It’s easy to forget that Ral Jiménez never suffered a serious injury when you watch him score stunning free kicks, perform handsprings and other acrobatics in goal celebrations, and win the Concacaf Nations League Finals award for best player. Or the fact that less than five years ago, it was questioned whether he would play again. However, Jiménez was joking about drinking a few tequilas to celebrate El Tri’s first Nations League victory, scoring two goals in Mexico’s semi-final against Canada and two more in the final against Panama. 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.
It took Jiménez and his family months of hard work to get back to a normal life, let alone to a playing career that was just beginning to blossom in the Premier League (at the time, with Wolves) and for Mexico. There is no obvious physical record of this. Jiménez doesn’t need one.
After scoring two goals on Sunday, Mexico’s first victory in the competition in four attempts, he told CBS, “It’s fantastic to come back after what I’ve been through.” “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.
However, despite his return to the field following the accident and his return to his goal-scoring form with Fulham ahead of the March international window, Santi Giménez, a different striker who is expected to lead the line at the 2026 World Cup, has received more attention in Mexico. The striker has appeared to score for fun at club level, earning him a January transfer from Feyenoord to Milan. However, he has not scored for El Tri since the 2023 Gold Cup final, putting him amid a goal drought for international competition. Consistency is rarely the focus of fans. 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. Jiménez was on point for Fulham even this month, before he left for international duty. He used a clever first touch off his chest to set himself up for the opening goal against Brighton before the home team rallied to win. What matters, especially for Mexico, is that he’s scoring at all. The goals and even consistent minutes give El Tri something they need much more of: An in-form player, performing well in one of the best leagues in the world.
Additionally, it provides Mexico with a veteran, self-assured leader, something that manager Javier Aguirre may not have anticipated when he took over the team shortly after their defeat 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 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.
Even though Jiménez will celebrate his 35th birthday before the 2026 World Cup begins on Mexican soil, Aguirre now has a lot of good reasons to include him in the final squad he selects. 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.
He declared following the final victory, “It’s a great achievement – put the goals aside, the work of the team when we had to defend or attack we did it in the same way.” “We have to be smart, know how to manage matches and we got what we had been denied.”
Now, Mexico enters the Gold Cup this summer looking for 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.
