Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
So, the Socceroos won their first World Cup match against Turkey over the weekend. Depending on how woke the media organisation you watched was, the commentators switched between calling the country Turkey, Türkiye, and a meticulously pronounced Tur-KEE-ah.
As many of you pointed out, we don’t call Germany Deutschland, and we certainly don’t insist that Koreans stop using Hoju to refer to Australia—but that’s neither here nor there.
In this video, we’re going to focus on the media’s framing of the two Australian goal-scorers, Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe.
On paper, it’s identical. They both played for Australia on the world stage, they both wore the exact same green and gold kit, they both scored crucial goals, and they are both obviously extremely talented. Identical in every way, right?
Do you think our fiercely impartial, unbiased, and staunchly anti-racist ABC treated them with that same equality?
I’ll let you decide.
If you search Google News for “Connor Metcalfe ABC”, the ABC dedicated exactly one article to him. It was before he even played: “Midfielder Connor Metcalfe ‘sick of’ Socceroos commentary ahead of FIFA World Cup 2026.”
Even after he went out and scored, the grand total remained stuck at that single article. Feel free to check for yourself, but that seems to be the absolute limit of his coverage on our national broadcaster.
On the other hand, when it comes to Nestory, our taxpayer funds are suddenly treated like a bottomless promotional war chest.
Here is just a small sample of the ABC’s recent headline spam surrounding the match: “South Australian community, family reacts to Nestory Irankunda’s World Cup goal,” followed by “Socceroos hero Nestory Irankunda hits back as Türkiye star says his team ‘dominated’,” and then “The family behind Socceroo hero Nestory Irankunda.”
Still not enough? How about “Socceroo Nestory Irankunda knew how he would celebrate before even taking the field” or “How this globe shows the incredibly diverse story of our Socceroos”—an article where they eagerly feature Nestory, but naturally, don’t offer a single peep about Connor Metcalfe.
They even flat-out declared him the supreme ruler of the squad with: “Nestory Irankunda the face of the Socceroos at FIFA World Cup 2026.”
This isn’t a new obsession, either. They’ve been hyper-inflating his profile for years. Take last year’s headline: “Socceroo Nestory Irankunda continues great start for Watford.” 2024 was no different: “Teen sensation to be named in Socceroos squad,” an article that openly noted he was threatening to switch his international allegiance to Tanzania if Australia didn’t include him. And all the way back in 2023, they were already manifesting it: “Why this teen sensation could become the youngest Socceroo in history.”
But what about the post-match wrap-up? Surely they split the difference after the victory? Not quite. The headline read: “World Cup Socceroos quick hits: Nestory Irankunda’s goal and Patrick Beach’s save in win over Türkiye.”
To be entirely fair to our public broadcaster, they did technically give Connor a mention inside the article. It was right at the very bottom: “5. Counter attacking Connor’s sensational sealer.” Dead last.
Just to be completely clear: I don’t blame Nestory. He has done nothing wrong, and frankly, Connor Metcalfe probably doesn’t care either (although, I can’t speak for him).
But the self-appointed arbiters of truth at our taxpayer-funded ABC have clearly picked a favourite. They absolutely adore Nestory Irankunda.
It leaves us with a rather glaring double standard. On match day, both men wore the same uniform and scored the same number of goals for Australia. Yet, our fiercely unbiased national broadcaster has chosen to obsessively elevate one over the other.
Could it be that for all their performative lectures on equality, our national broadcaster is actually far more obsessed with race and identity than they ever care to admit?
MUSIC
Allégro by Emmit Fenn
So, the Socceroos won their first World Cup match against Turkey over the weekend. Depending on how woke the media organisation you watched was, the commentators switched between calling the country Turkey, Türkiye, and a meticulously pronounced Tur-KEE-ah.
As many of you pointed out, we don’t call Germany Deutschland, and we certainly don’t insist that Koreans stop using Hoju to refer to Australia—but that’s neither here nor there.
In this video, we’re going to focus on the media’s framing of the two Australian goal-scorers, Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe.
On paper, it’s identical. They both played for Australia on the world stage, they both wore the exact same green and gold kit, they both scored crucial goals, and they are both obviously extremely talented. Identical in every way, right?
Do you think our fiercely impartial, unbiased, and staunchly anti-racist ABC treated them with that same equality?
I’ll let you decide.
If you search Google News for “Connor Metcalfe ABC”, the ABC dedicated exactly one article to him. It was before he even played: “Midfielder Connor Metcalfe ‘sick of’ Socceroos commentary ahead of FIFA World Cup 2026.”
Even after he went out and scored, the grand total remained stuck at that single article. Feel free to check for yourself, but that seems to be the absolute limit of his coverage on our national broadcaster.
On the other hand, when it comes to Nestory, our taxpayer funds are suddenly treated like a bottomless promotional war chest.
Here is just a small sample of the ABC’s recent headline spam surrounding the match: “South Australian community, family reacts to Nestory Irankunda’s World Cup goal,” followed by “Socceroos hero Nestory Irankunda hits back as Türkiye star says his team ‘dominated’,” and then “The family behind Socceroo hero Nestory Irankunda.”
Still not enough? How about “Socceroo Nestory Irankunda knew how he would celebrate before even taking the field” or “How this globe shows the incredibly diverse story of our Socceroos”—an article where they eagerly feature Nestory, but naturally, don’t offer a single peep about Connor Metcalfe.
They even flat-out declared him the supreme ruler of the squad with: “Nestory Irankunda the face of the Socceroos at FIFA World Cup 2026.”
This isn’t a new obsession, either. They’ve been hyper-inflating his profile for years. Take last year’s headline: “Socceroo Nestory Irankunda continues great start for Watford.” 2024 was no different: “Teen sensation to be named in Socceroos squad,” an article that openly noted he was threatening to switch his international allegiance to Tanzania if Australia didn’t include him. And all the way back in 2023, they were already manifesting it: “Why this teen sensation could become the youngest Socceroo in history.”
But what about the post-match wrap-up? Surely they split the difference after the victory? Not quite. The headline read: “World Cup Socceroos quick hits: Nestory Irankunda’s goal and Patrick Beach’s save in win over Türkiye.”
To be entirely fair to our public broadcaster, they did technically give Connor a mention inside the article. It was right at the very bottom: “5. Counter attacking Connor’s sensational sealer.” Dead last.
Just to be completely clear: I don’t blame Nestory. He has done nothing wrong, and frankly, Connor Metcalfe probably doesn’t care either (although, I can’t speak for him).
But the self-appointed arbiters of truth at our taxpayer-funded ABC have clearly picked a favourite. They absolutely adore Nestory Irankunda.
It leaves us with a rather glaring double standard. On match day, both men wore the same uniform and scored the same number of goals for Australia. Yet, our fiercely unbiased national broadcaster has chosen to obsessively elevate one over the other.
Could it be that for all their performative lectures on equality, our national broadcaster is actually far more obsessed with race and identity than they ever care to admit?
MUSIC
Allégro by Emmit Fenn
