Cook Islands admit they have plenty of work to do after winning the OFC Under 20 Men's Championship Preliminary in Nuku'alofa, to qualify for the main draw in in September.
Needing victory in their final pool match against American Samoa to seal top spot, it took 31 minutes for Michael Wood to break the scoring deadlock.
Kimiora Samuela made it 2-0 seven minutes later and Dwayne Tiputoa bagged a second-half hat-trick to complete a 5-0 romp.
Cook Islands coach Tuka Tisam said he told his players to play their own game and they executed the plan to perfection.
"I'm very pleased with the boys' performances today. We got the win - that's all we wanted - and getting through to the next stage so I congratulate the boys for that and for the whole country to be proud of (them)," he said.
Cook Islands players celebrate after qualifying for the OFC Under 20 Championship. Photo: Oceania Football
The squad now has just over two months to prepare for the full OFC Under 20 Championship in Vanuatu in September.
The last time Cook Islands competed in Oceania's premier youth tournament was 15 years ago and Tuka Tisam admitted it will be a tough ask, after being drawn in the same pool as New Zealand, Tahiti and Solomon Islands.
"That will be a very tough pool - again all football nations so it will be very tough for us to get through that but it's football so anything can happen," he said.
"The team has got a lot to work on for the next stage - it won't be easy...we're coming up against good opposition - really good opposition - so we've got lots and lots of work to be done for about two months before we get to Vanuatu. It's not over for us so we've just got to go back to the drawing board and on the field and keep on working with the guys."
Meanwhile Samoa and hosts Tonga played out a 3-3 draw in the final match of the tournament, which proved to be a dead rubber.
Samoa fiinished in second place after a 3-3 draw against hosts Tonga in their final match. Photo: Oceania Football
