AT A GLANCE
This will be the maiden appearance for the Philippines, male and female, to play at the World Cup following a dramatic qualifying penalty shootout victory against Chinese Taipei in the 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup.
After all the drama -- the long journey that was patchy and painful but momentous in every dash of recollection -- the fervor surely outweighs the pressure when history unfolds before the eyes of the Filipinas, the lady players of the Philippine National Women's Football Team, on Friday, July 21, against the imposing Switzerland at the Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin, New Zealand.
The debuting world No. 46 Filipinas are looking to put everything on the line when they take on the No. 20 Swiss at 1 p.m. (Manila time) in their first-ever game in the grandest stage of all.
This will be the maiden appearance for the Philippines, male and female, to play at the World Cup following a dramatic qualifying penalty shootout victory against Chinese Taipei in the 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup.
From then on, the Filipinas have dedicated the rest of their other competitions as part of their preparations to the World Cup.
The Nationals arrived in Dunedin a day prior to their match after setting camp in Auckland since last week, where they have suitably acclimatized themselves before the much anticipated debut.
It also seems that the Filipinas had a taste of what’s ahead in their mission after playing an unofficial friendly match against world No. 3 Sweden on Monday, July 17, where they fell 5-1.
Although there was no detailed account of how the game went down, the Nationals had gauged where they were at after wrapping up the hardest four-week training camp of their lives in Sydney, Australia.
Landing in Group A, the Philippines knew it was due for a tough climb as all opponents in the preliminary phase turned out to be ranked highly.
After its game against Switzerland, the competition is only about to get more challenging as the Philippines faces world No. 12 Norway on July 30 to wrap up the group stage.
However, the Alen Stajcic-coached Filipinas will surely put everything on the table and refuse to leave without a fight after also getting tangled with one familiar foe in host nation New Zealand on July 25.
The Philippines and world No. 25 New Zealand battled in an international friendly in September last year that saw the Filipinas take a halftime lead of 1-nil before conceding two goals in the second half.
The Swiss, though, expect a promising match against the Filipinas, who remain as the underdogs despite tremendous growth in the past year and a half.
With the exciting opportunity ahead for Philippine sports, the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) announced earlier this week that Cignal TV Inc. has stepped up and secured the broadcast rights to the tournament which gives the country a chance to support the Filipinas in their maiden appearance in the biggest football showpiece.
“This is an exciting development for football fans in the Philippines with the Filipinas’ matches in the FIFA Women’s World Cup to be shown live on free television and other platforms of Cignal TV,” said PFF president Mariano “Nonong” Araneta.
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