Santi Gimenez was left on the bench again for Mexico in the Mundial 2026, then finally got minutes in the final stretch against Corea del Sur. The change told the story of the night: Javier Aguirre still trusts him, but not enough yet to put him in from the start.
The timing matters because Mexico needed the result in Guadalajara to move toward the 16avos de Final, and Gimenez was one of the names fans expected to see in a more central role. Instead, Aguirre again went another way, as he had in the first match, when he turned to Hormiga González as the replacement for Raúl Jiménez in the closing stretch at Estadio Banorte.
Aguirre has been direct about why. He said he called Gimenez because he is different, because he believes in him and has a lot of faith in him, and because the player already had what he lacked before: the ability to attack space, play facing goal or with his back to it, and offer several virtues. Even so, the coach also said Gimenez did not have the best rhythm of competition.
That explanation fits the year behind him at Milan, where he spent practically the whole season as a substitute. For Mexico, that club reality has become impossible to ignore. Aguirre can praise the striker’s qualities and still keep him waiting, especially in a match that carries World Cup pressure and a place in the next round on the line.
The friction is simple. Gimenez is good enough to be trusted, but not settled enough to be handed the role outright. Until that changes, the most important question for Mexico is not whether he can help. It is whether Aguirre will finally decide he is ready to start when the margin is gone.
