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Irankunda and co have not yet earned golden generation status but they can revive Australia’s World Cup aspirationsThere always was a familiar feeling to this youthful squad of Socceroos. That sense of deja vu. That you had seen something like this before. But it took Nestory Irankunda running to the corner flag to remember what it was.By reviving Tim Cahill’s famous goal celebration, the new face of Australian football instantly connected this fearless crop of young footballers finding their way on the world stage to the greats wearing yellow that have gone before.Beyond the celebration, the echoes were everywhere. The scorer was a 20-year-old, not yet born when John Aloisi scored the penalty against Uruguay in 2005. The coach, Tony Popovic, was a player in the Socceroos squad in Germany the following year. The 20-year anniversary of Cahill’s double against Japan was exactly two days ago, and these players marked it with a 2-0 win over Turkey.It all makes comparison hard to avoid. But do not misconstrue it: Irankunda and co have not yet earned the status of another golden generation. There is no Harry Kewell in this team, no Mark Viduka. They may get there, they may not. There is still much to prove, much to improve.The force that is stirring is harder to pin down, more difficult to define. That 2006 side brought Australia back to the World Cup after a long hiatus. They had talent, sure, but that Germany campaign was less action movie than mystery drama.What is the Socceroos’ ceiling on this, football’s grandest stage? Just how far could they go? Watching the agonising defeat to Italy in the last-16 game in Kaiserslautern, those were genuine thoughts among those in the crowd. Marco Materazzi had been sent off, Lucas Neill was capably marshalling the defence, and Guus Hiddink had saved two substitutions for the impending period of extra time.Of course, Fabio Grosso made those the great unanswerables of Australian football. A puzzle of pain returns every time that world champion Italy team pops up in another cursed flashback. Then again, with every World Cup that has since come and gone, a sobering thought has begun to take hold. Maybe this was the Socceroos’ ceiling, a World Cup hallway the height of the front door.Since then, there were the fading embers of that golden cohort, and a succession of forgettable national team coaches. There was the brief Ange Postecoglou tenure, its end serving only to deflate.This article means no disrespect. Over two decades there were successive successful World Cup qualification campaigns, achieved by solid professionals representing the Socceroos, with the odd Aaron Mooy to sustain the dreamers. But the downright newness of 2006 – its impact amplified by the team’s quality – was a hard act to follow.Each time the World Cup came around, the proposition became the same: avoid a thumping by the top-seeded team and disaster against the minnows. Then just beat Denmark. This was now life for the Socceroos in a tournament that over five successive appearances Australians had got to know perhaps too well.The infinite possibilities Australian fans felt in 2006 collapsed into a singular purpose. Please, just get out of the World Cup group.So when Graham Arnold – to his eternal credit – took the workmanlike squad of 2022 to the round of 16, it should have been a breakthrough, an emotional release. Like in 2006, their exit was noble. Against eventual champions Argentina it finished 2-1, and Garang Kuol’s late chance snuggled in next to Grosso’s trailing leg in the pantheons of Socceroos’ what-ifs.Yet that team is not celebrated like their predecessors of 2006. They were over-achievers, who had little more to give. The Socceroos were by now stratified into the suffocating middle class of football, with World Cups like another working week. A numbness had taken hold.Where had Australian football’s hope gone? Where was the wonder? What was left of its imagination?The Socceroos’ World Cup script, it turns out, is not pre-written. On this night of shocks in Vancouver, Popovic dropped his captain, and left out his de facto vice-captain. Then Irankunda scurried away onto an exquisite pass, producing one delicious touch then a finish.Patrick Beach threw himself to his right to divert aside a searing drive. Block after block followed, save after save. A brief interlude featuring a stunner from Connor Metcalfe. Then more blocks, more saves as Vancouver’s yellow swarm – and millions back home – began to feel World Cup wonder again.This XI was a team with an average age of 24.6 years – almost 12 months younger than the next youngest lineup the Socceroos have selected at a World Cup. Popovic, a coach known to be conservative, was suddenly a man taking risks. The gambles paid off to deliver a result against Turkey, by far Australia’s biggest victory in the World Cup. It’s not hard to calculate: there have been only five.This is a new World Cup formula for the Socceroos. They boast a plethora of emerging stars, all with Premier League potential. There is Irankunda the supernova. The multifactorial Mo Touré. Jordy Bos, bossing the left. Alessandro Circati, hot-headed but still a cool customer. Now Paul Okon-Engstler and Beach.They may not end up eclipsing the round of 16 efforts of 2006 and 2022, but right now it doesn’t matter. Like that 2006 side of Kewell and Viduka, these Socceroos have started something. A new World Cup adventure has begun.

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Goalkeeper repays faith shown in him with resolute displayBefore he became an instant national hero, Socceroos goalkeeper Patrick Beach had a perfect view of Nestory Irankunda’s opening goal during the 2-0 win against Turkey in Vancouver.“We know one of our threats is our pace up front,” he said. “I just saw an opportunity to get it out wide, and then within two or three passes, Nes was in the 18-yard box and having a crack on goal. And then it was absolute limbs, wasn’t it?”The goal triggered a spectacular outpouring of emotion among the Socceroos players, who crowded Irankunda and hindered his goal celebration. The 10,000-strong contingent of Australian fans in Vancouver didn’t appear to mind.“Seeing the whole crowd jump up in yellow and green, everyone just went crazy,” Beach said. “I went crazy with the crowd behind, so it was an unbelievable moment, and something that we’ll remember for sure.”Irankunda said Beach kept Australia in the game. “He’s been training extra hard and I know a lot of people weren’t expecting him to start,” the forward said. “He came out today, and he’s shown the world what he can do. He made a lot of important saves, and if it wasn’t for him, the score could have been different. But he saved us.”Irankunda’s own contribution was almost as important. His goal changed the complexion of the match, after the Socceroos struggled to get into the contest before the first drinks break.The goal was a breathtaking display of counterattacking football, after he was played in behind by Paul Okon-Engstler. “My body just started doing what it does. I didn’t control anything, it just happened,” Irankunda said.“After I scored, it was crazy. I just saw Mo [Touré] to my right, I was telling him to relax so I could do my celebration, but he was super excited as well. And at the end of the day, it was a good goal, in my opinion, and I had to dedicate the celebrations to Tim Cahill.”Irankunda boxed the corner flag, borrowing the trademark of Australia’s greatest men’s goalscorer. Twenty years ago this week, Cahill scored two of his most famous goals against Japan at the World Cup in Germany.“Timmy Cahill is my biggest inspiration in Australian football, and I look up to him and I want to be like him one day,” Irankunda said. “And you know, I’m really, really, really proud of myself to get the goal.”Beach said he found out he would start in goal instead of captain Maty Ryan only two days ago. “The boss and our keeper coach pulled me aside and told me that I’d be playing, that I have been performing well, and they have confidence in me, and they gave me all the confidence I needed to get out there and do my job.”He produced a string of saves, including one in the first half from a Abdulkerim Bardakci long shot that he tipped on to the post. “I remember the ball was coming in quickly,” he said. “One of their players hit a snap shot in between two of the boys, and I remember just getting down low to my right.”The save was the best of a half dozen stops that prevented Turkey from first equalising, and then in the dying stages from mounting a comeback. “It was amazing. This is a dream come true,” Beach said.“This is all you think about as a kid. This is the pinnacle, to play for your country on the world stage. And to get a result in the first game and against a really good opposition, it’s just one of the best nights.”Coach Tony Popovic said the victory made him proud. “As head coach, to experience this, put a smile on these people’s faces that have travelled so far to support us, and I’m just happy for a wonderful young group of men.”

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The Socceroos’ future has arrived early, after Australia’s next generation delivered one of their best World Cup victories, upsetting highly-fancied Turkey 2-0 in Vancouver to start their 2026 campaign in style.They can thank a trio of young stars, all of whom were in doubt to start the match. Nestory Irankunda finished a brilliant end-to-end attack with a goal in the 27th minute, assisted by midfielder Paul Okon-Engstler. Young goalkeeper Patrick Beach – thrust into the starting side in a pre-match selection shock – pulled off a series of dazzling parries, including one in the first half that will be a contender for save of the tournament.The Socceroos sat back in the second half as Turkey pushed for an equaliser. Dangerous winger Kenan Yildiz came on at half-time on the left flank and gave his side a new level of invention. The talented Turkish players poked and prodded with short passes around the Australian penalty area but the Socceroos held firm, reaching the final drinks break with their lead intact despite a series of near misses and heroic blocks.Not long after the margin was doubled, when Connor Metcalfe smashed a left footer from the edge of the area as the counter-attacking Socceroos streamed forward. It triggered wild scenes, as the players gathered at the end of the ground marked by a huge wedge of yellow fans.Irankunda’s opening goal was a Socceroo sugar rush, cooked up by Paul Okon-Engstler. The midfielder’s lofted ball over the top was pounced upon by the scintillating forward, who took a touch inside one defender and finished coolly with a sidefooted effort, as three shirts in red and the Turkish goalkeeper converged.They only arrived in time to watch the new face of Australian football celebrate by reviving Tim Cahill’s goal celebration, going toe-to-toe with the corner flag. He was soon consumed by a crowd of Socceroos – including what seemed to be the entire bench – as the travelling fans celebrated like it was Kaiserslautern 2006.There was a shock an hour before kick-off when the Socceroos’ team was announced. Irankunda’s inclusion, and defender Cam Burgess keeping Lucas Herrington on the bench, were notable. Okon-Engstler starting in midfield rather than veteran Jackson Irvine raised eyebrows. But the jaws of the 10,000 or so Australians in Vancouver were already on the floor.Tony Popovic had selected Patrick Beach to start at goalkeeper. The 22-year-old Melbourne City player performed well against Switzerland the week before, but no Socceroo has played more World Cup matches than Ryan with 10, and the 34-year-old had been in good form for Levante in Spain’s La Liga. It meant the team, captained by 27-year-old Harry Souttar, oozed with youth. The average age was 24, and Burgess was the oldest at 30.So their tentative start might have been expected. The first 10 minutes saw Turkey enjoy 73% of possession, as Australia largely parked themselves in their own half. Their most positive moments early came through direct balls into channels, trying to find space for Touré who was being marked tightly by Abdulkerim Bardakci.Moments of indecision and miscommunication left hollow the players’ words earlier this week that they would start better than they have in recent matches. Despite the nervy performance, the Socceroos reached the first drinks break square. Popovic walked straight to Irankunda and Touré and with his arms addressed the pair like they were an orchestra, and he a conductor. Three minutes later, Irankunda delivered his stunning solo.If Popovic’s selection of the young winger was vindicated in that moment, it was the turn of Beach to repay the coach’s faith barely a minute later. The young keeper stretched and with his fingertips pushed a powerful long shot from Bardackci onto the post. The evidence wasn’t initially clear whether the keeper had made the save, but when Beach punched the air in celebration, the case was closed.Beach repeated the feat early in the second half, diving low to his right this time to save a free-kick from Arda Guler. And he delivered two more stunning second-half saves to keep Turkey at bay in a sparkling performance that signals the arrival of a new national hero.