When Nestory Irankunda was born, the chances of him becoming Australia’s youngest-ever World Cup goalscorer were roughly equal with the tumbleweed in the Outback: zilch.
Birthed in a refugee camp in Tanzania in 2006, to Burundian parents who had fled their homeland due to civil war, it was not an auspicious, nor very Aussie, opening chapter.
But the 20-year-old is now a national hero Down Under after scoring the first goal in a 2-0 win against Turkey to put them in reach of the knockout stages.
‘It is f****** unreal and a dream come true,’ he said at full time.
‘It feels amazing. You’ve got to thank the staff, you’ve got to thank the nation. They’ve all had the belief in me to do so well.’
Irankunda finished a blistering counter-attack 27 minutes into Australia’s clash with Turkey in Vancouver to send the crowd wild.
Nestory Irankunda, once a Burundian refugee in Tanzania, is an Australian national hero
The 20-year-old scored the opener against Turkey and mimicked Tim Cahill’s celebration
The Watford winger then charged away, did a scorching knee-slide, and boxed the corner flag in tribute to his hero Tim Cahill, the former Socceroos talisman.
‘Timmy Cahill is my biggest inspiration when it comes to football. Tim Cahill is Australia’s greatest and I just thought if I scored I would do his celebration,’ he said.
He has also been known to copy Michael Jackson and wore a white glove in March when he scored in a 5-1 thrashing of Curacao.
Seeing his journey, it is crazy to think that Irankunda, who now has six goals in 16 Australia outings, will now be being imitated by children across his adopted home and perhaps worldwide.
He was born in a refugee camp in Kigoma, Tanzania, as the fourth child of eight to his parents Gideon and Dafroza.
It is hard to stand out there. Kigoma has one of the largest refugee camps in the world, Nyarugusu, with an estimated 150,000 inhabitants.
Nestory is a variant of ‘Nestor’, a name which means ‘one who returns home’ – but they found home elsewhere.
When he was still an infant, his family moved to Perth, eventually settling in the northern suburbs of Adelaide when he was seven. There, he caught the football bug.
Irankunda pictured on a trip to the UK: His social media profile is set to soar
Irankunda, an explosive talent, caught the eye of Adelaide United and rose through their youth system to become a first-team star before being spotted by Bayern Munich, the team his father supports.
In 2024-25 he moved to Munich – but didn’t break into the first team. He honed his craft in the reserves and on the training pitch, attempting to dribble past the likes of Eric Dier, and whipping in crosses for Harry Kane. A loan spell followed with Grasshopper in Switzerland before he moved permanently to Watford last summer.
Who would leave Bayern Munich for a town bordering the M25?
‘It was a hard decision but obviously my biggest goal for me is to play at the World Cup,’ Irankunda told Sky Sports last summer.
‘The 2026 World Cup is around the corner and I have to play minutes, I wasn’t playing minutes.
‘It has always been a dream of mine to play in England.’
At Watford, with four goals and five assists in the season he turned 20, he cemented his place as one of Australia’s brightest young talents and earned his place on the plane.
He has 139,000 followers at the time of writing, but you suspect his renown is set to increase.
Fellow team-mate and refugee sensation Mohamed Toure, who has known Irankunda since their childhood in Adelaide, has called him ‘Houdini’ and believes he can be the Jude Bellingham of Australia.
‘I’ve seen a lot of good players but sometimes you have a special talent and he’s that,’ Toure said.
‘If he puts in the work and stays grounded I think he’ll go beyond the potential many people already say he has. He’ll surpass that.’
