The ripples of a FIFA World Cup™ goal reach far and wide. These are moments, as we all know, that have the power to move a whole nation. Yet imagine the extra layer of meaning for those who actually know the players scoring on football’s greatest stage.
Take the case of Nestory Irankunda, the young winger who marked his World Cup finals debut with the on 14 June. He comes from the Burundian community in Adelaide in South Australia and for those among its 1,000 families who have seen him grow up, the goal had a special resonance.
Joel Hakizimana, who has known Irankunda’s family for several decades, describes the outpouring of joy as the 20-year-old’s shot hit the net in Australia’s opening game in Vancouver. “I ran everywhere – we were jumping off the couch, running all over the place, screaming,” he tells FIFA.
Since then there have been a stream of interview requests for Hakizimana and his friends who are involved in Burundi FC, the team representing their community – from outlets as diverse as state broadcaster ABC and the Southern Cross, the newspaper for Adelaide’s Roman Catholic archdiocese, the latter owing to Hakizimana’s role as a community leader and sport and events co-ordinator. He certainly has plenty to tell about Irankunda, whose father, Gideon, he first met in a refugee camp in Tanzania, the country to which they had fled during the Burundian civil war and where Nestory was born. “His dad was one of the top players in the refugee camp,” he recalls. “He was a striker as well.” They played football together on arrival in South Australia in the mid-2000s, with the Burundi Eagles Soccer Club, and in the years that followed, young Nestory would come along and train with them while ascending the ladder at Northern Wolves, a local amateur club, prior to moves to Adelaide Croatia and then Adelaide United.
Hakizimana remembers the schoolboy Irankunda turning up at Creaser Park, in Adelaide’s northern suburbs, where the Burundians would train before taking part in the annual African Cup of Nations of South Australia – a tournament for the various African communities living there. “While he was a junior, he’d always come to train with us,” says Hakizimana, now president of Burundi FC. “He was still a kid but was never scared to train or to play with the big boys. He’s always been confident, strong, quick.
“He's very natural. When it comes to speed, when it comes to strength, when it comes to thinking how he's going to control the ball and then take it. I think he was born like that. I think he's just a natural player.”
On top of that, Hakizimana saw a fearlessness in his attitude – a commitment to win the ball against bigger boys. “He was improving day after day and we could see there was a big potential in him,” he goes on. “What we never expected is where he is today. And so, on behalf of the Burundian community of South Australia, we thank the Australian football federation [Football Australia] for trusting and giving the opportunity to our young people.”
As a boy, Irankunda had seen two members of that community progress to the professional game. Elvis Kamsboba played for Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC in the A League before spells in Indonesia and Malaysia. His brother, Pacifique Niyongabire, went from Adelaide United to Perth Glory before moving to clubs in North America. Irankunda was keen to spread his own wings and play overseas. Hence his 2024 move to European giants Bayern Munich from Adelaide United, where he had played 55 league games and scored 16 goals. After half a season with Bayern’s B team, he made a loan move to Swiss side Grasshoppers before spending last season with Watford in England’s second tier.
These days, on trips home to Australia, he still reconnects with his old community. “When he comes back here, every single kid wants to see him,” explains Hakizimana. “Most of the time he comes when we’re getting ready for this [African Nations Cup] and he's always training with the boys.”
Irankunda has even been known to join in the friendly kickarounds between the “legends” of his father’s generation and the younger players he grew up with. They will then sit down for a meal of ubugari – a cornmeal porridge that is a Burundian staple – with fish or meat and beans. Or sometimes a more typically Australian barbecue. “We sit down, share food and drinks, and we ask him how he’s doing,” adds Hakizimana. Right now, the whole of Australia knows the answer to that particular question. The Socceroos are into the Round of 32 of the World Cup, with . Hakizimana is hopeful their journey can continue – and is keen to share that wish with the man of the moment. “Now you're talking to me,” he concludes, “I will send the message to him saying, ‘Go Nestory, the whole community is behind you.’”
The image directly above is courtesy of Joel Hakizimana and shows Nestory Arankunda signing his son's shirt at Adelaide United.
Sources: FIFA Official
