As the 2025 FIFA Men’s U-17 World Cup finals take place in Qatar, we remember an iconic moment at the tournament 14 years earlier which announced Dylan Tombides – and his Mum – onto the world stage.
In June 2011, Australia’s Under 17 men’s team, affectionately known as the ‘Joeys’, were competing at the FIFA U 17 World Cup finals in Mexico. In their squad was the 17 year old forward, who was already drawing attention for his talent, physical presence and composure.
The teenager had already been a key part of the West Ham United Academy for two years at the time of the competition.
He played in all four of Australia’s matches during the tournament, and his most memorable moment came in the opening group game in Guadalajara on 20 June, where he scored the winner in a 2 1 victory over Côte d'Ivoire.
With the scores tied at 1-1 and just 13 minutes to play, Tombides took the ball and fired low past Ivorian goalkeeper Yored Konate to break the deadlock.
“You can see Dylan has great skills, he is strong on the ball. He is technically good with his left and right foot. He is a key promising player”, Australia U-17 Head Coach Jan Versleijen said after the game.
But that is not the whole story because Dylan was also known for his fun-loving, outgoing persona.
‘Didge’, as he was known to his teammates, had prepared a beautiful gift for his mother Tracy should he find the net on live TV.
“The match was on 20 June, which was a couple of days after my birthday and Dylan had called me on my birthday to wish me a wonderful day and to tell me that he had written a birthday message for me on his shinpad for his game on the Monday,” Tracy recalled.
“I couldn’t be at the match because I was working and at home with Taylor in London, so there I am sitting on the couch and I had this delayed stream of the game, so I was probably about three minutes behind.
“So when Dylan scored the winner my Facebook and my messages on my phone just lit up, it was non-stop.
“And I so I just knew to sit there and watch the next three minutes intently because, yeah, it turns out to have been the build-up to this big moment, which gave huge personal joy to me, but also produced a most amazing, iconic, moment for Dylan.”
After netting the winner in the Group F fixture, Tombides used his goal celebration to pull out his right shinpad and hold it to camera.
It featured the poignant hand-written message ‘Happy Birthday Mum xx’.
Tracy continued: “And because of how quickly his career was progressing and what happened to Dylan shortly after that World Cup, when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, a disease that would later take his life, that moment has become the most shared photo of Dylan ever since. It’s a special moment frozen in time.”
That single image captures Dylan’s life at the time perfectly, an abundance of talent that produced a winning goal on the world stage, coupling his self-confidence and caring nature, which empowered him to show the world how much love he had for his Mum.
Tracy added: “Happy birthday Mum! What a way to celebrate. That was a fantastic event for him, he played so well that day and I was so proud.”
The Joeys qualified from the group stage but were eliminated in the round of 16, after suffering a loss to Uzbekistan.
Dylan was tragically diagnosed with testicular cancer following a routine drugs test, which was carried out during the same tournament.
This began the next chapter of what became Dylan’s legacy.
His brave battle with the testicular cancer which saw him go on to make his first team debut for West Ham in 2012, despite undergoing a gruelling programme of cancer treatment including chemotherapy.
He also went on to represent his country again in 2014, at the U-22 AFC Asian Championship in Muscat, just three months before his passing on 18 April 2014, aged 20.
DT38 was set up in Dylan’s memory less than a year later and is a Principal Charity Partner of West Ham United.
Dylan’s squad number, 38, was retired by the Club shortly after his passing.
A decade on, the charity raises awareness of testicular cancer to help save men’s and boys’ lives through education.
Testicular cancer is the most common cancer in men aged 15-45.
The shinpad has become an emblem for DT38, its shape features as the charity’s logo, forever reminding us all of his love for his football and his family.
