Irankunda's stunning MJ impression; World Cup Qualifiers LIVE

No, your eyes are not deceiving you.

That is indeed a sparkling silver glove on the right hand of Nestory Irankunda as he celebrates scoring a goal against Curacao at AAMI Park.

It was thrown to him to help pay homage to Michael Jackson, whose music Irankunda is apparently a fan of, and whose dancing the 20-year-old did a respectable impression of as he celebrated the first of two goals he scored last night in a display that will live long in the memories of all who saw it.

But first, here are a few more looks at his celebration, which also included a trademark backflip (just quietly, how good are these photos by Ann Odong, who also happens to be the Managing Editor and Founder of The Women’s Game).

Oh yeah… and the goals were pretty good, too.

Irankunda’s performance, which lasted less than half an hour after he was thrown on midway though the second half, had everything we’ve come to love about the former Adelaide United man.

He displayed the explosive speed, flair and joy that made him such a hit in the A-League before he signed with Bayern Munich, and which we’ve seen flashes of during his stint with Watford in England.

He was clearly still buzzing after the game as he spoke to Paramount+ about why he pulled out the Michael Jackson celebration, and how his game has progressed under Tony Popovic.

“I am a huge MJ fan,” Irankunda beamed.

“Obviously you always want to back yourself to score. Me and my boy talked about it and he just threw it and I had to catch it, threw it on and did the celebration.

“Obviously I am happy with the performance, doing what the boss wants me to do.”

Read the full report here, get some high-quality analysis from David Weiner here and see how the action unfolded in our live blog here.

Meanwhile it was one of Irankunda’s mentors, 30-year-old Awer Mabil, who opened the scoring last night with his first goal for Australia since March 2023.

Read what he had to say via the link below.

So what does this all mean for the players vying for spots on the plane to North America in a few months’ time?

Coach Tony Popovic didn’t give much away when he spoke after full-time, but we’ll dive deep into the key lessons from this FIFA Series when we bring you more reaction and analysis a little later this week.

As well as the European World Cup qualification games, which will wrap up around 8:45am AEDT this morning (unless we have extra time and penalties - and given there are four games, I’d say the odds of at least one game going to penalties are pretty high!), there are also the two intercontinental play-off games happening in Mexico.

The first, which kicks off at 8am AEDT, will see Jamaica do battle with DR Congo for a place in the World Cup.

The second has particular interest here in Australia, as former Socceroos coach Graham Arnold attempts to guide Iraq to the World Cup for the first time in over 40 years when they take on Bolivia.

That game is at 2pm AEDT and we’ll have live coverage of it on football360.com.au.

Before then, have a read of what Arnold had to say as he spoke eloquently about the challenges he and his players faced just to get to Mexico, given the war unfolding in the Middle East, and just how much it would mean to the people of Iraq if the Lions of Mesopotamia are able to prevail today.

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Yesterday was the first opportunity for Patrick Kisnorbo to speak publicly since taking over as Sydney FC coach, and boy did he make his chance count.

It wasn’t what he said about his new club that grabbed the most attention, but what he said about his former club Melbourne Victory, where he lasted just seven A-League games before departing for Japanese side Yokohama F. Marinos.

Kisnorbo disputed the narrative that was put forth by some members of the Victory hierarchy, namely that the former Socceroos defender abandoned the club so soon after joining.

As he tells it, there were people at Victory who actually encouraged him to take up the offer from Japan, even though he wasn’t so sure initially.

“… they’re the ones that said that I just left and this and that – and also, the club got a fee for me, so financially I looked after, not myself, but… they got compensated.

“I just didn’t leave because it just came from me. This was a well thought sort of decision, and at the start, I didn’t want to go. That was it, honestly, because we were doing well at the time.”

When asked if he felt the club had put forward a poor portrayal of him, Kisnorbo answered: “I think so. And I won’t lie – I never will.

“I’ve still got people from Melbourne Victory calling me this day. If I was that bad, then why would they ring me?”

Read the full story via the link below - I don’t think this is the last we’ve heard of this one!

One-time Socceroo Ryan Williams grabbed a bit of history this morning after scoring on debut for India.

Williams scored the fastest ever goal by an Indian debutant, finding the back of the net after just four minutes of the Blue Tigers’ Asian Cup qualification game against Hong Kong.

India emerged victorious 2-1, with Williams now the toast of Indian football.

Since 2023, the former Perth Glory forward has played his club football in India and has undergone a lengthy process to be able to represent the national team.

The winger was set to feature against Bangladesh in November, but his clearance from FIFA arrived just hours too late for him to make his debut.

Get the full story on how Williams came to represent India here.

Before the Socceroos game last night, there was another match in the FIFA Series in Melbourne between China and Cameroon.

After going down to the Socceroos last week, Cameroon gained a consolation 2-0 win, but all anyone could think of after full-time was what they’d just seen coach David Pagou do.

Fresh from erroneously claiming the Socceroos had broken FIFA’s rules by making too many substitutions on Friday night - they hadn’t - there were more shenanigans from Pagou at AAMI Park.

Pagou had reacted angrily to a tackle in the 58th minute, when he was swiftly dismissed by referee Alireza Faghani, but the drama did not end there.

Asked to move into a box in the stadium by officials, Pagou refused as he took his seat among fans.

Officials continued to discuss the matter with the match ongoing. It ended with an official sitting alongside Pagou in the stands.

It’s a shame Cameroon didn’t quality for the World Cup - I would have been curious what he’d come up with there!