The Philippine U23 men's football team qualified for the ASEAN Championship semifinal in Indonesia for the first time in 20 years after getting a superior win-draw-loss record.

The Nationals were able to make it to the knockout stages thanks to their 2-0 win over Malaysia last 15 July at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta.

The Philippines actually finished Group A with a 2-0-1 record but its 2-0 win over Brunei last Monday at the Patriot Chandrabhaga Stadium in Bekasi was not counted as Groups B and C only had three teams each.

With that, the Filipinos overtook Myanmar, which finished with two draws in Group B, and Cambodia, which had a 0-1-1 slate in Group C, for the last seat of the semis.

The Philippines will face defending champions Vietnam in a knockout match on Friday in the Indonesian capital at 8 p.m.