Philippines end World Cup qualifiers with a whimper

The Philippine men's national football team absorbed a 0-2 loss to Indonesia for its fifth loss in the second round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifiers at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta last Tuesday.

Thom Haye scored the opener in the 32nd minute before Rizky Ridho made it 2-0 for the Indonesians in the 56th minute.

Garuda advanced to the third round of the qualifiers and secured an automatic slot for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia after finishing the second round in second place with seven points behind a 3-1-2 win-draw-loss record.

Meanwhile, the Philippines finished at the bottom of the group with a 0-1-5 slate and will be relegated to the third round of the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers on 25 March 2025.

Regardless of the group, the Nationals need to top it to earn their second stint in the continental quadrennial meet since the 2019 edition at the United Arab Emirates.