With the Concacaf final tomorrow between USMNT and Mexico, the time has come to look back on a tense season, where these two rival teams—who’ve faced off nine times in the Gold Cup final—have found their way back to each other once again. On the USMNT team, it’s been Diego Luna who has been turning heads in January after he played through a broken nose; on team Mexico, it is Raúl Jiménez who is stealing the spotlight. In fact, it was Jimenez’s turnaround in the game against Honduras that has Mexico in the finals against the US! 

Now, Raúl Jiménez is not an unfamiliar name. Any soccer fan will know that this star has been making waves in Fulham since 2023 and he returned from a nearly fatal injury! He’s also played a vital role in his country’s team, helping score Mexico a gold in the 2012 Olympics and even scoring the winning goal against Honduras in the Gold Cup semifinal match that seemed to have reached a standstill just before that! 

So who exactly is this star who is coming back from injury stronger than ever?

Raúl Jiménez’s early life and soccer career

Raúl Jiménez Started his youth career at Club América in 2008, he continued to play in the junior leagues until 2011, then made his senior debut. He continued to play in the club till 2014 during which time he scored 36 goals in 96 appearances.

Following that long stint, Jimenez shifted between three other clubs: Atletico Madrid, Benfica, and then Wolverhampton Wanderers, where he played with late Portuguese star Diogo Jota, before finally joining Fulham in 2023 on a two-year deal. He made his debut with this team in August and has shown consistency, scoring pivotal goals in  the 2023–24 and 2024–25 seasons.

Who are Raúl Jiménez’s parents? 

When players start to do successfully, despite strife, hardship and injury, one has to always wonder who they have back home supporting them and how they came to this point in their careers in the first place. In the case of Raúl Jiménez, his parents have supported him all the way!

Jiménez’s father Raúl Jiménez Vega and his mother, Martha Rodríguez, both Mexican, of Mestizo Mexican ethnicity, rooted in Tepeji del Río, Hidalgo, have supported him from a young age, ensuring he got to where he needed to be to fuel his passion. 

Does Raúl Jiménez have any siblings?

And Jiménez’s parents didn’t let the soccer dream stop with him. Out of their four children, Raul Jimenez, Raúl André and Miranda Jiménez, two of them are professional soccer players. Any guesses?

Well, yes, Raúl Jiménez himself, but also his brother Raúl André, who is the goalkeeper for his older brother’s former club, Club América’s youth academy.

Who is Raúl Jiménez’s partner and how did they meet? 

Raúl Jiménez’s family gets even larger. He has been with long-term partner Daniela Basso since around July. The two met through a mutual friend who thought Raul and the Mexican actress would hit it off; clearly they were right. 

Eight years later, the couple have two children. Arya (5) is their daughter and Ander (3) is their son.

What Is Raúl Jiménez’s net worth in 2025? 

Though there are no official figures with regard to what Raúl Jiménez’s current net worth is, one can always approximate. The Fulham and Team Mexico player makes approximately £100,000 per week; on top of that, he makes $5,200,000 per year playing for Fulham.

All this plus the accolades he continues to earn for team Mexico place Raúl Jiménez’s estimated net worth at somewhere around between $16M and $43M.

What role has Raúl Jiménez played in the Mexican national team?

Back in 2020 Raúl Jiménez suffered a head-on collision with Arsenal’s David Luiz, which caused a fractured skull and a brain bleed that could have been fatal if not for timely intervention. What followed was a few years of rehab until Jiménez was signed to Fulham in 2023 on a two-year contract. However, during this time, had both his children and continued to show up for his national team in 2022 when they played in the Fifa World Cup and finished third in group C.

Since then, Jiménez has found his way back into form not only for Fulham but also for his national team. Jiménez currently sits third on Mexico’s all-time goal-scoring chart, closing in on Javier “Chicharito” Hernández record of 52 goals for Mexico by having bagged 116 caps and scoring 42 goals. Prior to his injury, Jimenez also helped Mexico win Olympic Gold in 2012 and played in multiple FIFA World Cups (2014, 2018, 2022), and during this past Gold Cup tournament, Jiménez has really proved himself! 

Jiménez is only adding to that record with his latest performance for his country against Honduras. In the 50th minute of the game, Jiménez caught hold of a pass from 16 year old Gilberto Mora and managed to score against Honduras, which is the goal that ended up sending Mexico to tomorrow’s final. This was the sixth game for Mexico in which Jiménez scored the only goal in a 1-goal win.

So there you have it. There will undoubtedly be a lot at stake tomorrow, where two countries that share more than a history but also a culture and a subtle understanding of one another despite everything else face off. Diego Luna, who is of Mexican origin, has already admitted to how emotional the game will undoubtedly be. And apart from that, many players, those who’ve played for either Liverpool or Wolverhampton, like Jimenez, will also be carrying the weight of the recent and untimely death of former teammate Diogo Jota.

The question now is, will Jiménez be able to channel his emotion into his game and help his team win once again like he did in the 2025 Nations League final? (Where he scored twice!). We will know soon enough.