Cook Islands

Avarua Tereora Stadium seats 5,000. Locals also call it the National Stadium or the BCI Stadium. The Cook Islands national team, known as Tukia, plays its home matches here, wearing yellow shirts, blue shorts and yellow socks. The nickname comes from a Cook Islands Māori word meaning "to gather" or "assemble".

The team's first international came on 11 September 1971 in Papeete, at the South Pacific Games. Papua New Guinea won 16–1. Two days later Tahiti won 30–0, still the heaviest defeat in the team's history. Tahiti have stayed in the story since, as one of the rivals the Cook Islands meet most often. Tonga is another, and Samoa too. The same tournament also gave the team its best finish in that decade: sixth place at the 1971 Games.

Cook Islands Football Association was founded that same year, but the country joined the Oceania Football Confederation and FIFA only in 1994. The side reached the group stage of the OFC Nations Cup in 1998 and again in 2000. It has never won a senior honour. The women's team took bronze at the 2015 Pacific Games.

Two players stand out. Goalkeeper Tony Jamieson won 22 caps between 2000 and 2011, more than anyone else. Taylor Saghabi, who has played since 2011, has scored seven goals in 19 appearances, the most for the country. The team is ranked 186th in the FIFA World Ranking.

For a side with that record, the ground in Avarua is where the players and the island's supporters gather.