From a village without phones to the opening goal of a home World Cup
Julián Quiñones grew up in Magüí Payán, in Colombia's Nariño region, where reaching a telephone meant a three-hour boat ride. In June 2026, playing for his adopted Mexico, he scored the first goal of the World Cup on home soil. Few journeys in football cover that much distance, geographic or otherwise.
His talent announced itself loudly. Playing for a Cali academy called Futbol Paz in 2014–15, he scored 50 goals in 38 matches, and Mexican club Tigres signed him for their under-20 side. He moved to Mexico at 17 and marked his professional debut on loan at Venados in 2016 with two goals against Cruz Azul in the cup.
Loans shaped him. At Lobos BUAP he finished third in the scoring charts one tournament, with nine goals, and added eight more the next, yet back at Tigres the coach Ricardo Ferretti kept him on the margins. Atlas took him in 2021 and he helped end a 70-year wait for a league title, then won a second straight. At América he added two more, bringing his personal haul to six championships.
In 2023 he declined a call from Colombia's senior team, completed naturalisation in Mexico, and debuted for them that November against Honduras. His first international goal came in a Nations League semi-final against Panama in March 2024.
Saudi club Al-Qadsiah paid a reported 16 million dollars for him that summer. After 20 goals in his first season, he finished the next as the league's top scorer with 33, overtaking Ivan Toney on the final day with a hat-trick. At the World Cup he scored in the opener against South Africa, in the round of 32 against Ecuador, and in a narrow round-of-16 loss to England, reaching four goals to match the Mexican record held by Luis Hernández and Javier Hernández. In September 2026 he made the 30-man Ballon d'Or shortlist.
Source: Julián Quiñones
