Diogo Jota’s widow has urged Scotland captain Andrew Robertson to carry his former Liverpool team-mate in his heart when he lives their dream of playing at the World Cup.

Jota died aged 28 in a car crash last July, after helping Portugal secure World Cup qualification.

Jota won 49 caps but never played at a World Cup after missing the 2022 tournament through a calf injury.

“I couldn’t get my mate Diogo Jota out of my head today,” defender Robertson said after Scotland secured World Cup qualification in November.

“We spoke so much about going to the World Cup because he missed the last one with Portugal and I did with Scotland. I know he’ll be smiling over me today.”

In a letter to Robertson published by Fifa, Rute Cardoso, the mother of Jota’s three children, said: “Diogo often spoke of you. Of the friendship you built, the battles you fought together, the challenges, the laughter, the conversations about football… and about dreams.

“The World Cup was one of those dreams, a dream that the two of you nurtured, side by side, with the same passion with which you took to the pitch.

“When I heard your words and learnt what you felt on that day when Scotland qualified for the World Cup, after so many years of waiting, I realised that Diogo never truly left the pitch.

“By achieving that moment and securing your place at the World Cup, you won’t be going alone.

“You’ll be taking his dream with you too. And when you step on to the pitch, I know it won’t just be you walking out. Diogo will be with you in your thoughts, in your steps, in your heart.

“So today, I want to thank you. Thank you for not forgetting him. Thank you for taking him with you. Thank you for turning the pain of loss into strength and into something so beautiful.

“That’s how we do it here at home too. Every day. He would be, and is, incredibly proud of you. Cherish that dream, Andy. Live it for yourself and for him.”

Robertson was filmed by Fifa reading out the letter and thanked Cardoso, saying it would stay with him for a “very long time”.

The World Cup runs from 11 June to 19 July.

Scotland, playing in their first World Cup since 1998, face Haiti on Sunday, Morocco on 19 June and Brazil on 24 June in Group C.

Robertson, who has joined Tottenham since leaving Liverpool at the end of the season, said: “I’ll carry him in my heart and I know he’ll be with me come the first game, come the second game, come the third game and hopefully beyond that.

“He’s always there. The memories are always something that we bring up and sometimes laugh, sometimes cry.

“And that will be no different, especially going into a tournament which is full of emotion. I know he’ll be right at the front of my mind.

“I’m not only just playing for me. I’m playing for both of us.”

The Independent National Electoral Commission INEC on Tuesday confirmed that it has filed appeals against two Federal High Court judgments that questioned aspects of its Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2027 General Election, insisting that the activities contained in the timetable are interrelated operational processes that cannot be arbitrarily isolated or removed without throwing the entire electoral calendar into disarray.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan SAN, who disclosed this at the Commission’s Second Quarterly Consultative Meeting with leaders of political parties held in Abuja, said the Commission had carefully considered the two judgments and taken the necessary legal steps to obtain authoritative pronouncements from the appellate courts.

The first judgment, delivered on May 20, 2026, in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/517/2026 — Youth Party versus INEC — questioned certain timelines contained in the Commission’s timetable. The second, delivered on May 26, 2026, in Suit No.

FHC/ABJ/CS/720/2026 — Social Democratic Party (SDP) versus INEC — produced a mixed outcome: it affirmed the Commission’s authority to issue an electoral timetable but simultaneously nullified certain timelines relating to the nomination and substitution of candidates.

Prof. Amupitan noted that in the SDP judgment, the court itself acknowledged that “an election timetable, without date for submission of parties’ membership register, timeframe for primaries, etc. is inchoate. Without this timetable, there would be chaos in our electoral system.”

“While the Commission remains fully respectful of the decisions of the Courts and of the judicial process generally, these judgments raise important legal questions concerning the extent of the Commission’s constitutional and statutory powers in coordinating and regulating electoral activities,” the INEC Chairman said.

He argued that the activities in the timetable were not isolated events but interrelated operational processes designed to ensure the orderly, transparent, and successful conduct of elections, and that while the Electoral Act prescribed timelines for certain activities, several critical electoral processes existed for which no express statutory timelines were provided but which must necessarily be accommodated within the overall electoral calendar.

Prof. Amupitan listed such activities to include the submission and verification of party membership registers; monitoring of party primaries across the federation; pre-upload of primary results on the Commission’s designated portal; the nomination process; printing of ballot papers and result sheets; quality assurance procedures; deployment of election materials; training of election personnel; voter education and sensitisation; procurement of sensitive materials; configuration of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines; and compliance with statutory obligations such as inviting political parties to inspect samples of electoral materials pursuant to Section 42 of the Electoral Act, 2026.

“The Commission therefore considers it imperative that all electoral activities be harmonised within a coherent and workable framework that promotes certainty, transparency, administrative efficiency and equal treatment of all political parties,” he said.

Prof. Amupitan assured political parties and Nigerians that notwithstanding the pending appeals, the Commission remained firmly committed to conducting the 2027 General Election in strict compliance with the Constitution, the Electoral Act, and all lawful judicial pronouncements.

According to Mundo Deportivo, the Premier League is the top league in terms of player contributions to the 2026 World Cup, sending 162 players to the 48-team tournament.

With the World Cup squad lists finalized, and despite last-minute withdrawals due to injury, such as Belardi from Argentina and Kahr from Germany, it can be concluded that the Premier League is once again leading the world’s major leagues. England’s top flight has solidified its position as the largest source of players for the 48 World Cup teams.

As of June 7th, out of the 1244 confirmed selected players, 13% play in the Premier League, totaling 162 individuals, with 5 clubs contributing at least 10 players each.

Manchester City leads the clubs contributing national team players to the World Cup with 19 players. Following closely among English teams are Arsenal with 16, Manchester United with 12, Crystal Palace with 12, and Liverpool with 11. The English top flight has once again proven its representation in football, and this advantage is now reflected on the World Cup stage.

Although there is a gap with the Premier League, the Bundesliga is still the second-highest contributor of players to the upcoming World Cup in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Specifically, 100 participating players currently play in the Bundesliga, with Bayern Munich being the largest contributor from the Bundesliga, with 17 players selected. Borussia Dortmund contributed 11 players. In recent years, the Bundesliga’s global influence has continuously increased, with Hoffenheim having 9 World Cup players and Eintracht Frankfurt having 8.

Without Barcelona, La Liga’s presence would be much smaller. Including Gündoğan, Barcelona will have 16 players participating in the World Cup, making it one of the clubs contributing the most players to this World Cup. La Liga has a total of 81 players selected, only half that of the Premier League. After Barcelona, Atlético Madrid is the Spanish club with the most players contributed, with 12, surpassing Real Madrid’s 10, as Real Madrid also suffers from the impact of a poor season performance.

Ligue 1 has a total of 78 players participating in the World Cup, with Paris Saint-Germain accounting for a large proportion. Among these 78 players, nearly 20% come from this newly crowned European champion, specifically 15 players. Following Paris Saint-Germain among Ligue 1 clubs are Lille and Nice, both with 8 players selected.

Italy once had the best league in the world, and now Serie A contributes 66 players to this most important football event, which is also related to the Italian team missing the World Cup for the third consecutive time. AC Milan, which finished fifth in Serie A, is the Italian club with the most World Cup players, with 10.

Another data point that demonstrates the strength of English football is that the EFL Championship, England’s second-tier league after the Premier League, has 36 players participating in the World Cup, which is more than the total of other major European second-tier leagues, such as the 2. Bundesliga with 6, Ligue 2 with 6, Serie B with 5, and Segunda División with 5. In fact, the Championship is among the top ten leagues contributing the most World Cup players, even higher than the Brazilian and Dutch leagues.