Before Messi arrived, Reddit’s favorite sporting moment of the first week of the World Cup was a seventeen-second loop of Nestory Irankunda’s twenty-seventh-minute goal for Australia against Türkiye. The clip starts with Irankunda receiving a lofted pass in the left channel, about thirty-five yards from the Turkish goal. A lonely, unpromising position: Turkish defender Demiral is approaching from infield; midfielder Yüksek is recovering nearby; Irankunda’s only support is Touré, at an awkward angle. Wingers in these situations are usually happy to retain possession—win a throw-in or free kick, or pass it back to an advancing midfielder.

On the other hand, you are watching a clip. Something unusual is going to happen. It starts with Irankunda not touching the ball; rather than slowing to control it, he lets it bounce across him, turning to race it toward the Turkish goal.…