The former Swansea City striker scored the goal that took his native New Zealand to South Africa last week and now he will line up alongside some of the game’s biggest superstars next summer.
And Fallon – now plying his trade at Plymouth – has cited his move to Swansea as pivotal in taking him to this stage.
He told Wales on Sunday โWithout going to Swansea I donโt think I would ever have got to this World Cup
โEverything I went through there played a big part in what has happened and, with the way my life is now, it was definitely worth it.
โThatโs why I donโt hate Swansea. Without going there I wouldnโt be where I am now.
โThere was massive pressure on me at Swansea because of my price tag,
โI think they were expecting Ronaldinho for ยฃ300,000.
โBut the real problem was my lifestyle outside of football. It disrupted my game and I never really kicked on because my head wasnโt in the right place.
โI felt I was so far away from God when I was there. I didnโt feel right and I just thought that everything was against me so I needed to get away.
โBut Iโm still so happy I went there because otherwise I would never have met my wife. If I hadnโt met her I would never have come back to God and turned my life around.
โThe turning point was leaving Swansea. I needed to settle down, set out my stall at Plymouth and just turn my back against the life I was living.
โThe nightlife and all that wasnโt making me happy. Carly and I were living for the weekend and it wasnโt good.
โNowadays I donโt really like to talk about it because I have been through it all and that stage of my life is over. Now my focus is on how good God has been to me.
โBut Iโm still not the geeky guy in the corner with my Bible.
โThe lads know I will still be involved in the banter. Gone are the days when I will go to the Christmas party and get smashed or things like that.”