Five and a half years ago, Raul Jimenez was rushed into emergency surgery after a sickening collision left him with a fractured skull and a brain bleed. On a November night in 2020, during a Premier League match against Arsenal, the trajectory of his career, and possibly his life, changed in an instant.
Jimenez took the pitch for Mexico in their opening match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, co-hosted by Mexico, the United States, and Canada.
The injury that nearly ended everything
On November 29, 2020, Jimenez clashed heads with Arsenal defender David Luiz during a Premier League fixture. He was stretchered off and immediately taken to the hospital, where doctors performed emergency surgery on his fractured skull. Medical staff described his recovery as nothing short of a miracle.
Nine months later, in August 2021, he returned to action with Wolverhampton Wanderers. He wore a protective headband, a visual reminder of what he’d been through.
