Alberth Elis Injury Survivor Eyes MLS Return on Trial with Minnesota United FC
Feb. 24, 2026 — Saint Paul, Minn. Honduran international striker Alberth Elis, 30, renowned for surviving the severe Alberth Elis injury that nearly ended his career, began a trial with Minnesota United FC this week to assess his fitness, MLS insider Tom Bogert reported Monday.
Sources indicate no signing is guaranteed, with Elis training alongside the team to evaluate his condition post-Alberth Elis injury. The news, first reported by Honduran outlet DiarioDiezHn, highlights Elis’s resilience two years after the traumatic event.
The 2024 Alberth Elis Injury
The Alberth Elis injury occurred on February 24, 2024, just 40 seconds into a Ligue 2 match between Bordeaux and Guingamp at Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux. Elis collided heads with defender Donatien Gomis while contesting a header, fell unconscious, and received eight minutes of on-field treatment before being stretchered off.
He underwent emergency surgery that night at CHU Pellegrin hospital and was placed in an induced coma for four days. Bordeaux stated:
We will be monitoring his condition in the hospital over the next few days. At this stage, it is not yet possible to give an opinion on Alberth’s vital and functional prognosis.
Transfermarkt records the head trauma lasting 98 days, from February 24 to May 31, 2024.
Remarkable Recovery
Upon waking, Elis had amnesia, forgetting he was a footballer, in France, or Honduran. In a November 2024 interview, he recounted:
I woke from the coma… and didn’t remember I was a footballer.
He spent a month in hospital, then rehabilitated in a clinic, relearning reading, writing, and speech. “I went to a teacher who helped me mentally — who taught me how to speak and how to write, because I lost that in large parts,” Elis said. His father, Osman, described the anguish: “It seemed like every minute in that room was never ending.”
Return to the Pitch
Elis made an emotional comeback 11 months later, signing a one-year deal with Honduran club Olimpia—where he began professionally—on January 18, 2025. He substituted in the 70th minute of a 3-0 win over Juticalpa, wearing head protection, as detailed by BBC Sport and Pro Soccer Wire.
He later joined Portuguese second-tier side CS Marítimo. Bogert noted: “Elis, 30, has been with Portuguese 2nd tier side Martimo. Returned from gruesome head injury in 2025.”
The trial represents a potential MLS return for Elis, formerly with Houston Dynamo, amid ongoing monitoring of his Alberth Elis injury recovery.
