Nestory Irankunda was only a few months old when Tim Cahill scored his first World Cup goal before boxing the corner flag in his trademark act of celebration.

But the Socceroos young gun was keen to pay tribute to the player he deemed his “biggest inspiration” - and he chose his own World Cup debut to show it to an adoring nation.

Soccer fans all over Australia knew who Irankunda was paying homage to when he raced to the corner after his 27th-minute goal in the win over Turkey, with the 20-year-old capturing the attention of the world with his eye-catching performance.

He was quick to shout out Cahill in the moments after the biggest moment of his life.

“When it comes to football, it’s him and Lionel Messi... Tim Cahill is Australia’s greatest, in my opinion,” said Irankunda, who has never met the Socceroos legend.

“I just thought if I scored, I’d do the same as him.”

The act and glowing praise didn’t go unnoticed by Cahill, who took to social media to give the young gun his flowers.

“So much talent and this kid knows how to let his football do the talking,” Cahill wrote on Instagram in the wake of Irankunda’s memorable performance.

Having become Australia’s youngest-ever scorer at a World Cup, Irankunda will now set his sights on finding the back of the net with regularity as the tournament wears on - and potentially get the chance to quickly climb the list of top Socceroos goalscorers.

Only Cahill (five), Mile Jedinak (three) and Brett Holman (two) have scored multiple goals in Australia’s World Cup history. But with matches against the US and Paraguay across the coming fortnight, and a place in the next round now appearing likely, Irankunda has a golden opportunity to join them.

For now, however, the Tanzanian-born young gun will concentrate on simply playing his role and staying focused - with words from coach Tony Popovic early in Sunday’s clash ringing in his ears.

“He told me to keep my head,” Irankunda said.

“He told me to stay calm and to keep pushing, and in the end that chat that we had helped, and then I ended up scoring. It’s just great that he has that belief in us.”