When the Philippines women’s team makes their World Cup debut on July 21, they want to spark interest in football under the direction of Australian coach Alen Stajcic. Despite being a longtime supporter of basketball, boxing, and beauty pageants, the Philippines has never participated in a men’s or women’s FIFA World Cup match.
Stajcic describes his team’s path from “almost ground zero” to the World Cup as “miraculous,” noting that half of his players are not affiliated with a professional club and that some run around the block for practice.
A major improvement for the World Cup
The Philippines rose from position 68 to the best-ever 46th place in the FIFA rankings since Stajcic’s appointment in late 2021. The Women’s Asian Cup in early 2022 was the beginning of their success; they advanced to the semifinals, where they fell to South Korea but earned a record World Cup berth.
They followed that up with a bronze medal in the Southeast Asian Games the previous year and a home victory in the regional AFF Women’s Championship. The co-hosts of the World Cup, New Zealand, Norway, and Switzerland are in Group A with the Philippines.
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The team will compete with everything they’ve got, according to American-born defender Hali Long. The team is hoping that their first World Cup will revolutionize football in the nation.
According to Stajcic, who led Australia to the 2015 World Cup and the fourth-ranked Matildas in the FIFA rankings, more funding is required to identify and nurture young potential in the impoverished nation.
Stajcic thinks the Philippines will require all of his expertise to compete in a women’s sport that is flourishing at an all-time high in Europe and North America.
He thinks that the rest of the world has advanced significantly since they did, but he still believes that his team may have an impact if they “do everything right.”
