Nestory Irankunda reflects on Australia's opening World Cup win over

Nestory Irankunda has declared there is plenty more to come from Australia after playing a starring role in the Socceroos' opening FIFA World Cup™ win over Türkiye. The 20-year-old scored on his tournament debut, becoming Australia's youngest ever World Cup scorer, as a youthful side coached by Tony Popovic secured a 2-0 victory at BC Place in Vancouver.

Youthful line-up silences doubters

Heading into the Group D opener, the Socceroos faced a queue of doubters, from pundits to fans and opposing players. When the team sheet arrived 90 minutes before kick-off, many were left scratching their heads. Popovic had named the youngest Socceroos side in World Cup history, with an average age of 24.6 years. Captain Mathew Ryan and deputy Jackson Irvine were both dropped, replaced by Paul Okon-Engstler and 22-year-old goalkeeper Patrick Beach, who earned only his second cap.

Among the youthful XI, the most exciting name was the youngest of the lot: Nestory Irankunda. Born in Tanzania and raised in Adelaide, the starlet had been the subject of intense hype after standout performances at youth level, a fleeting domestic career, a transfer to Bayern Munich, and a loan spell at Watford. Despite not being totally comfortable in the limelight, Irankunda entered the World Cup under its glare.

Irankunda's dazzling debut

As the half-hour mark approached, Irankunda raced onto a defence-splitting pass from Okon-Engstler, displaying the pace, control, and balance that have earned him such high expectations. He finished past Türkiye goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir to put Australia ahead. After the goal, Irankunda ran to the corner flag and performed a shadow-boxing celebration.

Three months earlier, at the home-hosted FIFA Series 2026™, the starlet had celebrated with a Michael Jackson homage, whipping out a white glove. This time, the tribute was much closer to home. "That was for Timmy Cahill, he's my biggest inspiration in Australian football," Irankunda said exclusively to FIFA after the match. "I've always looked up to him and wanted to meet him. I had to get the celebration out there for the country to remind them and show the young kids that whoever you look up to, you can be like them one day. That's my goal, to be like Timmy Cahill one day."

There is an argument that dawn is breaking on that day, after an evening in which he became his nation's youngest ever World Cup scorer. "It feels amazing, scoring on my debut at the World Cup," Irankunda reflected. "It was just the second time that we've won our opening game and we're so proud and we hope everybody back home is very proud as well. In terms of the [individual records], honestly I don't think about any of that stuff. I just try to play my best when it comes to playing with the national team and that's what I did today. I gave it my all. Obviously, my legs gave up in the end, but that's what I love to do, give my all for the country that gave me everything."

Historic win and what's next

The 2-0 victory was Australia's biggest World Cup winning margin since 2006, when a Tim Cahill-inspired performance saw the Socceroos beat Japan 2-0 in Kaiserslautern. The result moved Australia level with the United States at the top of Group D, ahead of their showdown in Seattle on 19 June. That provides Irankunda and his teammates another chance to silence the doubters, and they intend to seize it. "We knew what we were going to do and we know what we can do," Irankunda said.