Chicharito Dallas move lines up Mexico great with Atletico Dallas
ESPN Mexico says Javier Hernández is signing with Atletico Dallas, the USL Championship expansion club set to debut in 2027.
By Deshawn Carter · Sports Writer
3 min read
Javier “Chicharito” Hernández is set for a Dallas comeback act, with a source telling ESPN Mexico that Mexico’s all-time leading scorer is signing with Atletico Dallas.
The move would put the 38-year-old striker back on the field after his most recent playing spell ended with Chivas, his boyhood club, in November 2025. Fabrizio Romano first reported the news on social media, according to ESPN.
Is Chicharito joining Atletico Dallas?
ESPN Mexico reported, citing a source, that Hernández is signing for Atletico Dallas. The club is an expansion team in the USL Championship, the second tier of American soccer, and is scheduled to begin play in 2027.
Hernández is expected to become Atletico Dallas’ first player signing, according to ESPN. The club had already named its first manager earlier in February: Peter Luccin, a former LaLiga and Ligue 1 player.
For Atletico Dallas, landing Hernández would bring instant name value before the team has played a match. For Hernández, it would extend a career that has already taken him through some of soccer’s biggest clubs.
The Dallas club would be the ninth team of Hernández’s senior career, ESPN reported. His past stops include Manchester United and Real Madrid, where he built a global profile beyond his Mexico stardom.
What is the USL Championship?
The USL Championship is the second division of professional soccer in the United States. Atletico Dallas is joining that league as an expansion side, meaning it is a new club entering the competition rather than an existing team moving from another league.
Hernández’s move also pushes back retirement talk. When he joined the LA Galaxy in Major League Soccer in 2020, he described that chapter as the “beginning of retirement,” according to ESPN.
He has not formally retired from international soccer, ESPN reported, but his last Mexico call-up came in 2019. Hernández remains Mexico’s all-time leading scorer.
His latest public role came off the pitch. Hernández worked as an analyst for Fox during the 2026 World Cup in North America, where Mexico’s run ended in the round of 16 against England, according to ESPN.
The striker now heads toward the USL Championship after a quiet final stretch at Chivas. ESPN reported that Hernández scored three goals in all competitions for the club in 2025.
That Chivas spell also included controversy. ESPN reported that Hernández made sexist comments and was fined by the Mexican Football Federation. The ESPN report on the Dallas move did not include a new public comment from Hernández.
If the signing is completed as reported, Atletico Dallas will open its roster with one of the most recognizable Mexican players of his generation, and Hernández will get another chance to chase goals in North America.
This story draws on original reporting from ESPN.com.