What once happened to Norwich City star Mo Toure at Wembley came as complete shock | OneFootball

Norwich City striker Mohamed Toure is an Australia star nowadays but he was handed his Socceroos debut in unusual circumstances.

Mohamed Toure is now a star at Norwich City and his trajectory remains upwards, something perhaps predicted by former Australia boss Graham Arnold.

Having come through the academy at Adelaide United, Mohamed Toure was seen as a rising star in Australian football - and he has become a key man for The Socceroos in recent years.

However, having moved from Adelaide to Stade de Reims in 2022, he remained on the periphery of things in France for a year or so as he continued to develop.

Despite that, Toure was still kept tabs on by Australia boss Graham Arnold and he was eventually given a surprise first call-up by the now Iraq manager.

Mohamed Toure's shock start as an Australia player

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Having moved to Reims in the summer of 2022 and been a part of their B team for a season, Mohamed Toure graduated into their first-team in Ligue 1 in 2023.

As a result of his promise, Graham Arnold called Toure up to be a part of Australia's squad during the 2023 October international break, albeit expected to just be someone to be a part of training.

However, in the first of two friendlies during that break, Toure instead made his shock debut against Gareth Southgate's England at Wembley Stadium.

In a 1-0 loss to The Three Lions in North London, in which Ollie Watkins scored the only goal of the game mid-way through the second half, Toure replaced St Pauli midfielder Connor Metcalfe in the 90th minute without much warning he would get any game time.

Arnold had unexpectedly asked Toure to warm-up late on before bringing him on in place for Metcalfe as the gallant Australians sought an unlikely equaliser.

A few days later Australia defeated New Zealand in the 'Soccer Ashes' and Toure remained an unused substitute but his international career had begun and in unusual fashion.

Mohamed Toure has gone from strength to strength

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A few months after that surprise international debut, Toure moved to the upwardly mobile and very wealthy Paris FC in Ligue 2 on loan before joining Danish outfit Randers on a permanent basis in the summer of 2024.

After 18 months at Randers and 11 goals in 45 Superliga appearances, Toure was poached by Norwich in January 2026 and he has emerged as a star man for Philippe Clement's Canaries.

Toure scored nine goals in 11 games in the second half of the 2025-26 Championship season as Norwich finished strongly, putting themselves in a position to expect to challenge for promotion to the Premier League in the 2026-27 season.

Links to Hull City among others emerged over the summer but Toure has remained at Carrow Road after being the starting striker for Tony Popovic's Australia at FIFA World Cup 2026 in North America.

Mohamed Toure is a key part of Australia's emerging squad

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Tony Popovic led Australia to the round of 32 at the FIFA World Cup, eventually losing to Egypt on penalties after they had beaten Turkiye in their group stage opener.

Toure was a key part of that squad and is expected to flourish as Australia's squad continues to develop with a lot of young stars, two of which earned big money moves on the continent this summer as Nestory Irankunda left Watford for Sporting CP and Alessandro Circati joined Benfica from Parma.

As well as that, goalkeeper Patrick Beach has joined Troyes in Ligue 1 with Jordan Bos still key for Feyenoord and Paul Okon-Engstler joining Bundesliga outfit Cologne.

Toure, though, remains a bit of a gem up-front and the promise shown to get his surprise debut against England has been reflected at Norwich and could be indicative of what the 22-year-old goes on to become.