Australia’s refugee-born footballers set to make their mark at FIFA W…

Australia’s FIFA World Cup 2026 campaign will carry a powerful story of resilience and multicultural success, with several refugee-born players poised to play key roles as the Socceroos begin their tournament against Turkey on Sunday.

Forwards Mohamed Toure and Nestory Irankunda, alongside experienced winger Awer Mabil, represent a generation of footballers whose families fled conflict in Africa before building new lives in Australia, according to Reuters. rouesnews.click

Their journeys from refugee camps to football’s biggest stage have become emblematic of the changing face of Australian soccer.

Head coach Tony Popovic is expected to rely heavily on 22-year-old Toure and 20-year-old Irankunda as Australia seeks the goals needed to progress from the group stage. Both players were born in refugee camps after their families were displaced by conflict, before eventually settling in Australia.

Toure, born in a camp in Guinea to Liberian parents, has emerged as Australia’s first-choice striker despite limited international experience. The Norwich City forward arrives at the World Cup in strong form after an impressive run in England’s second tier.

Mohamed Toure’s @Coles #MiniRoos Journey: From grassroots dreams at @CroydonKingsFC to representing the #Socceroos

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The 22-year-old’s story is built on community, sacrifice, family, and humility as he prepares to play on football’s biggest stage.

This is his journey,… pic.twitter.com/2zKFDnjANV

— CommBank Socceroos (@Socceroos) June 11, 2026

Irankunda, born in a refugee camp in Tanzania to Burundian parents, has also become an important figure in the national team setup. After a difficult spell following his move to Bayern Munich, the explosive winger revived his career at Watford and has quickly established himself as a fan favourite with his dynamic style of play.

Mabil’s story stretches back even further. The 30-year-old spent part of his childhood in a refugee camp in Kenya after his family fled civil war in Sudan. Having fought his way back into the national team after nearly two years in the international wilderness, he enters his second World Cup as one of the squad’s senior figures.

The trio are part of a broader transformation within Australian football. Six members of the current World Cup squad have African heritage, twice as many as were selected for the 2022 tournament.

Four of those players developed in Adelaide, a city that has become an unlikely hub for African-Australian football talent. The city’s strong community networks and youth development pathways have helped produce a generation of players now representing Australia on the global stage.

The arrival of the Women`s Premier League in 2023 and a title win in the Women`s ODI World Cup has produced an "unstoppable force" in Indian cricket which will increase the depth, former England skipper Nasser Hussain said on Thursday. India clinched their maiden ICC title late in 2025 winning the Women`s ODI World Cup and a significant amount of credit for the team`s success was given to the T20 competition which brought about tectonic changes in women`s cricket in India. Hussain believes the combination of the two has already become unstoppable and Indian cricket stands to benefit in the longer run.

"It`s unstoppable now in the women`s, that combination of the WPL and the 50-overs World Cup win and the scenes at the end of that, now it`s an unstoppable force in Indian cricket and there will be more depth to the players coming through," Hussain told reporters on JioStar Media Day. "The biggest thing for me is depth. We`re trying to work out (the best combination) in that squad now, and obviously they`re missing two (players) as well because of injuries. Two very good players, Amanjot (Kaur) in particular," he said. Hussain said Indian Women`s team was reliant on a few players in the past but the recent years have seen the team`s superstars coming under pressure with others knocking on the door.

"The depth to Indian cricket may be before WPL - you go back to the World Cup final in 2017 - they relied heavily on three or four players before that, the great Mithali Raj, etc. They were lone warriors for them. Then it went to three or four (players)." "Now you`re looking at - and that`s good for Indian cricket because it means that your superstars in the team constantly have to perform because - as in the men`s, I hate going to the men`s because we`re talking women`s, but (a Vaibhav) Sooryavanshi comes along and those that (have) got places, someone has to be left out," he added.

Hussain also pointed out that increasing financial opportunities in the game will produce more cricketers, as seen in the IPL. "I hear rumours of parents now wanting their daughters to play more and more cricket because of the financial inducements in cricket and WPL and Big Bash and The Hundred," he said. "Some of The Hundred contracts we`ve seen just recently, it`s been life-changing money. It really has; Danny Gibson, Tilly Corteen-Coleman, have had life-changing contracts. It now has become a job and I don`t mean that in a negative way."

"I said the other day that winning the World Cup for England, that was cool. I took my daughter`s side to that final. They beat India in 2017 and a lot of those girls left and thought, `oh, cricket`s really cool`. But cool doesn`t pay the mortgage." "You need a job, a contract. You need finances and now the finances in the game, like in the men`s IPL, that means people from places in the past that haven`t produced cricketers.

"We`ve seen it in men`s Indian cricket, it (the talent) used to come from Bombay or Delhi or whatever. Now it is coming from places and that`s the same thing that will happen in the women`s." Hussain said while it will be imperative to keep an eye on the dot-ball percentage, having six-hitting ability is non negotiable. "The women`s game has changed from a touch game. You think of Meg Lanning, a wonderful touch player who stroked the ball to the boundary. One of the greatest I have ever seen. And now you see the power hitters that are around. They just clear the rope. They back themselves to hit sixes," he said.

"Whichever team hits the most sixes will probably win the tournament. But also, I do always keep (an eye) on our monitor in the commentary box a dot ball percentage. There is no point having five dots and then a six," he said. Catch all the action from ICC Women`s T20 World Cup 2026, June 12-July 5, LIVE on JioHotstar and Star Sports Network.

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From a life-threatening skull fracture to a World Cup goal in front of 80,000 fans, Raul Jimenez’s journey is one of football’s most remarkable comeback stories.

On a memorable night at the Estadio Azteca, the 35-year-old striker scored Mexico’s second goal in a 2-0 victory over South Africa in the opening match of the FIFA World Cup 2026. But the goal meant far more than three points.

In November 2020, Jimenez’s career, and even his life, hung in the balance. Playing for Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League, he suffered a horrific collision with Arsenal defender David Luiz. The impact caused a fractured skull and a traumatic brain injury. Jimenez was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery, and for months there were serious doubts about whether he would ever play football again.

Recovery was slow and painful. He spent eight months away from competitive football and even today wears a protective head guard as a reminder of that frightening afternoon. Yet through determination, family support and resilience, Jimenez fought his way back to the highest level.

This year brought another emotional challenge. In March 2026, he lost his father, Raul Jimenez Vega. The grief was immense, but the World Cup offered an opportunity to honour his memory.

That moment arrived in the 67th minute against South Africa. Roberto Alvarado delivered a teasing cross into the box and Jimenez rose above the defence to power a header beyond goalkeeper Ronwen Williams. As the ball hit the net, the stadium erupted.

Jimenez celebrated passionately before pointing towards the sky. Moments later, tears rolled down his face. It was his first-ever World Cup goal, coming in his first World Cup start after making substitute appearances in the 2014, 2018 and 2022 editions.

The goal was also his 46th for Mexico, taking him level with the country’s second-highest goalscorer of all time.

For many, it was just another goal in a World Cup opener. For Jimenez, it was the culmination of years of struggle, recovery and perseverance. Six years after an injury that nearly took everything away from him, he stood tall once again, delivering a moment that Mexico and perhaps Jimenez himself will never forget.

Also Read: Quiñones Into the History Books as Ten-Man Mexico Beat Nine-Man South Africa in World Cup Opener

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