North Korea’s women’s soccer team qualified for next year’s FIFA World Cup with a resounding 4-0 win over Chinese Taipei on Thursday, setting up a return to the sport’s biggest stage after a gap of 16 years.

Lifted by a hat-trick from midfielder Hong Song Ok, the DPRK secured one of six direct qualifying spots for Asian teams at next year’s tournament in Brazil during the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Asian Cup.

North Korea was eliminated from the ongoing Asian championships after a loss to hosts Australia last week, but remained in the running for automatic World Cup qualification