The Philippine Women’s National Football Team—the Filipinas—will start their 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup with a showdown against the host country, Australia, on Sunday afternoon, Philippine time. It will be a daunting challenge for sure, but the Filipinas will be pushing until the very end, vowed forward Mallie Ramirez.
“Part of what the Philippine team is, is that we’re going to fight until the end of the whistle no matter how long it is,” Ramirez told reporters. “In SEA Games we showcased that a lot. Most of our games were past 90 minutes. I think that shows that however long we have to play, we’re going to push until the end of the whistle.”
That fight-till-the-end mentality should come in handy, as the Matildas have had the Filipinas’ number, winning three of their previous four matches via routs.
Filipinas Are History Makers
Then again, the Filipinas of recent years have made their mark by making history—over and over and over again. They famously made the most recent FIFA Women’s World Cup, where they also won the country’s first-ever match in that prestigious setting. Then, just last December, they made more history by winning the gold medal in women’s football at the Southeast Asian Games in Thailand.
Notably, the core of these Filipinas—including Olivia McDaniel, Malea Cesar, Jessica Cowart, Sara Eggesvik, and Carleigh Frilles—beat Australia’s U23 in the AFF Women’s Championship in 2022, which the Philippines hosted and won for another impressive milestone. Four players from that U23 squad will be playing for the Matildas later today.
“I think obviously like growing up watching football, you see these top world-class players and to be able to play against some of these top world-class players is just an honor,” Ramirez added. “We made history in the SEA Games, and I think going into this next tournament, we’re going to do the same and we’re going to try to make history again.”
The Matildas and Filipinas will take on each other at Perth Stadium in Perth. Game time is at 5:00 p.m. in the Philippines.
