Known for his long blonde hair, number 15 jersey and nickname of "El Matador", Hernández had his first international cap against Uruguay on February 1, 1995. Hernández scored his first international goal on November 16, 1995 against Yugoslavia. Hernández gained notability during the 1997 Copa América, where he scored six goals and became the tournament's leading goal scorer. At the 1998 FIFA World Cup, he finished among the competition's top scorers with four goals, and became the first Mexican player to score more than two goals in World Cup history. The 35 goals he scored for Mexico ties him with Carlos Hermosillo to trail Cuauhtémoc Blanco (39 goals), Jared Borgetti (46 goals) and Javier Hernandez (51 goals) as the nation's fourth highest all-time leading goalscorer.