for the first time at an Oceania Football tournament

The Federated States of Micronesia have suffered their third record defeat after being thrashed 46-0 by Vanuatu in an Olympic qualifying tournament - only days after losing 38-0 to Fuji.

With a team made up of largely teenage players, many of whom have left their home villages for the first time, the tiny nation is suffering the steepest of learning curves in the Pacific Games soccer tournament in Papua New Guinea.

Nothing could take away from the performance of Vanuatu's top scorer Jean Kaltack, however, as he alone bagged an astonishing 16 goals during a match in his which side scored on average once every two minutes.

Micronesia, making their first appearance at an Oceania Football Confederation tournament, have already been beaten 30-0 by Tahiti and 38-0 by Fiji during the Pacific Games, which double as the qualifying tournament for next year's Rio Olympics.

One sided: The Federated States of Micronesia (in blue) have suffered their third record defeat after being thrashed 46-0 by Vanuatu in an Olympic qualifying tournament - only days after losing 38-0 to Fuji.

Speaking after the match, Micronesia coach Stan Foster said he wasn't surprised by the results.

'Most of these guys are in their late teenage years and that's why I selected this team,' Foster told Radio New Zealand in Port Moresby, the Papua New Guinean capital, after the Vanuatu loss.

Thumbs up: Vanuatu's top scorer Jean Kaltack bagged an astonishing 16 goals during the match

'A bit of criticism I got before we left was [for] picking a younger squad, but it's no use picking older players who won't be around for the next four [years].'

'Most of them have never been out of their villages let alone on to another island. I took them to Guam the other day (and it was) the first time they've been on an elevator or an escalator.'

'It's been a huge step-up for these guys and they've just been overawed really.'

Those villages Foster refers to are on four island states spread across 60 miles in the western Pacific Ocean - Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae.

They sit about 1,800 miles north of the eastern Australian coast and about 2,500 miles southwest of the main islands of Hawaii.

The islands, which use American currency because it is a U.S. 'associated state,' have no organized football and often only get practice matches against teams from visiting ships.

They are not a member of the Oceania confederation or FIFA, so their only funding to help develop their approximately 500 mostly school-age players comes from international agencies like the U.N.

Couldn't keep track: At one point during the match the official score keeper temporarily left his seat. It wasn't an ideal move as Vanuatu bagged a goal on average once every two minutes during the match

Chaos: Members of the crowd struggled to keep up with the ever-increasing scoreline

Foster said most of his team played in only seven-a-side teams and that the Pacific Games marked the first time many of them played on a pitch with 11 players.

The Pacific Games is an under-23 tournament, so the scores won't count as any type of international record for most goals scored in a match.

That mark still belongs to Australia: Archie Thompson scored 13 goals when the Socceroos beat American Samoa 31-0 in 2001 in an Oceania qualifying match for the 2002 World Cup.

Social media wasn't around in 2001 to help spread news of the big Australian win, and predictably Twitter was active with news of the huge Micronesian losses.

With a team made up of largely teenage players, many of whom have left their home villages for the first time, Micronesia suffered the steepest of learning curves in the Pacific Games soccer tournament

Despite winning the match 46-0, Vanuatu were actually eliminated from the tournament as results elsewhere went against them

Having a good time: Speaking after the match, Micronesia coach Stan Foster said he wasn't surprised by the result and admitted his players 'didn't have high expectations'

The official Pacific Games website even re-tweeted a note from a New Zealand radio network which pointed out that Micronesia conceded more goals in three matches than Lionel Messi has scored in the past two years -84.

'These are a team of boys and they're playing against men,' Foster said after his team's final lopsided loss. 'But the makings are there. If we just to stick to our development I'm sure we can join the other teams.'

'We didn't have high expectations,' Foster added, admitting that he told his players before they left they left not to worry about the scores of any of their matches.

Which, as it turned out, was probably a good thing.