Raúl Jiménez’s journey to World Cup dream after skull fracture
The Mexican striker scored his first World Cup goal five and a half years after a collision that nearly killed him
On November 29, 2020, Raúl Jiménez was carried off a Premier League pitch unconscious, requiring emergency oxygen after his skull collided with Arsenal defender David Luiz’s head. He had a fractured skull and a brain bleed. Medical staff later called his survival a “miracle.”
In June 2026, the same man put a ball in the back of the net at the World Cup. His first ever goal on football’s biggest stage. Five and a half years separated those two moments.
The collision that changed everything
The injury happened during a Wolves vs. Arsenal match in the Premier League. Jiménez went up for a header and collided with David Luiz, a moment that looked routine from the stands but was anything but. He was unconscious before he hit the ground.
Emergency surgery followed. Jiménez shocked observers by returning to training within weeks of the surgery. He now wore protective headgear every time he stepped onto a pitch.
The long road back to relevance
Jiménez has described his survival as a “miracle,” and the word doesn’t feel like hyperbole when you consider what was at stake. His rehabilitation involved a rigorous regime designed not just to restore his body but to adapt his entire approach to the game. The protective headgear became a permanent fixture, a visible reminder of what he’d been through every time cameras found him on the pitch.
Jiménez eventually returned to Wolves on a free transfer, rejoining the club where the injury had occurred.
What the World Cup goal means
Jiménez’s goal in June 2026 wasn’t just a statistical milestone. It was the punctuation mark on a story that most people assumed had ended on a stretcher in North London. The man who needed oxygen to survive a Sunday afternoon football match was now celebrating on the biggest stage the sport has to offer.
The gap between injury and World Cup goal, five and a half years, is roughly the length of an entire career phase for most professional footballers. Jiménez spent that time rebuilding from scratch while wearing protective headgear every time he pulled on a Mexico shirt.