The Philippine Women’s National Football Team—the Filipinas—have wobbled to an 0-2 start to their 2026 AFC Women’s Asia Cup campaign following losses to Australia and South Korea. Those setbacks have put the Filipinas in a must-win match against Iran later today if they are to have a chance to advance to the knockout stage.
That’s a lot of pressure for what is a relatively youthful side, but Filipinas coach Mark Torcaso isn’t the least bit worried. His players, evidently, aren’t concerned either.
“We’ll have our training session tonight, which will get us ready for tomorrow’s game. But the attitude is really good,” Torcaso said in a press conference on Saturday ahead of the Iran vs. Philippines match. “The girls have been really happy and excited with our first two games so far, considering we didn’t get the results that we wanted in regards to winning.”
Filipinas Taking the Positives
One reason the coaching staff and the rest of the Filipinas have continued to stay upbeat is the discipline the ladies have shown even in losing efforts. And, according to Torcaso, it would be about turning that discipline and structure into a win over Iran.
“We showed a very disciplined and structured setup, and we’re really happy with that,” Torcaso pointed out. “We need to make sure that we get the outcome and the results that we want in this next game. But the girls will be ready, and we’ll have a really good training session tonight.”
The Filipinas, though, might need to do more than just win. They likely would have to win and score as many goals as possible to have a shot at being one of the two best third-place squads in three groups. Put simply, it’s the only route to the next round.
Torcaso Confident His Team Has What It Takes
To that end, Torcaso is just as confident knowing that the Filipinas have shown they can rise up to the occasion. In the last SEA Games in Thailand, for instance, the national team bounced back from an opening loss to Myanmar by defeating Vietnam and Malaysia, winning the latter match, 6-0, to barge into the semis. They then beat Thailand in the final four and Vietnam for the gold.
“We’ve had a very similar scenario recently and are grateful for the preparation that we had to see games where we had to set a target of getting a certain result in that game. And we were really happy with the way that we prepared for that…,” Torcaso said. “So, we will prepare very similarly to that with the mindset of getting an outcome… We just have to do what we can first. We can just control what we can control. Our girls will be determined to go out there and win the game. We’re extremely focused to do that.”
The Filipinas take on Iran at Gold Coast Stadium at 5:00 p.m. later today.
