Mexico's Raúl Jiménez honors former teammate Diogo Jota after scoring goal against USMNT in Gold Cup final
- - - Mexico's Raúl Jiménez honors former teammate Diogo Jota after scoring goal against USMNT in Gold Cup final
Kari AndersonJuly 6, 2025 at 9:36 PM
In a high-stakes Gold Cup final between the United States and Mexico, a first-half equalizer led to a touching tribute. As Mexico striker Raúl Jiménez scored a game-tying goal in the 27th minute, the forward took a moment to honor his former teammate, Diogo Jota, who was killed in a car crash on Thursday.
After the goal, Jiménez grabbed a jersey with Jota's name and his No. 20, laying it on his lap. He then mimed playing video games — a signature celebration for Jota — to pay tribute to his friend.
Jiménez, who currently plays for Fulham, was teammates with Jota at Wolverhampton, with the two overlapping for two seasons.
Raúl Jiménez pays tribute to Diogo Jota after his goal for Mexico ❤️Jiménez and Jota were teammates at Wolverhampton 🎮(via @FOXSoccer)pic.twitter.com/mg9dnkXBjA
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) July 6, 2025
Jiménez spoke about Jota on Saturday ahead of the Gold Cup final.
"He was a great teammate who was with me for two years there at Wolves, with whom I regularly kept in touch," Jiménez said. "We shared very beautiful moments."
Jiménez's goal evened things up for Mexico after an early USMNT goal from defender Chris Richards in the fourth minute.
RAUL JIMENEZ LEVELS THE SCORE FOR MEXICO 🇲🇽GAME. ON. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/6sIe0ZDL5G
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 6, 2025
In the 77th minute, midfielder Edson Álvarez gave Mexico the 2-1 lead, off a shot that was initially called offside before eventually being ruled legal. That held as the final score, and the win gave Mexico its second straight Gold Cup title.
Jota's death reverberated throughout the soccer community, with numerous players paying tribute to the Liverpool and Portugal forward throughout the weekend. Teams, including Portugal, held a moment of silence at the women's Euro 2025. Oasis, in their first concert in 16 years, showed an image of Jota in his Liverpool jersey, drawing a large response from the sold-out crowd.
At the Club World Cup match between Fluminese and Al-Hilal on Friday, a particularly poignant moment of silence became emotional for Al-Hilal defenders Rúben Neves and João Cancelo, two of Jota's Portuguese teammates; the pair went on to fly back to Portugal for Jota's funeral, with Neves serving as a pallbearer.
Source: AOL Sports
