'World at his feet': sky the limit for mature Irankunda

The Socceroos learned on Wednesday morning they will face Turkey, who beat Kosovo 1-0 in their qualifying playoff, in their World Cup opener on June 14 (AEDT), before subsequent group games against the United States and Paraguay.

They will feel they can count on Irankunda then after the 20-year-old delivered a scintillating five-minute brace in Australia's 5-1 win over Curacao on Tuesday night.

"To come on and then obviously cause some havoc was great, and to get them (the crowd) going was unreal," Irankunda said.

"I'm always focused, always want to make an impact, and always want to play well.

"And he (Popovic) has the belief in me. And with his belief I'm able to do what I do, which is score from open play now."

Irankunda wouldn't buy into whether he would rather start than be a substitute - underlining his increased maturity.

Popovic dropped Irankunda, then a Bayern Munich forward, in November 2024 and made him earn his spot.

Irankunda got to work during a loan stint at Grasshopper, and has thrived since moving to Watford.

"He's a young man who's just growing in maturity, not just on the field, but I think off the field," Popovic said.

"He's adapting, he's learning. Very good young man. We've always had a good relationship, and we just want him to get better. 

"And you can see today, when his mind is clear, he wants to contribute, whether that's a start, whether it's coming on, whether that's coming on for one minute.

"And that's progression, because maybe in October, November, his mind wasn't so clear ... it's normal. He's young, he's 20 years old. He's a wonderful talent. 

"We want him to be happy, want him to enjoy his football. We also want him to understand that he needs to work. Talent's not enough. It never has been."

Popovic believed Irankunda was starting to come to grips with the grunt-work required.

He was delighted with how Irankunda, best known for thumping long-range goals, created his goals - getting into the box and dribbling.

For the first goal, Irankunda dribbled through the Curacao defence and finished at the near post.

He celebrated with a backflip, then caught a rhinestone glove thrown to him by a friend, put it on and danced like Michael Jackson.

"It was just great to bring it out and show the people here," Irankunda said.

Fellow attacker Riley McGree said: "He's electric, he's unpredictable, he's everything you want from a young player.

"From the personality to the technical ability, the tactical ability, he can in the attacking sense do it all. 

"He does have the world at his feet. I'm really excited to see where his career goes."

Irankunda and his teammates are ready for the next step: at June's World Cup.

"We have one goal, which is to achieve something great, achieve something that's never been achieved before," Irankunda said.

"We want to be that group that goes all the way and potentially wins the World Cup. 

"No one has the belief in us, obviously, but we have the belief in ourselves to go do something great."