One of the young Thai soccer players who went missing in a partly flooded cave turned 16 while stranded there — and his relatives are eagerly awaiting his return so they can finally celebrate as a family.

Pheeraphat Sompiengjai — known by his nickname, “Night” — became a year older on June 23, the day he and 11 other boys and their 25-year-old soccer coach made the ill-fated decision to walk into the labyrinthine Tham Luang cave network and became trapped.

That night, his family anxiously waited for him to come home so they could have dinner and celebrate — but he never did.

“He never missed any time he was supposed to be home,” his sister Phunphatsa told AFP. “We had prepared dinner to celebrate and some relatives came to join.”

His family kept his birthday cake because they “still had hope” he would be found alive, the sister said.

Phunphatsa still has the cake — frosted yellow, with a smiling cartoon character — in the fridge “to surprise him” when he’s finally rescued.

His teammates had pitched him to gift him special snacks for his birthday — and his family think they sustained him at least for a little of his ordeal in the cave.

Their village of Vieng Hom in northern Thailand is home to three other trapped boys, and the teammates often gathered at Pheeraphat’s house to play, his sister said.

The family’s anxiety was eased a little Wednesday by newly released footage from the Thai navy that showed the team smiling and looking healthier than when they were found, emaciated and huddled on a rocky slope in the darkness.

“It’s very good to see he is safe. I know he will be okay,” said his mom, Supaluk.

But as authorities teach the boys to dive and mull how to get them out of the cave, it could be days or even months before the family is reunited.

“I feel it’s a long time (to wait) … but it’s okay if it makes him safe,” Phunphatsa said, adding that without him, “the house is quiet.”