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Wolverhampton Wanderers confirmed on Wednesday that Raúl Jiménez will undergo surgery on Friday in London to repair the medial collateral ligament in his left knee. Wolves expect him to be absent until January, which rules him out of Mexico’s Concacaf Nations League quarterfinal against Jamaica on November 14 and 17, the first competitive series of the Rafael Márquez era. Wolves director of performance Phil Hayward said the injury has not healed under conservative treatment. Jiménez hurt the knee against Everton in the Carabao Cup on September 16, and scans over the last three weeks showed the ligament was not recovering. “The injury has not responded as we expected,” Hayward said in the club’s official update, after consultations with several knee specialists. The procedure is a limited one. “The ligament is reattached to the tibia and there is no reconstruction required,” Hayward said, putting the recovery at “around three months of rehabilitation before he’s ready to play again.” The decision ends a month of optimism. Manager César Peixoto initially described the injury as “not too bad” and expected Jiménez back within a few weeks, a prognosis FutnSoccer covered in its September Mexicans in Europe recap. The 35-year-old had scored a stoppage-time winner at Sheffield United off the bench seven days before the Everton match.
What It Means for Mexico
Jiménez has not played for Mexico since the World Cup, where he scored three goals. The knee injury kept him out of Márquez’s first camp in September and October, and his stand-ins did not score. Mexico drew 1-1 with Colombia and 1-1 with Peru, then lost 3-0 to the United States and 2-0 to Chile. Its only two goals came from midfielder Gilberto Mora and defender Víctor Guzmán. Márquez rotated Santiago Giménez, Armando González and Germán Berterame at center forward across the four friendlies, and the three combined for 432 minutes without a goal. After the Chile loss, the coach said his priority was getting his forwards more minutes and rhythm, and he pointed out that Giménez has barely played for his club this season.
Who Steps In Against Jamaica
Santiago Giménez is the biggest name of the three, but he is on loan at Porto from AC Milan with one goal this season, a penalty against Casa Pia, and mostly substitute appearances. Armando González started against Colombia and scored his first European goal for Olympiacos in September. Germán Berterame, who joined Inter Miami from Monterrey, started against Peru and is in the middle of a long scoring drought for club and country. The quarterfinal opens on Saturday, November 14 at the National Stadium in Kingston, with the return leg on Tuesday, November 17 at Estadio Monterrey in Monterrey. The winner reaches the Nations League semifinals in March 2027 and qualifies for the 2027 Gold Cup. A January return would put Jiménez back in contention for March if Mexico advances, but the Jamaica series will be decided by the forwards who could not score in the fall friendlies.
