Tenerife striker Jesús de Miguel dies at 30 after on-field collision, club says

As of 8:41 a.m. ET, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026

Update (Nov. 4, 2026, 8:41 a.m. ET): This story has been updated to report that Spain's National Police have opened an investigation into possible involuntary manslaughter after De Miguel's death, and with further details of Monday's match from The Associated Press and Reuters.

CD Tenerife forward Jesús de Miguel has died at 30 after suffering cardiac arrest following an on-field collision in a Spanish second-division match on Monday, the club said Tuesday, according to The Associated Press.

Police open investigation

Spanish police have opened an investigation into possible involuntary manslaughter following De Miguel's death, the AP reported. The country's National Police said proceedings had been opened and that prosecutors would also be involved, according to the AP. Reuters, citing a National Police source, reported that police had opened proceedings relating to a possible involuntary manslaughter charge.

No one has been arrested or charged. Under Spanish law, any death not from natural causes triggers a judicial inquiry, the Canary Islands' High Court of Justice told the Spanish newspaper El País. José Luis Sánchez-Jáuregui, the chief prosecutor of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, told the Spanish news agency EFE that he considered it "very difficult" for criminal proceedings to follow because the impact happened during play, El País reported. The quote is a GROKsiNEWS.com translation from Spanish.

The Canary Islands club said in a statement on its website that De Miguel died at 8 a.m. Tuesday local time (3 a.m. ET). "Broken with pain, with a lump in our throat and unable to believe that this is true, from CD Tenerife we announce the tragic passing of Jesús de Miguel Alameda," the club said, in a translation published by ESPN.

"There are no words of comfort; there is absolutely nothing that can ease this profound sense of sadness," the statement said. The club said De Miguel's family thanked people for their support and asked for "utmost respect for their privacy" at "this terrible time."

Hurt in stoppage time Monday

De Miguel was challenging for the ball near midfield during stoppage time of Monday's LaLiga 2 match in Tenerife when he was struck in the chest by FC Andorra goalkeeper Jesús Owono, who was running from the opposite direction in an apparent attempt to clear the ball, the AP reported. Owono was shown a straight red card, according to the AP. The game was abandoned seven minutes into stoppage time, Reuters reported. Medical staff treated De Miguel on the field, and he was taken by ambulance to a hospital, ESPN reported.

In a statement late Monday, Tenerife said De Miguel was in the intensive care unit at Hospital Universitario Nuestra Señora de Candelaria and was "stable, within the seriousness" of his condition. Early Tuesday, the club said on X that his "medical situation has worsened neurologically," Spanish news agency EFE reported via Marca. The club announced his death a few hours later.

Tenerife's statements did not give further medical details.

Tributes across Spanish soccer

FC Andorra, which is owned by former Barcelona defender Gerard Piqué, sent condolences. "We wish to extend our deepest condolences to the family of Jesús de Miguel, to all his colleagues and friends, and to CD Tenerife. May he rest in peace," the club said, according to the AP. Piqué wrote on social media, "I am so deeply sorry. Rest in peace, Jesús," The Guardian reported.

LaLiga president Javier Tebas said, "Today, we all share the terrible pain of an irreparable loss," according to ESPN. Barcelona and Real Madrid also issued statements of condolence.

The Spanish Football Federation postponed the Copa del Rey and Copa de la Reina matches that had been scheduled for Tuesday "as a mark of respect and solidarity," ESPN reported. The federation said new dates would be announced in the coming days.

A lower-division journeyman

De Miguel, a Madrid native, made his professional debut in 2015 with Leganés B and spent most of his career in Spain's lower divisions, according to the AP and The Guardian. He was Castellón's top scorer when the club won promotion to the second division in 2024, The Guardian reported, and he joined Tenerife in 2025.

"You will always be one of us, Demi. Rest in peace," Castellón said in a statement carried by ESPN.

Life-threatening injuries from collisions in soccer are extremely rare, the AP noted.