The Philippine Women’s National Football Team will play against host country Australia in Group A of the AFC Women’s Asia Cup 2026.
A Group of Alphas in Group A
PWNFT will face such adversity as they play top teams in the Group stage of the tournament, as the FIFA world-ranked No. 41 Philippines prepare to play No. 21 South Korea, No. 68 Iran, and No. 15 Australia in Group A.
The Filipinas will first play the Matildas from the land down under on March 1 at Perth, followed by South Korea on March 5 and Iran on March 8, both at Gold Coast Stadium.
History Isn’t On The Side of Filipinas
The Matildas have been dominant against the Filipinas in recent years.
They have won against them in the 2022 AFC Women’s Asia Cup (final score of 4-0) and in the 2nd round of the 2024 AFC Olympic Qualifiers (final score of 8-0).
However, the Philippines did beat the under-23 team of Australia in the group stage of the 2022 AFF Women’s Championship at their home court in Rizal Memorial Stadium.
For the Taeguk Ladies of South Korea they have also beaten the Filipinas during the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup (final score of 2-0) as well as in the 19th Asian Games in China way back in 2023 (final score of 5-1).
To make things worse, the Taeguk Ladies also came out victorious in the 2 friendly games against the Filipinas last April 2024 at the Icheon Sports Complex.
At least against the Iranians, the Philippines can at least expect to win, as they’ve beaten them in the 2014 AFC Women’s Asian Cup Qualifiers (final score of: 6-0) and in an Olympic Qualifier match in 2020 (final score of 2-0).
Head Coach Mark Torcaso is “Excited”
Filipinas Head Coach Mark Torcaso shares his thoughts about such a tough challenge in his Philippine Football Federation press release:
“Really excited by it, and I know that our players will be up for the challenge. Every team here that has qualified obviously deserves to be here and they’re all going to be difficult opponents. 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.”
Aside from this, the Australian Head Coach has reiterated that there are still plenty of tournaments that he and his team will play in order to develop young players.
“This coming AFF tournament (AFF Women’s Championship) is a chance for us to see a lot of our young players play. Obviously, with a closed FIFA window, we will give a lot of opportunity to our young players and see where they’re at…so they’re ready for opportunities that come their way for the Asian Cup,”
He ended his interview saying despite how hard the games will be, the team will definitely learn a lot and must enjoy the chance to become better.
“Playing against the host in front of a big crowd in the first game, along with South Korea and Iran in the group—we’re really excited by this opportunity,”
Target in Mind: Top 2 in Group Stage
To reach the knockout stage of the 2026 Asian Cup, teams must either secure a top-two finish in their group or be among the two highest-ranked third-placed teams overall.
The tournament’s four semifinalists will earn automatic qualification for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
But a quarterfinal exit won’t necessarily end a team’s World Cup hopes. The four teams eliminated at that stage will move into a playoff round, where two more World Cup spots will be up for grabs.
The two sides that don’t advance from that playoff round will still have a final opportunity to qualify via the inter-confederation play-offs for the last spot in Brazil.
