela. Long before Maduro's capture, severe blackouts were sidelining life in Cuba, where people endured long lines at gas stations and supermarkets amid the island’s worst economic crisis in decades.

Trump has said previously that the Cuban economy, battered by years of a U.S. embargo, would slide further with the ouster of Maduro.

“It’s going down,” Trump said of Cuba. “It’s going down for the count.”

A person watches the oil tanker Ocean Mariner, Monrovia, arrive to the bay in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

President Donald Trump attends a meeting with oil executives in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)