Cook Islands national football team
![]() | |||
Nickname(s) | Soka Kuki Airani | ||
---|---|---|---|
Association | Cook Islands Football Association | ||
Confederation | OFC (Oceania) | ||
Head coach | Jess Ibrom | ||
Captain | Grover Harmon | ||
Most caps | Tony Jamieson (22) | ||
Top scorer | Taylor Saghabi (7) | ||
Home stadium | Avarua Tereora Stadium | ||
FIFA code | COK | ||
| |||
FIFA ranking | |||
Current | 186 ![]() | ||
Highest | 166 (October 2015) | ||
Lowest | 207 (April–July 2015) | ||
First international | |||
![]() ![]() (Papeete, Tahiti; 11 September 1971) | |||
Biggest win | |||
![]() ![]() (Papeete, Tahiti; 12 June 2000) ![]() ![]() (Apia, Samoa; 1 September 2007) ![]() ![]() (Boulari, New Caledonia; 1 September 2011) ![]() ![]() (Nukuʻalofa, Tonga; 31 August 2015) | |||
Biggest defeat | |||
![]() ![]() (Papeete, Tahiti; 13 September 1971) | |||
OFC Nations Cup | |||
Appearances | 2 (first in 1998) | ||
Best result | Group stage (1998, 2000) | ||
Pacific Games | |||
Appearances | 5 (first in 1971) | ||
Best result | Sixth place (1971) | ||
Polynesia Cup | |||
Appearances | 2 (first in 1998) | ||
Best result | Runners-up (1998, 2000) |
The Cook Islands men's national football team is the men's football team that represents the Cook Islands in international competition since 1971. It is governed by the Cook Islands Football Association which is part of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) and FIFA.
The nation has participated in seven FIFA World Cup qualification attempts since their first attempt back in 1998. They have qualified for the OFC Nations Cup twice in 1998 and 2000 OFC Nations Cup with both appearances seeing no wins from their four games that they have played.
History
[edit]Beginnings (1971–1995)
[edit]Despite being absent from the first three editions of the South Pacific Games, the geographical proximity of the Cook Islands with French Polynesia, host of the 1971 South Pacific Games, allowed the Cookian team to take part in the tournament. In the first round they were defeated 16–1 by Papua New Guinea and 30–0 by Tahiti, while in the match for fifth place, they fell to Fiji 15–1.
They next played a match in 1995 when proximity allowed them to participate again in the 1995 South Pacific Games. During the tournament they earned their first win, a 2–1 win over Wallis and Futuna, but lost their other four clashes resoundingly.
The two OFC Nations Cup (1996–2001)
[edit]The Cook Islands qualified for their first Oceania Nations Cup after finishing second in the 1998 Polynesia Cup, which they hosted. They faced Australia and Fiji in Group B, in what proved to be a tough draw. Australia crushed the Cook Islands 16–0 in their first match, scoring eight goals either side of the interval. In their next match against Fiji, however, the Cook Islands acquitted themselves much better, losing only 3–0, but with two defeats from two matches they failed to make the semi-finals.
In finishing 2nd at the 2000 Polynesia Cup, the Cook Islands also qualified for the OFC Nations Cup. They were drawn in Group A along with the Solomon Islands, and again, Australia. After their heavy defeat at the hands of Australia in the previous tournament, the Cook Islands hoped to avoid a repeat performance. However, they were powerless to prevent their opponents from running rampant, this time to the tune of 17–0. The Solomon Islands were up next, and in this game the Cook Islands had the consolation of scoring their first goal at the Oceania Nations Cup – the only bright spot in an otherwise bleak 5–1 defeat. After two defeats, then, the Cooks Islands again went out at the group stage.
Decline (2002–present)
[edit]They next entered qualification for the 2004 tournament however they lost all four matches and failed to progress.
They returned to the South Pacific Games for the 2007 competition where they could only beat Tuvalu 4–1. Four years later, at Nouméa 2011, they defeated Kiribati 3–0, but lost their other three meetings; while in 2012 OFC Nations Cup qualification they drew with American Samoa and fell to Samoa and Tonga.
In the 2016 OFC Nations Cup qualifiers, they beat Tonga 3–1 and Samoa 1–0, but fell in the last game against American Samoa 2-0, which relegated the Cook Islands to third place, surpassed on goal difference by both Samoas.
In March 2022, the Cook Islands played their first match in seven years when they lost 2–0 to the Solomon Islands in qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. However, they had to withdraw from their remaining matches due to a COVID-19 outbreak.[3][4]
On 28 August 2023, Cook Islands resumed their international matches playing against Tahiti but suffered a 9–1 heavy defeat to Tahiti at the Stade Pater Te Hono Nui in Pirae.
Kit sponsorship
[edit]Kit supplier | Period |
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2002–2004 |
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2007–2012 |
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2015–2020 |
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2020– |
Results and fixtures
[edit]The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
Win Draw Loss Fixture
2023
[edit]28 August Friendly | Tahiti ![]() | 9–1 | ![]() | Pirae, Tahiti |
20:00 UTC−10 | Report |
|
Stadium: Stade Pater Te Hono Nui |
31 August Friendly | Cook Islands ![]() | 0–3 | ![]() | Pirae, Tahiti |
20:00 UTC−10 | Report | Stadium: Stade Pater Te Hono Nui |
21 November 2023 Pacific Games | Tonga ![]() | 1–2 | ![]() | Honiara, Solomon Islands |
16:00 UTC+11 |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: SIFF Academy Field Referee: David Yareboinen (Papua New Guinea) |
24 November 2023 Pacific Games | Cook Islands ![]() | 0–8 | ![]() | Honiara, Solomon Islands |
16:00 UTC+11 | Report | Stadium: SIFF Academy Field Referee: Kavitesh Behari (Fiji) |
2024
[edit]23 March 2024 OFC Nations Cup qualification | Samoa ![]() | 1–0 | ![]() | Nuku'alofa, Tonga |
11:00 |
|
Report | Stadium: Teufaiva Stadium Attendance: 300 Referee: Pari Oito (Tahiti) |
26 March 2024 OFC Nations Cup qualification | Cook Islands ![]() | 1–0 | ![]() | Nuku'alofa, Tonga |
14:00 |
|
Report | Stadium: Teufaiva Stadium Attendance: 500 Referee: Laurie Fairamoa (Solomon Islands) |
7 September 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification | Cook Islands ![]() | v | ![]() | Apia, Samoa |
Stadium: FFS Football Stadium |
Coaches
[edit]Alex Napa (1996–1998)
Cormac Gallen-Willcocks (2001–2004)
Tim Jerks (2004–2010)
Shane Rufer (2011)
Paul Farrell-Turepu (2011–2014)
Drew Sherman (2015–2017)
Kevin Fallon (2018–2020)
Alan Taylor (2022)
Jess Ibrom (2023-)
Current squad
[edit]The following players were called up for the 2023 Pacific Games.[7]
Caps and goals are correct as of 30 November 2023, after the match against Samoa.
Player records
[edit]- As of 26 March 2024[8]
- Players in bold are still active with Cook Islands.
Most appearances
[edit]Rank | Name | Caps | Goals | Career |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Tony Jamieson | 22 | 0 | 2000–2011 |
2 | John Pareanga | 20 | 2 | 1998–2011 |
3 | Taylor Saghabi | 17 | 7 | 2011–present |
4 | Paavo Mustonen | 15 | 0 | 2007–present |
5 | Joseph Chambers | 14 | 0 | 1996–2004 |
Grover Harmon | 14 | 1 | 2009–present | |
7 | Mark Jamieson | 13 | 1 | 2000–2004 |
Christian Tauira | 13 | 0 | 1998–2004 | |
9 | Tahiri Elikana | 12 | 0 | 2011–present |
Joseph Miitamariki | 12 | 0 | 2007–2011 | |
Stenter Mani | 12 | 2 | 1996–2001 | |
James Nand | 12 | 0 | 1996–2001 | |
Daniel Shepherd | 12 | 1 | 2000–2007 | |
Nikorima Te Miha | 12 | 2 | 1998–2011 |
Top goalscorers
[edit]Rank | Name | Goals | Caps | Ratio | Career |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Taylor Saghabi | 7 | 17 | 0.41 | 2011–present |
2 | Joseph Ngauora | 3 | 8 | 0.38 | 2009–2011 |
Campbell Best | 3 | 11 | 0.27 | 2009–2015 | |
4 | Teariki Mateariki | 2 | 6 | 0.33 | 2004–2007 |
Stenter Mani | 2 | 12 | 0.17 | 1996–2001 | |
Nikorima Te Miha | 2 | 12 | 0.17 | 1998–2011 | |
John Pareanga | 2 | 20 | 0.1 | 1998–2011 |
Competition record
[edit]FIFA World Cup
[edit]FIFA World Cup | Qualification | |||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Host | Round | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | Pos. | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | |
1930 to 1994 | Not a FIFA member | Not a FIFA member | ||||||||||||||
1998 | ![]() |
Did not qualify | First round | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | |||||||
2002 | ![]() ![]() |
First round | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 25 | ||||||||
2006 | ![]() |
First round | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 17 | ||||||||
2010 | ![]() |
First round | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 9 | ||||||||
2014 | ![]() |
First round | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | ||||||||
2018 | ![]() |
First round | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | ||||||||
2022 | ![]() |
Withdrew | Withdrew | |||||||||||||
2026 | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
To be determined | First round | TBD | ||||||||||||
2030 | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
To be determined | ||||||||||||||
2034 | ![]() | |||||||||||||||
Total | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0/7 | 20 | 3 | 1 | 17 | 16 | 65 |
OFC Nations Cup
[edit]Oceania Cup / OFC Nations Cup record | Qualification record | |||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Squad | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | |
![]() |
Did not enter | Did not enter | ||||||||||||||
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![]() | ||||||||||||||||
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Group stage | 6th | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 19 | Squad | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 11 | |
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6th | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 22 | Squad | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 5 | ||
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Withdrew | Withdrew | ||||||||||||||
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Did not qualify | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 17 | |||||||||
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4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 9 | ||||||||||
![]() |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | ||||||||||
![]() |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | ||||||||||
![]() ![]() |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
Total | Group stage | 2/11 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 41 | — | 24 | 9 | 2 | 13 | 20 | 51 |
Pacific Games
[edit]Pacific Games record | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
1963 to 1969 | did not enter | |||||||
![]() |
Group Stage | 6th | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 61 |
1975 to 1991 | did not enter | |||||||
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Group stage | 7th | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 37 |
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did not enter | |||||||
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Group stage | 8th | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 9 |
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9th | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 15 | |
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N/A – tournament was U23 | |||||||
![]() |
did not enter | |||||||
![]() |
Group stage | 8th | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 9 |
Total | 5/16 | 0 Titles | 17 | 4 | 0 | 13 | 14 | 131 |
- ^ The Cook Islands men's national team were withdrew by the federation after the elimination from the group stage citing travelling issues for coming back from Honiara. The team didn't play the 5th place semi-final, nor the 7th place final
Polynesia Cup
[edit]Polynesia Cup record | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
![]() |
did not enter | |||||||
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Runners-up | 2nd | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 11 |
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Runners-up | 2nd | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 5 |
Total | 2/3 | 0 Titles | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 16 |
Head-to-head record
[edit]Up to matches played on 26 March 2024.
Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | WPCT |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 6 | +2 | 50.00 |
![]() |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 33 | −33 | 0.00 |
![]() |
4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 26 | −24 | 0.00 |
![]() |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 100.00 |
![]() |
4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 28 | −28 | 0.00 |
![]() |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | −2 | 0.00 |
![]() |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 20 | −19 | 0.00 |
![]() |
7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 42.86 |
![]() |
5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 37 | −35 | 0.00 |
![]() |
10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 76 | −75 | 0.00 |
![]() |
10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 12 | +3 | 50.00 |
![]() |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 100.00 |
![]() |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | −7 | 0.00 |
![]() |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 100.00 |
Total | 53 | 13 | 4 | 36 | 48 | 259 | −211 | 24.53 |
Notes:
- ^ Includes results as Western Samoa.
Historical kits
[edit]
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() 1995 Home
|
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() 1995 Away
|
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() 2001 Home
|
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() 2007 Home
|
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() 2007 Away
|
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() 2011 Home
|
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() 2015 Home
|
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() 2015 Away
|
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() 2022 Home
|
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() 2022 Away
|
Sources:[9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18]
See also
[edit]- Cook Islands national under-20 football team
- Cook Islands national under-17 football team
- Cook Islands women's national football team
- Cook Islands women's national under-17 football team
References
[edit]- ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola Men's World Ranking". FIFA. 18 July 2024. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
- ^ Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 15 July 2024. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
- ^ "Cook Islands vs Solomon Islands". Elevensports. 23 March 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
- ^ "Update on FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Oceania Qualifiers". Oceania Football Confederation. 23 March 2022. Archived from the original on 23 March 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
- ^ "Antigo(a) Cook Islands camisas de futebol". Archived from the original on 14 June 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
- ^ "KPI Sports". www.facebook.com. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
- ^ "Match report" (PDF). OFC.
- ^ "Cook Islands". National Football Teams.
- ^ "1999".
- ^ "1999".
- ^ "2001".
- ^ "2007".
- ^ "2007".
- ^ "2011".
- ^ "2015".
- ^ "2015".
- ^ "2022".
- ^ "2022".