Mexico’s Quiñones: Faced racism, nearly joined guerrillas but now national hero

Colombia-born Quiñones, the scorer of the opening goal against Ecuador, was nearly forced to join a guerrilla group; his father left when he was a toddler; mother, a store worker, couldn't afford to buy him shoes. Now he is the toast of Mexico.

World Cup 2026: Julian Quiñones became a naturalised Mexican citizen in 2023. (AP Photo)

Written by: Sandip G

5 min readJul 1, 2026 12:50 PM IST First published on: Jul 1, 2026 at 11:34 AM IST

The delirious Azteca crowd chanted “Quiñones, Quiñones…” They showered beer and flung cardboard sombreros at their newfound object of affection, Julian Quiñones. The forward, drenching in the adulation after putting Mexico in front before setting up the second in the Ecuador rout, asked them to amplify the volume. The chant must have been music to his ears, for two years ago, the Mexican city of Guadalajara had shouted his name too, but with racial slurs prefixed.

He is a Colombian by birth, his parents of Afro-Colombian ancestry. He became a naturalised Mexican citizen in 2023. But the past clung on like an invisible sword. He knows he has to prove that he is Mexican every time he steps onto the field; he knows he will be judged by his race and origins when he fails. So, he simply ensures that he gives little chance for them to dig up his past. He scored the first goal of the World Cup, a devilish strike against South Africa; in the round-of-16 encounter against the sturdily defending Ecuadorians, he pinched a goal that blended blinding pace, technical purity and savage beauty.

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He was strolling on the left, when Jesus Gallardo snatched the ball from Ecuador. Quiñones, sensing a pass, set off, ensured that he beat the off-side trap, gathered the ball, cut inside into the box, dummied the right-back Alan Franco and threw the proverbial kitchen sink at the ball. He intentionally did not impart any spin, lest the revolutions would take the ball over the crossbar. He chose pure power and precision. Straightaway, he kissed the badge, displaying to the world how much he loves it. “Representing my country is the most important thing, and I give everything in training to make that happen,” he had once said.

The slicker piece of work had to wait. Ten minutes on, Raul Jimenez latched onto Joel Ordonez’s scuffed clearance and passed to Quiñones. Franco again converged onto him. He paused, let him snap his leg and nonchalantly bunted the ball to Jimenez’s path. The striker did not falter, and immediately after the celebrations, rose from the ground and kissed the assist provider. At 29, an obscure Colombia-born forward was fuelling Mexico’s dreams. Not only does he contribute with goals but also brings fight and energy. Goals to him are secondary, winning the ball is primary, he said after the South Africa game.

Mexico’s Julian Quinones (16) scores their first goal against Ecuador’in Mexico City. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Saudi connection

The Saudi-league tragic, though, wouldn’t be totally shocking. Last season, playing for Al Qadsiah. He stumped Cristiano Ronaldo and Ivan Toney to helm the goalscoring charts (33 goals, besides four assists). His first season had earned him 25 goals as well. But he would humbly tell a Saudi League interviewer: “I am nobody to compete with him. Just tell me how many fans I have?”

The World Cup performance would swell his fanbase. Childhood coach Cesar Valencia is already one. “Knowing where he comes from and how far he’s come isn’t easy. It’s not easy. The number of obstacles he’s faced, the number of problems he’s had. And he always held his head high, always gave 120%,” he told ESPN Mexico.

He was raised in Magui Payan, a town located in southern Colombia within the notorious Telembí Triangle — a region battered by violence and armed conflict. A guerrilla group nearly forced him to join them. His father left the family when he was a toddler. Football was his escape. His mother who worked in a store couldn’t afford a pair of football boots. So he spent most of his childhood playing football barefoot. “It helped him because he developed incredibly strong ankles. It gave him balance and power in his movements,” Valencia reflected. Finally, Valencia dug into his own savings and brought him a pair of shoes.

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In 2014, he attended a trial for Fútbol Paz, an academy scouting for talented players from across Colombia. He cleared it, and two years later, he caught the eyes of Mexican club Tigres UANL, and shifted to Mexico, where he consistently hit double digits in scoring charts. But he couldn’t hide the colour of skin in a country that proclaims it has no race, that it welcomes all races. He chose to suffer in silence; he locked himself out of social media and quietly slipped into the moneyed shores of Saudi. But his allegiance to Mexico never wavered, and when manager Javier “El Vasco” Aguirre summoned him to the national team, he had no second thoughts.

Valencia calls him lion, “because he always attacked the goal”, though his teammates called him panther. At Azteca, he roared like a lion, and kept proving his loyalty to his adopted country with deeds. And how musical it would have been for him to hear the spectators chant his name, through a night of celebrations with fireworks and palomas without racial prefixes.