Competing in the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup in Australia will be a challenging experience for the Philippine national women’s football team.
But the Filipinas will be ready for whatever difficulties they will face along the way.
National coach Mark Torcaso said this after the Filipinas were put in a daunting Group A assignment.
“Really excited by it, and I know that our players will be up to the challenge. Every team here that has qualified obviously deserves to be here and they’re all going to be difficult opponents,” said Torcaso.
Torcaso was as at the final draw of lots and official groupings last Tuesday at the Sydney Town Hall in Australia.
The no. 38 Filipinas, who are seeking to be back at the FIFA Women’s World Cup, were bunched with two higher-ranked squads — host nation and World Cup regular Australia (no. 15) and AFC Cup 2022 runner-up South Korea (21). No. 68 Iran is also in the mix.
“It didn’t really matter, who we were going to play, every game is going to be tough, and every game we have to be extremely determined and focused to get an outcome,” added Torcaso.
This will be the Filipinas’ third consecutive appearance in the continental championship.
