Irankunda free kick cancelled by late Rayan header as Australia draw Brazil 1-1 in Townsville

On Friday night in Townsville, Australia and Brazil played out a 1-1 draw in an international friendly at Queensland Country Bank Stadium, with Nestory Irankunda’s 68th-minute free kick cancelled by a stoppage-time header from Rayan.

The match attracted a sell-out crowd of 25,440 and featured several high-profile Brazilians, with Bruno Guimarães, Raphinha, Vinícius Júnior, Endrick and Estêvão named in the visitors’ XI and Carlo Ancelotti in the dugout; Australia fielded 20-year-old Nestory Irankunda while Tony Popovic sat in the home dugout.

Paul Okon-Engstler won a free kick roughly 23 yards from goal and Irankunda stepped up to take it in the 68th minute; the ball dipped over the Brazilian wall and into the net past goalkeeper Hugo Souza, after which Irankunda performed backflips and Popovic displayed a wry grin.

Brazil mounted a late response and, deep in added time, Raphinha delivered a left-sided corner that found Rayan; the forward’s header struck the crossbar and crossed the line, with Patrick Beach unable to prevent the rebound from going in.

Earlier in the game Estêvão had a composed finish on the stroke of half-time ruled out by VAR for a foul by Bruno Guimarães on Harry Souttar in the build-up; Vinícius Júnior’s early burst had created an Estêvão effort that was deflected away, and Raphinha dragged a shot wide just after the hour mark.

The surface at Queensland Country Bank Stadium was compared to an ice-rink and progressively degraded during the night despite having been used 20 days earlier for a North Queensland Cowboys NRL and NRLW double-header, producing moments of hesitation and several slips; Australia responded with defensive interventions, periods of higher pressing and phases of assertive possession.

The friendly formed part of a two-game series promoted by Brazil, with Queensland state government reminders of their role in organising the fixture visible during the week.