Javier Hernández
Javier Hernández Balcázar, commonly known by the nickname Chicharito, is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a striker. He is known for his clinical finishing, pace, and technical ability. He is widely considered among the greatest Mexican players of all time, and regarded as one of the best North American players of all time.
Hernández began his senior club career at age 18 in 2006, playing for Guadalajara, where he won the Primera División. In 2010, Hernández signed for Manchester United, becoming the club's first Mexican player. During his five years with United, he amassed over 150 appearances. He scored 59 goals, winning two Premier League titles, the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year in his first season, and reached the 2011 UEFA Champions League Final, as well as setting the then record for the fifth-best minutes-per-goal ratio in league history. Hernández departed the club on loan to Real Madrid in 2014, winning the FIFA Club World Cup, and in 2015 he joined Bayer Leverkusen on a permanent deal. Hernández returned to England two years later and signed for West Ham United. In 2019, he signed for Sevilla before joining LA Galaxy the following year. In 2024, Hernández rejoined his boyhood club Guadalajara.
A Mexican international, Hernández is the country's all-time leading goalscorer. He debuted for the national team in September 2009 in a friendly match against Colombia. He has represented Mexico at the 2010, 2014, and 2018 FIFA World Cups, the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup, the 2013 and 2017 FIFA Confederations Cups, and the Copa América Centenario. He was the 2011 Gold Cup's top scorer with seven goals and was named the tournament's most valuable player.
Hernández is commonly known by the nickname Chicharito, translated from Spanish as “little pea”, a diminutive of his father’s nickname Chícharo. He is also referred to as CH14, reflecting his initials and shirt number. In December 2023, while streaming on Twitch, he adopted the nickname ChichaGod.
Hernández is active as a gamer and social commentator on YouTuber and Twitch. As a streamer, under the username “CH14”, he has amassed over 623,000 followers on YouTube and 977,000 followers on Twitch as of November 2025.
Early life
Hernández was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, and his love for football was evident from a young age. He first played in a recreation league when he was seven. Hernández lived in Morelia, Michoacán for over four years while his father, footballer Javier "Chícharo" Hernández, played for Monarcas Morelia. While living in Morelia, Hernández attended elementary school at the Instituto Piaget where he studied from third to sixth grade and played for the school's football team.At the age of nine, Hernández joined C.D. Guadalajara and signed his first professional contract when he was 15. He was set to play in the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship, a significant event in youth football, but an injury sidelined him from the team that ultimately won the championship. Whilst playing football professionally, Hernández was also taking business administration classes at Universidad del Valle de Atemajac. Hernández has held both Hugo Sánchez and Rafael Márquez as his football idols growing up.
Club career
C.D. Guadalajara
Hernández began playing with C.D. Guadalajara's lower-division team, Chivas Coras in Tepic, Nayarit in the 2005–06 season. On 9 September 2006, he made his debut for Guadalajara in that year's Apertura in a win over Club Necaxa at Estadio Jalisco. With the score at 3–0, under manager José Manuel de la Torre, Hernández came on as a substitute for Omar Bravo in the 82nd minute, before scoring the fourth goal of the game five minutes later. It was his only goal in five appearances in 2006 as Guadalajara went on to win the league title. He made two appearances in the 2007 Clausura with no goals. He made six more appearances in 2007–08 without scoring.Hernández made 10 appearances in the 2008 Apertura without scoring. Still, he scored four goals in 15 appearances in the 2009 Clausura. On 25 February 2009, during a group stage match of that year's edition of the Copa Libertadores, Hernández came on as a substitute and scored a brace against Everton in a 6–2 home victory.
In the 2009 Apertura, Hernández finished as the joint-third top scorer, with 11 goals in 17 appearances. He started the 2010 Torneo Bicentenario with eight goals in five games. He finished as a joint-leader in the goalscoring chart for the 2010 Torneo Bicentenario, with 10 goals in 11 games despite missing five matches due to injury. He also won the tournament's best forward award.
Manchester United
Transfer
was first made aware of Hernández in October 2009; a scout went to Mexico that December and reported positively after watching a few games. Because of Hernández's age, the club originally planned to wait before making a move to sign him. Still, his potential involvement with the national team at the World Cup rushed the club into making a bid. United's chief scout, Jim Lawlor, was sent to Mexico for three weeks in February and March to watch Hernández. He filed another positive report on him before the club solicitor went to Mexico to finalize the paperwork.On 8 April 2010, Hernández agreed on a deal to sign for Manchester United for an undisclosed fee, subject to a work permit application. The previous day, Hernández had been present at Manchester United's Champions League quarter-final win over Bayern Munich at Old Trafford. The deal was conducted in complete secrecy; Hernández's agent was kept in the dark, as was his grandfather Tomás Balcázar, who thought Hernández was going on a trip to Atlanta in the United States. As part of the deal, United played a friendly against C.D. Guadalajara to open the Mexican club's new stadium on 30 July. On 27 May, the work permit was granted, allowing the transfer to be made official on 1 July.
2010–11: Premier League title and European final
Hernández made his United debut on 28 July, coming on as a 63rd-minute substitute for Nani in the 2010 MLS All-Star Game at the NRG Stadium, Houston; he scored his first goal for the club 18 minutes later, lobbing the ball over Nick Rimando from just outside the area after a long through-ball from Darren Fletcher. Two days later, Hernández scored against Manchester United while playing in a friendly for his former club, C.D. Guadalajara, scoring the inaugural goal at their recently constructed stadium; he started the game in a Chivas jersey and scored the first goal after just eight minutes. He switched sides at half-time, but he was unable to prevent a 3–2 defeat for Manchester United. He scored for the third pre-season game in a row as he netted in a 7–1 victory over a League of Ireland XI at the newly built Aviva Stadium on 4 August.Hernández made his competitive debut on 8 August and scored his first goal in the process, netting United's second of a 3–1 victory over Chelsea in the 2010 FA Community Shield. He came on at the start of the second half. He got on the end of a pass from Antonio Valencia before the Mexican's shot deflected off his face and into the net. On 16 August, Hernández made his Premier League debut as he replaced Wayne Rooney in the 63rd minute of their 3–0 home victory over Newcastle United. He scored his first Champions League goal on 29 September, coming off the bench to score the only goal in an away win over Valencia. He scored his first league goal for United in a 2–2 home draw against West Bromwich Albion on 16 October. Eight days later he scored his first brace for the club, also his first away league goals, in a 2–1 away win over Stoke City. Two days on from this display, he came off the bench to score a last-minute winner, his first ever League Cup goal, in a 3–2 win over Wolves which sent them through to the quarter-finals where they were then knocked out by West Ham United. On 1 January 2011, he came off the bench to head the winning goal in a 2–1 away win over West Bromwich Albion. Hernández became the top scoring Mexican in Premier League history after opening the scoring in a 2–1 home victory over Stoke City on 4 January.
File:Chicharito_2010.jpg|thumb|upright|Hernández playing against West Brom at Old Trafford during the 2010–11 season
On 25 January, Hernández scored the equalizing goal of a 3–2 comeback away win over Blackpool. Four days later he scored his first FA Cup goal as he netted the winner in a 2–1 away victory over Southampton. Hernández netted twice in a 4–0 away win over Wigan on 26 February. Eight days later, he netted a late consolation goal in a 3–1 derby defeat away to Liverpool. Hernández netted twice in a 2–1 home win over Marseille on 15 March, sending United through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League. On 2 April, he scored the final goal against West Ham United as they came from two goals down to claim a 4–2 away win. On 8 April, Hernández was revealed as a contender for the PFA Young Player of the Year award alongside teammate Nani. Four days later, he opened the scoring in the 2–1 quarter-final win over Chelsea in the Champions League, with the game ending 3–1 on aggregate, sending United through to the semi-finals. He continued his goal scoring form on 23 April scoring the winning goal with a header in the 1–0 home win over Everton.
On 8 May, Hernández scored the opening goal in a 2–1 home win over Chelsea after just 36 seconds to leave United one point away from winning the title. The goal against Chelsea made him the first player since Ruud van Nistelrooy in the 2001–02 season to score 20 goals for the club in his debut season. Six days later, Hernández won his first league title with United following a 1–1 draw against Blackburn Rovers with one league match remaining, the club's record-breaking 19th league title. Hernández capped his debut season with Manchester United by winning the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award on 18 May which was voted for by the fans. On 28 May, Hernández played all 90 minutes in the 3–1 defeat to Barcelona in the Champions League Final. On 5 July 2011, the International Federation of Football History and Statistics named Hernández as the "World Goalgetter 2011", with 13 goals, ahead of other players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Giuseppe Rossi, and Lionel Messi.