World junior champion Cooke progressed safely from semi-final B at the competition in Szazhalombatta and was joined in the final by Beijing 2008 Olympian Weale, who qualified from semi-final C.

A top-12 spot was needed in each of the three semi-finals to book a berth in Sunday's final.

Cooke was 13th going into the run/shoot, but clocked a time of 10:49.41 - the fifth best - to finish in 11th place. The news was not so good for Nick Woodbridge, however, as he ended up in 16th.

Weale was just outside the qualification berths in joint 15th going into the run/shoot but his time of 10:46.41 was fourth quickest in his semi, pushing him up to seventh place overall.

Mhairi Spence and Samantha Murray will contest the women's final on Saturday after qualifying in first and second place in their semi-final on Thursday.