With their on Thursday, Mexico became the first team to progress to the knockout stage of this . A key figure in their strong start to the tournament has been Julian Quinones - a player whose inclusion in Javier Aguirre’s squad was a matter for debate not so long ago.
It is fair to say that when Aguirre stated after the that “today he made the difference”, that praise would have seemed unlikely not so long ago.
In a squad with varied attacking options, Quinones, who made his debut in late 2023, has taken time to secure a fixed place in the starting formation. At last June’s CONCACAF Gold Cup, for example, Quinones started only one game, the 2-0 group-stage win over Surinam, with his other three appearances coming as a late substitute.
Asked about the demands of playing international football, he said at the time: “In the national team there's always pressure. I’ve worked a lot for this. I’ve done it well and I’ll carry on doing it well.”
The Colombian-born Quinones had arrived in Mexican football while still a teenager, signing for Tigres, and would go on to win six league titles in his adopted country across spells with Tigres, Atlas and America. Then, in 2024, he raised eyebrows by departing for Saudi Arabia.
If that put a question mark next to his national-team prospects, national coach Aguirre stressed that the player remained on his radar and that he was following him from afar – and getting first-hand accounts of his performance levels during former Spain midfielder Michel’s time coaching his club, Al-Qadsiah.
The 29-year-old’s scoring output in Saudi Arabia last season would have been a factor in his favour – 33 goals in 31 appearances in the 2025/26 Saudi Pro League – five more than Cristiano Ronaldo. And back on more familiar ground, for the start of this World Cup, he took no time to make an impact. Just nine minutes in fact. That was the time when he broke the Opening Match deadlock, scoring the first goal of this edition, and his third for Mexico, against South Africa.
The setting could not have been more perfect as he admitted when declaring himself “happy to have scored my first goal at a World Cup, in this spectacular, packed stadium.” Aside from his goal he caught the eye that day with his movement and ability to attack space, as well as his capacity to press high and help sustain his side's intensity. Another asset he offers is his versatility, evident when he comes inside from his starting position out wide. For Mexico’s second match against Korea Republic at the , he received a warm welcome from those fans who had seen his impact at local club Atlas, where he won two league titles. The appreciation was more widely felt across the stands, judging by the singing of his name by the Mexico supporters.
Although Aguirre had made changes to the starting XI, Quinones began again and made a strong impact; he helped Mexico win the ball back and build attacks and was a threat in the final third, posting one of the co-hosts' four attempts on target. His words to TUDN at the start of the year now seem quite pertinent. “I was born ready for any type of challenge,” he said then and his actions on the World Cup stage now are certainly backing up that assertion.
Sources: FIFA Official
