Raúl Jiménez scored his first World Cup goal on Thursday, June 11, 2026, against South Africa, during the opening match of the 2026 World Cup at the Estadio Azteca. He scored with a header while wearing a padded elastic band around his skull—an item millions of fans saw for the first time and couldn’t quite figure out.
The forward, a native of Tepeji del Río, Hidalgo, has been using this protective gear since May 2021, when he returned to the pitch for Wolverhampton following an eight-month recovery from a skull fracture.
On November 29, 2020, during a Premier League match between Wolverhampton and Arsenal, Jiménez attempted to head an aerial ball and collided head-on with Brazilian defender David Luiz. Both players fell to the turf. Emergency protocols were immediately activated.
Jiménez lay on the pitch for ten minutes. He was carried off on a stretcher and taken directly to the hospital. The diagnosis was a skull fracture that required emergency surgery and, at the time, was life-threatening, carrying the risk of permanent impairment to his ability to walk or speak.
