Life has taken many turns for Colombian Julián Andrés Quiñones. From starting playing barefoot and hiding from his parents in his native Colombia to naturalize Mexican and become the first scorer of the 2026 Soccer World Cup.
This 29-year-old forward, who played as a left winger today, scored the opening goal in Mexico’s 2-0 victory over South Africa at the Azteca Stadium in the opening match.
It was a dry shot; firm right instep, low body. A low whip came out between the legs of Ronwen Williams, the South African goalkeeper.
A goal for a story worth telling, that of the first Colombian by birth to score a goal with another team’s shirt in a soccer World Cup.
The beginnings in Colombia
Quiñones was born in Magüí Payán, a remote municipality in the department of Nariño, in southern Colombia.
The town belongs to the Telembí Triangle, an area affected by the Colombian armed conflict and the confluence of guerrillas and victims.
In an interview that, according to the specialized media ESPN, he gave Fútbol Paz in 2018, Quiñones said that he started playing soccer barefoot, without his parents’ permission.
“I didn’t even get home to eat sometimes, they would go look for me and I didn’t want to leave the field. We played barefoot and that was our happiness,” he said.
It was precisely at Fútbol Paz, a newbie club in the city of Cali, where the young soccer player began to stand out and attract the attention of international scouts.
The passage to Mexico
According to ESPN, the footballer signed for the lower categories of the Mexican club Tigres in 2015, after scouts detected him in a national under-17 tournament in Colombia.
There they saw the characteristics that continue to define the attacker: physical power, speed, dribbling, goal.
He began a prodigious career in Mexican soccer, passing through Venados and Lobos of the BUAP before returning in 2018 to Tigres, from the city of Nuevo León.
In 2021 he moved to Atlas de Guadalajara, winning the Apertura 2021 and Clausura 2022 titles.
In total he scored 32 goals in 78 games with the rojinegros, according to a TV Azteca note.
In 2023 he made the jump to Club América in Mexico City, also achieving a two-time championship with the Apertura 2023 and the Clausura 2024.
Saudi League and debut with El Tri
Mauricio Silva, Colombian journalist and author of several books about the Colombian national team, reminds BBC Mundo that Quiñones “managed to be called up with the Colombian U20 team.”
However, the call to the senior team was slow to arrive, if it ever did.
Quiñones, who spent eight years in Mexico and ended up obtaining Mexican nationality, said yes to Tri and made his debut at the end of November 2023 against Honduras.
Less than a year later he was sold for around US$15 million to the Saudi team Al Qadsiah in one of the most expensive transfers in the history of Mexican soccer.
In the 2025-26 season he finished with 33 goals.
Nobody scored more, not even the Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, who plays for Al Nassr in the same league and who finished the tournament with 28 goals.
Unforgettable year for Quiñones, who left the Azteca Stadium to applause on June 11 as the great figure of the first match of the 2026 World Cup.
He was chosen best player of the match at the end of the match.
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- Soccer World Cup 2026: check the results, standings and your team’s match schedule (with your country’s schedule)
