Out of Nowhere, Mexico Might Have Found Its Replacement for Injured Raul Jimenez

Santos Laguna’s 20-year-old striker Tahiel Jiménez is having a breakout moment in Liga MX, and his prolific form could earn him a maiden call-up to Mexico’s senior national team next month with Raúl Jímenez sidelined for the rest of the year.

A little over halfway through the Liga MX Apertura 2026 season, Santos have become one of the biggest stories of the campaign, thanks to five straight wins that have placed them firmly in the playoff race after finishing bottom of the league in three of the last four seasons.

After failing to register a single start for Santos since April, manager Renato Paiva finally gave Jiménez a chance to impress from the opening whistle in their most recent two games. The young striker grabbed his opportunity and ran away with it.

Jiménez scored a brace to lead Santos to a 2–1 win over Atlético San Luis on Oct. 11, before scoring a hat-trick on Saturday in the 5–0 pummeling of Querétaro. Five goals in his first two starts of the season have firmly placed Jiménez on El Tri’s radar, especially after Raúl Jiménez underwent knee surgery that will sideline him until 2027.

But who is this previously unknown striker now tearing up Liga MX?

Who Is Striker Tahiel Jiménez?

Tahiel Jiménez and Gilberto Mora for Meixco in the 2025 U–20 World Cup. — Tahiel Jiménez (left) played alongside Gilberto Mora (middle) in the 2025 U–20 World Cup. | Martín Fonseca/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images

Jiménez is the son of former Liga MX star Walter “El Lorito” Jiménez, who won a league title with Santos in 2008. Although his father is Argentinian, Tahiel was born and raised in Mexico and joined Santos’s academy at 16.

Jiménez made his professional debut for Santos at 18 in April 2024. He has since featured 40 times during one of the worst periods in club history. With the club struggling for results, playing time was hard to come by—as is the case for many young talents in Liga MX.

Still, Jiménez was a regular for Mexico’s youth teams and led the line for El Tri in the 2025 U–20 World Cup, scoring his one and only goal of the tournament in the 4–1 win against host Chile in the round of 16. There, he played alongside coveted teenager Gilberto Mora, just like their fathers did during their playing days for the now defunct Jaguares de Chiapas in Liga MX.

Jiménez registered just two starts for Santos in the aftermath of the U–20 World Cup. But after bagging three goals in four games for Mexico in the 2026 Central American and Caribbean Games this summer, Paiva finally granted him his golden opportunity.

Now, Jiménez is already Santos’s top goalscorer. His meteoric rise hasn’t gone unnoticed, with reports suggesting El Tri manager Rafael Márquez is considering rostering him for the Concacaf Nations League quarterfinals.

Mexico Has a Major Problem at Striker

Mexico manager Rafel Márquez is in desperate need of goals. | Chris Coduto/Getty Images

It might seem like two impressive performances is far too small of a sample size for Jiménez to merit a look with Mexico’s senior national team, but El Tri desperately needs alternatives at the position, given recent evidence.

With the veteran Wolverhampton Wanderers striker unavailable, Armando González, Santiago Gimenez and Germán Berterame all got extended looks with El Tri during the September–October international action. The trio of strikers failed to score and delivered uninspiring performances.

Henry Martín is the last Mexico center forward not named Raúl Jiménez to score a goal for El Tri in an official match, and those goals came two years ago in the second leg of the 2024 Nations League quarterfinal vs. Honduras.

Injuries have tormented Martín, and he hasn’t featured for El Tri since, but a surge in form for Club América has reportedly also placed the 33-year-old center forward back on Márquez’s radar.

Still, if the 20-year-old Jiménez continues his breakout, it will be almost impossible for Márquez not to pick up the phone.

It’s way too early to call Jiménez Mexico’s striker of the future, but his recent performances have at least demonstrated the 20-year-old has the potential to grow into a very capable goalscorer—something that isn’t minor in Mexico’s current landscape.

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