Santiago Gimenez is key to Mexico‘s plans for the men’s FIFA World Cup, set to be staged in the United States, Canada and Mexico in June and July. The AC Milan forward will share the goalscoring burden with Fulham‘s Raúl Jiménez as El Tri attempt to reach the quarterfinals for the first time since 1986 — the last time Mexico hosted the tournament.
But the 24-year-old, who completed a $38 million transfer from Dutch club Feyenoord to Milan in January 2025, is in the middle of a fitness battle to be ready for the World Cup after undergoing ankle surgery last month.
With the clock ticking toward the tournament, ESPN traveled to Milan to speak to Gimenez about his injury rehabilitation, the pressure and expectations that come with playing in a World Cup in his home country, and how he has put the intense Mexico-U.S. soccer rivalry to one side with U.S. men’s national team captain and Milan teammate Christian Pulisic.
Editor’s note: This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
ESPN: First of all, Santi, how is the ankle injury progressing?
Gimenez: It has been tough because there have been some weeks that I was playing with pain. The injury started getting worse and worse. I needed to stop, but now I just want to see the present and the future, and not to live the past, so I’m motivated that I’m doing a good recovery, and I hope that, in a few weeks, I can play again.
Is it true that the injury started to be an issue in the Gold Cup last summer?
Yes, it’s been a long time. At the beginning, it was just a little bit of pain, and as a football player, if we have a little pain, we just keep going, you know. It’s normal for us.
But I think it was a mistake. I know every football player would do the same because we love to play, we love to continue playing, but even before the Gold Cup, I was with the pain. And then it starts getting worse and worse and worse, so it was time to stop.
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Did it get to the point where you had to make a decision on surgery to be fit for the World Cup?
Yes, for sure. Last May, I couldn’t believe I have this opportunity with Milan, with the World Cup, with my national team, with my people. But then, the pain starts coming, and it was the decision to do surgery or to don’t do it. It’s an important season with Milan and then comes the World Cup, so it was a tough decision. But in the end, now that it is one month from the surgery, I can say it was the best decision.
Now, I’m really happy that I had the surgery and am just looking forward to come back stronger.
You play alongside Christian Pulisic with Milan and became close friends. Has he helped you through your injury, or is the U.S.-Mexico rivalry too strong?
This is always a dressing room talk with everyone. They make jokes of us or they ask, “Who’s better, USA or Mexico?” I start saying Mexico, Pulisic starts saying USA and it’s a fight in the dressing room, but everything with love at the end!
If we play a game [for our countries], we are enemies, we are rivals. But in the dressing room, he’s one of my best friends. We are always together, and I hope, if he’s not playing against Mexico, that he does well. But if he’s playing against Mexico, of course if I need to kill him, I kill him!
But he was a really good friend in this difficult moment [of injury rehab]. We have a lot of things in common. We like NFL — he supports the Jets, I like the Dolphins. Sometimes, I go to his house and do a barbecue and watch the NFL.
So, he’s a nice teammate, a nice friend, but in the end, if he puts on the shirt of the USA, he’s a rival.
How do you rate Mexico’s and the United States’ chances at the World Cup?
To play a World Cup in your country is amazing, and we have the opportunity to do it. Our family will be there — it is our people, our stadium, our country, you know, so we need to be strong, and we will be strong.
I think [the U.S.] have a really strong national team. I think they can make maybe quarterfinals. I think they’re strong.
I would love to play against the USA in the World Cup because of the rivalry that football brings, and the fans love this.
It was amazing for us to win the Gold Cup last year because our rivalry started a long time ago and it keeps going. I know the fans enjoy a lot to beat USA, so we were very happy to win the Gold Cup against them.
Do Mexico feel the pressure of having to reach the quarterfinals? It has only happened in 1970 and 1986 — both World Cups staged in Mexico — so the expectation must be tough?
El quinto partido? Now that we are home, I would not say it will be easier because every game will be tough.
But I think with our people in Mexico, I think we can make it for sure. And we will work for it because the words don’t make it work. You need to do it, and we are trying to work as hard as possible to complete that goal.
Our coach [Javier Aguirre] and our assistant coach, Rafa Marquez, they are two legends in Mexico, so that motivates us a lot. We respect them a lot, and we will follow them. In Mexico, in the national team, we see each other as a family, so we are going to bring this to the World Cup.
How important will it be to play knockout games in the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City? Mexico could face England in the Azteca in the round of 16; can you overcome such a big test?
[The Azteca is] amazing. It’s amazing when you see 90,000 people with the green shirt and everyone’s screaming. It is difficult for the rivals, and for us, it’s like a push, a giant push.
It would be really tough [against England]. But what I have seen in the dressing room is that even if we are not the strongest national team, no one wants to face Mexico in Mexico — no one. Everyone in the [Milan] dressing room was telling me this. I hope we don’t face Mexico because we know you are really hard, you are really strong and more if you are at home.
So, I know what we think about England, that is a really hard national team to play against. But I know they think the same [about Mexico].
With your ankle recovering and a World Cup on the horizon, what does a perfect 2026 look like for Santi Gimenez?
I just want to be good from the ankle. I think that’s the main goal. I want to be [100 percent fit]. And then if I am good with the ankle, I think that everything will come along automatically.
After that, just keep going for the World Cup. For the World Cup, I will be ready.
