Ruben Neves feels the memory of Diogo Jota will give Portugal "extra strength" as they bid to win the World Cup for the first time.

Jota, alongside his brother Andre Silva, was killed following a car accident in northern Spain on July 3 last year, at the age of 28. 

His death came less than a month after he helped Portugal win the Nations League for the second time, defeating Spain on penalties in the 2025 final.

Neves played alongside Jota for Porto and Wolves between 2016 and 2020, when the latter left for Liverpool. They helped Wolves win promotion back to the Premier League following a six-year absence and finish seventh in each of their first two seasons back in the top flight.

A close friend of Jota and his family, Neves inherited the number 21 shirt for Portugal in tribute to his former team-mate. 

He also has a tattoo of Jota on his calf, which he displayed in an emotional celebration after scoring his first senior international goal against the Republic of Ireland last October. 

And, after Roberto Martinez named a squad of "26 players plus one" for this summer's tournament, Neves said Jota's former team-mates will draw strength from his memory.

"We've talked about it a lot, and we always say the same thing; sometimes you need to hold on to something to give you that extra bit of strength," Neves said.

"That will be one of the things that can give us that extra strength at certain moments and help us get where we want to go.

Para sempre recordado. 𝟮𝟭 pic.twitter.com/U9zPN5MDh4

— Portugal (@selecaoportugal) May 22, 2026

"Our aim is to reach the final, win and return with the World Cup in our hands. It's hard to pick a personal goal because we're focused on what we can achieve as a team."

Portugal will face Chile and Nigeria in pre-tournament friendlies before opening their campaign against DR Congo on June 17.

They are assigned a 7% chance of lifting the trophy by the Opta supercomputer – the fifth-best of any team – but Neves believes they are equipped to handle the pressure.

"All the players in the national team are more than used to this kind of pressure," Neves said. 

"We recently had four players win the Champions League for the second time [Paris Saint-Germain quartet Vitinha, Joao Neves, Nuno Mendes and Goncalo Ramos]. 

"We are a young but experienced squad. We take this in our stride because we know we have the quality and that we can achieve great things for Portugal."