Jesús de Miguel dies after cardiac arrest in Tenerife vs Andorra match, police investigate By Luís Henrique Costa
3 min read
 |
CD Tenerife striker Jesús de Miguel died on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, at the age of 30. He had suffered cardiac arrest a day earlier, after a collision during a second-division match against FC Andorra. The club said he died at 8:00 a.m. local time.
Born in Madrid, De Miguel spent most of his career in Spain’s lower divisions before joining Tenerife in 2025 on a three-year contract. He scored 11 goals in 34 appearances for the club, which returned to the second division at its first attempt.
How a blow to the chest can trigger commotio cordis
The collision came in the closing seconds of the match on Monday, November 2, with the score tied 2-2. Andorra goalkeeper Jesús Owono left his area to chase a long ball and struck De Miguel with his knee in the chest. Owono was shown a straight red card, and the match was abandoned.
Medical staff treated De Miguel on the pitch for more than five minutes before an ambulance took him to hospital. Tenerife first described his condition as “stable despite the severity of his condition,” then said it had worsened neurologically.
Commotio cordis is a rare condition in which a blunt blow over the heart, landing at a precise moment of the heartbeat, disrupts its electrical rhythm. The impact can cause ventricular fibrillation, an irregular rhythm that stops the heart from pumping blood to the rest of the body.
When circulation collapses, the brain loses oxygen quickly. The longer that interruption lasts, the more neurons are destroyed.
The cause of death has not been officially confirmed. The club did not disclose the precise medical cause, and Spanish media reported that an autopsy was pending. Cardiologists interviewed by Spanish outlets called commotio cordis the main hypothesis, but said the autopsy is needed to confirm the heart was structurally normal.
Why the first minutes matter with a defibrillator
Medical guidance points to a window of three to five minutes after the collapse for basic life support and the use of an Automated External Defibrillator, or AED. Resuscitation outside that window becomes far less likely to succeed.
- Survival chance: falls by 7% to 10% for each minute without CPR and an electric shock.
- AED: delivers a controlled electric shock to restore a regular heart contraction.
The National Police of Spain opened an investigation into possible involuntary manslaughter, a routine step under Spanish law when a death is not considered natural. The chief prosecutor of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, José Luis Sánchez-Jáuregui, told the EFE news agency that criminal proceedings were unlikely, because the collision happened during play.
The Royal Spanish Football Federation suspended all Copa del Rey and Copa de la Reina matches that day, while UEFA matches went ahead. Tenerife has asked for its league game at Granada, scheduled for Saturday, to be postponed.
