RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, June 12: When the 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off at Mexico’s iconic Mexico City Stadium this evening, among the stars taking to the pitch will be a player recognised by Roshn Saudi League (RSL) fans as the finest of the 2025-26 season.
Julián Quiñones, the Mexico international and Al Qadsiah forward, concluded a sensational 2025-26 RSL campaign as the division’s top scorer with 33 goals, being named Fans’ Player of the Season as well as clinching the Golden Boot. He outpaced two-time consecutive Golden Boot winner Cristiano Ronaldo and Ivan Toney in a race that went to the final whistle of the final matchday. It was, fittingly, a hat-trick that sealed it, his fourth of a remarkable season.
Now, on football’s grandest stage and in front of an expected capacity 81,000 fans at the Mexico City Stadium, and millions more watching worldwide, co-hosts Mexico will look to the prolific forward to translate that lethal form into a World Cup campaign that begins against South Africa in Group A this evening.
“It’s a result of so many years fighting to be in the big leagues,” Quinones said in an interview with the Saudi Pro League website when discussing his Golden Boot achievement. “I have shown it day by day. I dedicate this to all the people who never doubted me. To all my coaches who supported me, to my family, to all those people who have always been there in the worst moments of my career.”
The numbers behind his 2025-26 season are staggering. Quinones averaged a goal every 83 minutes and converted once for every 1.8 shots on target. He also registered a league-high 14 Man of the Match awards and was voted Fans’ Player of the Season by RSL supporters. Beyond the personal statistics, the 29-year-old also created 10 big chances for teammates, underlining a selflessness that belied his elite individual output.
That combination of quality, commitment and team-first mentality has earned the admiration of Al Qadsiah manager Brendan Rodgers, the former Liverpool and Celtic coach who played a significant role in elevating Quiñones’ game this season.
“We were able to help Julián be the top goalscorer, and he knows more than anyone that he could not do that without his teammates,” Rodgers said. “It’s an incredible achievement considering he hardly takes any penalties, but also what else he gives the team, in terms of pressing, commitment, running.”
Such was the confidence his club placed in him that Al Qadsiah moved swiftly to secure his future, with Quiñones signing a new contract, through to 2029, before departing for international duty.
The Roshn Saudi League arrives at this World Cup as the most represented league outside football’s traditional ‘Big Five’, a testament to the competition’s growing stature on the global stage. And in Quiñones, the league has a player ready to announce himself to the world in the most high-profile setting the sport can offer.
“Representing my country is the most important thing,” Quiñones said in an earlier interview. “That’s why I work hard every single day. I give everything in training to make that happen.”