Mexico National Team Striker Forced to Retire Aged 25 | OneFootball

Former Chivas and Mexico National Team center forward, José Juan Macías, has reportedly decided to retire from soccer at just 25-years-old, following constant injuries that have tormented him in recent years.

Santos Laguna released a statement informing the club decided to terminate Macías's contract. Soon after, Fox Sports reported that the striker's exit from Santos wasn't just the end of his tenure with the team, but also the end of his professional career.

Reporters Sergio Treviño and Carlos Rodrigo Hernández confirmed the drastic decision taken by Macías. The decision to retire was taken because the Chivas academy graduate is "mentally and physically exhausted of dealing with so many injuries," which have seen him spent more time rehabbing than on the actual pitch in recent years.

José Juan Macías: A Promising Start to His Career

Macias, more commonly known as "JJ" by Mexican fans, made his debut for his boyhood club, Chivas—one of the biggest clubs in Mexico—as a 17-year-old in 2017. That same year, he scored his first brace in Liga MX, in Chivas's 3-1 victory over Tijuana.

JJ's true breakout came in 2019. Chivas loaned him to Club León at the start of the year and, in the Clausura 2019 as a 19-year-old, he scored the most goals in Liga MX by a Mexican player with 10, helping guide León to setting the then single season points record in a 17-game campaign.

Days after turning 20, he made his debut with the Mexico national team on Oct. 2, 2019, scoring on his debut the first of four goals he'd score in five games for El Tri. His performances for club and country made people begin comparisons with another former Chivas graduate that went on to become El Tri's all time leading scorer: Javier "Chicharito" Hernández.

Macías returned to Chivas and then, on July 5. 2021, he fulfilled his European dream, signing for Getafe in La Liga. The move raised expectations of Mexico potentially having found their much-needed striker for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

José Juan Macías: A Failed Move and Injuries That Followed

Macías never really settled in Spain. After playing just eight games and under 200 minutes, he returned to Liga MX with Chivas on Jan. 2022, only six months after he originally signed for Getafe.

Upon his return, injuries became synonymous with the young striker. Macias tore his ACL in July 2022, sidelining him for seven months. Three weeks after he started training with Chivas again in anticipation of his official return, Macías tore his ACL for a second time on Feb. 17, 2023.

Macías returned to action after almost two years on the sidelines in Jan. 2024, but minor muscular injures continue to halt his progress and Chivas sold him to Santos Laguna last summer.

On Jan 21, 2025, Macías scored in Liga MX for the first time in 981 days, in Santos's 1–2 defeat against Pachuca. However, injuries have also plagued his stint with Santos, having played just five games since he signed for the club eight months ago.

Now, after yet another injury has sidelined him since the game vs. Pachuca, it appears that will be the last game of his career.

Macías' retirement closes the book on a once incredibly promising career that was derailed by injuries. The once future striker of the Mexico national team who took Liga MX by storm as a teenager retiring before his 26th birthday is unquestionably sad news for all El Tri fans.