Late Liverpool and Portugal winger and striker Diogo Jota was one of football’s biggest esports advocates.
Jota was an accomplished footballer, recently winning the Premier League with Liverpool and the UEFA Nations League with Portugal.
And he was also a huge gaming and esports fan. Jota was almost as talented at gaming as he was on the football pitch.
Diogo Jota sadly passed away in a tragic car accident at the age of 28 in July 2025.
And while most will know about his extraordinary football career, he also played a big role in the esports industry.
He is one of the few professional footballers who has owned an esports team, as he was in charge of Luna Esports.
However, he was in an even rarer group of elite traditional sports athletes who have also competed in esports.
Jota did a lot to help legitimise the esports industry.
Diogo Jota was an extremely talented gamer
Unsurprisingly, pro athletes hate losing.
It’s not uncommon to hear stories of football players getting competitive while playing video games during their breaks.
However, it quickly became evident that when it came to gaming, Diogo Jota was a level above his peers.
He defeated his future teammate Trent Alexander-Arnold in the final of the first-ever ePremier League Invitational broadcast on Sky Sports.
He also infamously had to quit in the middle of a FIFA 22 international qualifier mid-match to go play for Liverpool in real life.
Jota couldn’t risk being late for registration before the Premier League match against Southampton.
Fortunately, it was worth it as the Portuguese forward scored his first of two goals after just 97 seconds in the 4-0 win.
He proceeded to celebrate the first goal by sitting down on the floor and pretending to game on a controller.
That would be the first of two of his celebrations that would be added to the FIFA franchise of games.
Jota was genuinely a very good FIFA/EA FC player and would regularly compete with esports pros.
It’s no surprise that there was so much support on gaming Twitter as the esports world paid tribute to Diogo Jota following his passing.
Infamously, for a week, Jota was the number one PlayStation player in the world on FIFA 21 leaderboards after another 30-0 Weekend League.
He would also compete in esport tournament qualifiers, including in the ePremier League for Liverpool.
Jota once boasted in an interview with TheGamer that he was the only player to play in both the Champions League and eChampions League.
He also told The Gamer: “Every time we travel for away matches, I take the PlayStation with me.
“It makes time go smoothly, and keeps me entertained.
“I find it helpful to be honest, because if I’m just lying on the bed or something, I’m thinking about the game and I don’t like to think too much.”
Diogo Jota loved esports
With his love for competing in gaming himself, it’s no surprise that Jota became an esports team owner too.
Initially, it started with a FIFA team called Diogo Jota Esports, which then merged with another organisation, Galaxy Racer.
The merger created Luna Galaxy, who now go by the name of Luna Esports.
The organisation competed in the aforementioned FIFA/EA FC as well as Rocket League and Dota 2.
And Luna Esports, based in the Middle East, found a fair bit of success, having earned just under $800k (£586k) in prize money.
Last year, the esports organisation partnered with Jota’s former football team, FC Porto, which is also the city where he was born.
Luna’s biggest triumph was in last year’s Esports World Cup as their pro João ‘jafonso’ Vasconcelo won the $1m (£723k) £7 EA FC 24 tournament.
The Portuguese EA FC pro took home a whopping $300k (£220k) by winning at the first-ever Esports World Cup.
And Jota was there to watch in Saudi Arabia as a guest of the event.
He attended the first-ever Esports World Cup while resting following Portugal’s Euros 2024 campaign.
There, Jota played against Team Falcons founder and former FIFA World Champion Mossad ‘Msdossary’ Aldossary backstage.
He also appeared on stage to congratulate Natus Vincere on their Esports World Cup, Counter-Strike 2 victory.
Jota enjoyed his visit and spoke with delight about how the esports industry was growing:
“Being here at the inaugural Esports World Cup is a truly amazing experience.
“The organisation and scale behind this event are truly impressive, even more than I anticipated.
“I’ve always believed in the potential of esports, even before starting my own team, and EWC is proof that this scene is evolving rapidly.”
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In my seven years of esports writing, I’ve introuduced esports coverage to newspapers, interviewed some of the biggest names in the industry, and driven viewers mad with the puns in my YouTube scripts. I’m most proud of the latter.
