Portugal's national football team is wearing special wristbands during their World Cup opener against DR Congo as a deeply personal tribute to late teammate Diogo Jota. The former Liverpool star, who earned 49 caps and scored 14 goals for his country, tragically died alongside his brother Andre Silva in a car crash in northwestern Spain last year.
Prime Minister's Gesture
The green and red wristbands were a personal gift from Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, who presented them to the team during a pre-tournament meeting. Each wristband is inscribed with the names of every member of the current World Cup squad, alongside Jota's name.
FIFA Approved
The bands were specially made to comply with FIFA's strict equipment and on-pitch regulations. This allows Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes, and the rest of the squad to wear them during active gameplay.
Collective Decision
Midfielder Vitinha confirmed that the decision to wear the wristbands during their first Group K clash was made by the entire team. The PSG star said: "Basically, the story of the wristband is, when we went to meet with the Prime Minister, he offered us this wristband. They made sure that it was a wristband that we could wear on the pitch. It has all the specifics for us to be able to enter the pitch with it, with the name of all the players plus the special name of Diogo Jota. He let us choose if we wanted to use it or not, how [we use it], during the day or during the match. We received it with a lot of affection and we chose to use it."
Doing It for Diogo
Manager Roberto Martinez has been vocal about the team using Jota's tragic death to gain strength throughout this tournament and honor his memory. He told The Athletic: "Diogo is our light. Diogo is our reference of wanting to do or needing to do what his dream was, which was winning titles for Portugal, like he did winning the Nations League. He was a big part of what we built in the dressing room. He wanted to win the World Cup so it becomes a bit of a responsibility, an example, because Diogo was the pure example of believing in whatever could be possible, always with that tenacity, always finding the answer in the right moment in the difficult moment in the game."
