Julian Quinones, the main striker for ex-Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers at Al-Qadsiah, scored the first goal of the 2026 World Cup on Thursday evening.
You can only imagine how proud Rodgers will have been to see one of his players write his name in history in front of the world.
Quinones, born in Colombia but a naturalised Mexico international, is off the back of a truly exceptional season of goalscoring in Saudi.
With the help of the Irishman, he outdid Cristiano Ronaldo and Ivan Toney to finish the season as the league’s top scorer. In 25 games under Rodgers, Quinones has scored 26 goals.
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Julian Quinones: Brendan Rodgers’ main man scores Mexico’s World Cup opener
Most of you will have watched the game as the tournament kicked off at the iconic Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.
Quinones and his teammates could easily have added a significant amount to the winning margin of two goals.
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Now aged 29, Quinones had played exclusively in Mexico until his move to Saudi Arabia two years ago. He has never played in Europe.
Rodgers will be familiar with another striker in Mexico’s group in Hyeongyu Oh, who continued his post-Celtic rise with the winner in South Korea’s win over Czechia.
The 53-year-old took charge of nine of Celtic’s 38 Scottish Premiership matches this season, winning five. He resigned in acrimonious circumstances in October.
Despite technically being entitled to one, Rodgers confirmed ‘no contact’ from Celtic regarding a medal after the Premiership title was secured.
He has been focused on Al-Qadsiah, securing a fourth-placed finish with the side who were only promoted in 2024.
He completed a double over Ronaldo‘s Al-Nassr in the process. In fact, his points-per-game of 2.38 exceeds that of both his spells in Glasgow.
🙌 Oh continues his post-Celtic rise with a World Cup winner for South Korea!
Where does Brendan Rodgers rank among Celtic managers?
Before the modern era, the likes of Willie Maley, Jimmy McGrory and Jock Stein established legacies that many thought could never be touched by anyone today.
Martin O’Neill was already a Celtic legend before this season, but after his miraculous impact over the last nine months, some fans may now put him in the bracket.
But where does Rodgers rank among modern managers? Neil Lennon’s playing spell and European success as a manager could rank him above the Northern Irishman.
He was far more successful than Gordon Strachan in terms of trophies, but Strachan’s back-to-back Champions League knockout appearances and three-in-a-row against a financially dubious Rangers team cannot be overlooked.
If Ange Postecoglou were ever to return, even he could have a go at outdoing Rodgers’ reputation, but reports suggest that this is unlikely at the moment.
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