Filipinas eye breakout World Cup performance

The Philippines will now plot its next steps after securing a spot in the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil.

Filipinas head coach Mark Torcaso said they are still savoring their latest play-in victory over Uzbekistan at the AFC Asian Cup but will get right back to work soon to map out their next move.

The Philippines will enter its second straight World Cup and will be the lone team representing Southeast Asia.

“It hasn’t hit us yet. We're just really grateful that we’ve got a number of players that have experienced the World Cup before,” Torcaso said.

“We’ll start planning in the next couple of days what the preparation looks like.”

The Filipinas will join Australia, North Korea, South Korea, China and Asian Cup champions Japan in the biggest women’s football tournament in the world.

After the Philippines’ 1-0-2 win-draw-loss record in the 2023 World Cup, Torcaso said they want to form a strong squad that will have the Filipinas break through the knockout stages.

“It’d be naive for me to say that we’re happy with 23, 27, or 30 players. We want to go to the next World Cup and not just secure a win — we want to get out of the group,” Torcaso said. Ivan Suing