By Tupou Vaipulu Jr.

Tonga’s Under 16 Men's football team will face three countries including, American Samoa, PNG and Vanuatu in the OFC U-16 tournament, qualifiers stage at Teufaiva Stadium on Saturday, 3 May 2025.

The winner of the tournament will advance to the OFC U-16 Men’s Championship to be held in the Solomon Islands in August, where three teams will qualify for the FIFA U-17 Men’s World Cup in Qatar next year.

Tonga's team of 28 players and their assistant coach, Manulaaina Tualau have been in training camp for over a month, in preparation for the tournament.

“We started training camp on 31 April –we trained two hours every day except for Sunday up until the last week before the tournament,” said Manulaaina.

Tonga’s captain, 16-year-old Gordon Li, a student at ‘Atele College, is confident that his team will win all three games and advance to the Championship.

The games are scheduled for 3, 6 and 9 May and Tonga's first match is against Vanuatu at 3:00 pm on Saturday 3 May at Teufaiva.