Liverpool's Diogo Jota confirms pregnancy after Cristiano Ronaldo ruined annoucement

Diogo Jota and his partner Rute Cardoso have confirmed they are expecting the arrival of their third child together in November 2024. 

The Liverpool forward and his partner already have two children, born in 2021 and 2023. 

The announcement was made on Thursday across the 27-year-old’s social media accounts and comes just a few days after a Cristiano Ronaldo offside call wrecked Jota’s original announcement plans. 

Jota thought he had given Portugal a late winner in their opening Euro 2024 group game against Czechia in Leipzig on Tuesday night. 

Capitalising on an 87th-minute Cristiano Ronaldo header which rebounded off the post, he guided the ball home from close range. 

Portugal had found themselves 1-0  down to Czechia after Lukas Provod smashed his side into a second-half lead. Jota was brought on in place of Rafael Leao and appeared to have netted the winner after Robin Hranac’s own goal drew the sides level. 

The Reds’ goal-getter was sure he’d earned his side all three points, setting about a planned celebration in the immediate aftermath of the ball hitting the net.

Having successfully wrestled the ball from the grasp of the Czech goalkeeper Jindřich Staněk inside the goalmouth, sparking a mini-brawl among the players, Jota put the ball up his shirt and conducted the well known thumb-sucking celebration.

That celebration usually comes when a player wishes to announce the news of a partner’s pregnancy. Jota had his celebration cut short however when matchday official Marco Guida called play back for an offside in the buildup. 

Ronaldo was fractionally ahead of the play when Joao Cancelo hit his cross, meaning that VAR had reason to disallow the goal. 

With that Jota’s pregnancy announcement had backfired.

Portugal went on to win the game in injury time with Francisco Conceicao turning home a botched clearance after reported Liverpool transfer target Pedro Neto sent a low cross into the box. 

Roberto Martinez’s side went second in Group F following the 2-1 win with Turkey having beaten Georgia 3-1 earlier in the day. Jota’s Portugal play Turkey on Saturday.