Watching him score dazzling free kicks, pull off handsprings and other acrobatics in his goal celebrations, and lift the trophy for best player in the Concacaf Nations League Finals, it is easy to forget Raúl Jiménez ever suffered a serious injury. Or that less than five years ago, there were questions about if he would ever play again.
Yet there Jiménez was, with two goals in Mexico’s semi-final against Canada and another two in the final against Panama, joking about enjoying a few tequilas in celebration of El Tri’s first-ever Nations League triumph. A sleek headband is the only visible reminder of his November 2020 collision with Arsenal’s David Luiz – an incident that fractured his skull and caused a brain bleed, and which could have cost him his life without the proper and timely medical interventions he received.
There is no obvious physical record of the months of hard work it took Jiménez and his family to get back to a normal life, let alone to a playing career that was just blossoming in the Premier League (then with Wolves) and for Mexico. Jiménez doesn’t need one.
“It’s fantastic to come back after what I’ve been through,” he told CBS after his two-goal performance on Sunday, securing Mexico’s first win in the competition in four attempts. “This is a great example that you [should] never lose faith and continue. You know what you’re capable of doing and know your level.”
Jiménez has rediscovered his form as he climbs Mexico’s all-time goalscoring chart, on which he currently sits third, seven behind Jared Borgetti and 13 behind Javier “Chicharito” Hernández. He is a leader on the team now; an elder statesman at 33 years old who hopes to lead Mexico back to the top of Concacaf.
Yet even after his return to the field from the accident, even as he recaptured his goalscoring form with Fulham ahead of this March international window, the attention in Mexico has been focused on a different striker expected to lead the line at the 2026 World Cup: 23-year-old Santi Giménez. The striker has seemed to score for fun at club level, earning a January move to Milan from Feyenoord this winter, but he is in the midst of an international goal drought, having failed to score for El Tri since the 2023 Gold Cup final.
Fans rarely focus on consistency. A shiny, new rising star is much more exciting. But consistency is exactly what Jiménez has provided in the Premier League over the last two seasons, and increasingly in recent weeks. After scoring seven goals last season but cooling in the back half of the year, Jiménez has 10 goals in 29 Premier League appearances for Fulham this season – adding a goal each in the FA Cup and the League Cup as well.
Some of them have been brilliant. Others have been unremarkable or, as you’d expect from a penalty specialist, from the spot like his double against Ipswich Town in January. Even this month, before heading off on international duty, Jiménez was on the mark for Fulham, using a savvy first touch off his chest to set himself up for the opening goal against Brighton before the home side rallied to win.
What matters, especially for Mexico, is that he’s scoring at all. The goals and even consistent minutes gives El Tri something they need much more of: An in-form player, performing well in one of the best leagues in the world.
It also gives Mexico a confident, veteran leader who manager Javier Aguirre may not have been expecting to have when he took over the team shortly after their collapse at the 2024 Copa América. So when the debate in Mexico became about whether Jiménez or Giménez should start, Aguirre’s answer was: Both. They partnered with to great effect in both Nations League, Jiménez admitting afterward that he liked working with another forward because it meant less attention from the stout, five-man back lines both of Mexico’s opponents lined up with.
The mentorship he provides isn’t just for Giménez, though; Jiménez’s experience can even be an example for a World Cup veteran like Edson Álvarez, the 27-year-old West Ham midfielder who wore the armband this month for Mexico but is still establishing his leadership style.
Aguirre now has plenty of reason to have Jiménez as one of the first names on the final squad he draws up for the 2026 World Cup, even though he will be celebrating his 35th birthday before the tournament begins on Mexican soil.
For now, Jiménez insists his focus is on helping Mexico in the short-term and keeping the good vibes rolling as he returns to London.
“It’s a great achievement – put the goals aside, the work of the team when we had to defend or had to attack we did it in the same way,” he said after the final victory. “We have to be smart, know how to manage matches and we got what we had been denied.”
Now, Mexico go into the summer’s Gold Cup in search of something less tangible. They want to be the bully of the region again, the unquestioned top team. The regional superiority has faltered in the last few years, but Raúl’s resurgence gives Mexico hope.
