Socceroos star Nestory Irankunda scores first goal for Watford with stunning free kick

The young Socceroos star Nestory Irankunda has scored his first goal for the Championship side Watford with a stunning free kick.

The 19-year-old winger, who starred at Adelaide United but struggled to get game time at Bayern Munich, curled home a glorious 25-yard free kick to give the Hornets the lead at Swansea in the 35th minute of their 1-1 draw on Saturday.

His belting strike capped another strong performance from Irankunda, who proved a handful for the Swansea defence all afternoon with his speed and skill until he was brought off just before the hour as a precaution when he appeared to suffer a hamstring knock.

Not a bad first goal 🤔 pic.twitter.com/0Tcp9fUBEb — Watford Football Club (@WatfordFC) August 23, 2025

Snapped up from the Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich on a five-year deal, Irankunda had already made a big impression, and was quick to tell reporters how his ambition was to “make the crowd go wild” at Vicarage Road.

He did just that when he whipped the ball over the Welsh side’s wall and into the left-hand corner, after convincing captain Moussa Sissoko to let him to take the free kick.

“Oh, my. I’ve scored some good goals but I reckon that could be in my top five,” Irankunda said.

With usual free kick taker Imran Louza out injured, Irankunda took his chance.

“Obviously, you have to ask for permission, and I said to Moussa ‘I feel confident in taking a free kick,” the 19-year-old said.

“He asked me a couple times, ‘are you sure you can take free kicks?’ I said ‘yeah, go look at my highlight reels!’ Then after that, I just put it into the corner.”

When Irankunda went off, soon after being fouled by Swansea’s new signing Marko Stamenic, Watford’s impetus seemed to be lost and Zan Vipotnik came off the bench for the Swans to rescue a point with an 82nd-minute goal.

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Irankunda has been enjoying being back in the action after his confidence took a bit of a hit in Germany.

“It’s been good,” he said. “I feel like myself again, a whole lot more confident. It’s fun to come to training every day. I love playing here.”

He’s not the only Australian making an early-season mark in English football’s second tier.

Portsmouth midfielder Adrian Segecic again impressed in his club’s 1-1 draw at West Bromwich, while Sammy Silvera continues to shine for Middlesbrough, whose 2-1 win at Norwich took them to the top of the table alongside Stoke, who won 2-1 at Southampton.

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