June 17, 2026 — 3:52pmSan Francisco: Before anyone idolised Nestory Irankunda, Nestory Irankunda idolised Awer Mabil. And so did Mohamed Toure and Tete Yengi, and everyone else in Adelaide’s tight-knit African community with even a passing interest in football.“There’s something in Adelaide, as you can see,” Mabil says, referring to the talent pipeline that has flooded through Adelaide United into the Socceroos in recent years. He started it.By lighting up the A-League, earning a move overseas and cracking the national team, he became the example that Irankunda, Toure and Yengi all wanted to follow.And now, as he looks around their World Cup squad, he can see his legacy manifest.Mabil, 30, is just about ready to pass them the torch. A bolter who hadn’t been involved with the national team in a year and a half until his call-up in March, he is realistic about his position in coach Tony Popovic’s pecking order: it’s behind the kids he once inspired.His job now, he says, is to be a “big brother” to them, let them do their thing, tell them to pull their heads in when necessary – and to be ready, if and when Popovic decides he needs him.Awer Mabil prepares to join the pile-on after Connor Metcalfe’s goal.Getty ImagesIrankunda’s goal was an experience he will never forget. Mabil was an unused substitute in the Socceroos’ 2-0 win over Turkey, but was part of the mob of bodies that assembled at the corner flag after his Tim Cahill tribute celebration.“It was a special moment,” he said.“We’re all very happy for Nestor and also Connor [Metcalfe, the other goalscorer]. We’re very happy for everybody, because it takes a whole team, and we’re very proud of how Nestor did what he did. And at the same time, we need to allow him to be himself – because I think when he’s himself, that’s when he can produce his magic.“He handled it very well, in my opinion. It’s not gone to his head. This is a great moment for him, for his family, for Australian football. The moment is big. We all know the moment is big – and we keep telling him there’s bigger moments coming for you, so just keep the same thing up.”The goal has also started conversations back home. At a time when migration and multiculturalism are hot-button topics, Irankunda’s refugee background has become a national talking point; this week just happens to be Refugee Week in Australia, too, which Mabil noted was a happy coincidence.Players are acutely aware of the political environment they are operating within as it relates to those topics. That is why they released a video before the World Cup, in which they speak of their pride in the team’s diverse backgrounds, which surged in views after the Socceroos’ World Cup opener. Mabil fronts it.“It was a moment to describe what Australia is, and Australia is a very multicultural country,” Mabil said.“And that’s what makes it the best country in the world, in my opinion. You have the whole world in one place. And the Socceroos now is a representation of that. You have many different backgrounds representing one jersey.Australia’s Awer Mabil is happy to sit back and watch the youngsters who idolised him growing up, blossom at the World Cup. Getty Images“So, for me, it was an easy thing to do. As players, we all have different stories, and it all came together. It was the reason why it went viral is because it was raw … it was just purely what the players wanted to say, and then it had an effect because individually, the Australians can feel and relate with it.”Before the World Cup, Irankunda and Toure were named in a “Gamechanging XI” of players from a refugee or displacement background by the UN Refugee Agency. Mabil, of course, was named Young Australian of the Year in 2023 in recognition of the charity he started, Barefoot to Boots, which sends boots, balls and uniforms to the refugee camp in Kakuma, Kenya where he was born.Together with Milos Degenek, whose parents lived as refugees in Serbia before being granted asylum in Sydney, there are four of them in Australia’s squad.“We all belong to this world together,” Mabil said.“We’ve all just got to thank Australia, and do our very best for the country that has taken in so many refugees over the years, and has done that for a long time. There was war in my country, so my parents fled my country, and then Australia took us in through a humanitarian visa. Many others have their way of going to Australia, their reasons.“I would like to say to anybody that is misplaced all over the world that we are with you. We are in a world stage right now, a big tournament – and just to tell you, everything is possible. So, keep going.”From our partners