THE FILIPINAS will arrive in the Philippines on Friday for their training camp to prepare for the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup.
Philippine Football Federation president John Gutierrez said head coach Mark Torcaso is also scheduled to arrive for their three-week camp in two sites.
A lot is at stake in the next major tournament for the Filipinas.
The AFC Women’s Asian Cup is part of the qualification phase for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil where six automatic slots are at stake – four of which from the semifinalists and two from the winners of play-in matches.
All quarterfinalists will also move to the qualification tournament for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
The national team will be training at the SM MOA Sky football field, but will also be building up at Balesin where a FIFA-certified pitch is located.
Gutierrez said they were able to schedule a camp in Balesin after gaining sponsorship from Alphaland, which owns the exclusive posh island, following the Filipinas’ gold medal victory in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games.
The trip to the island in Quezon Province also serves as an incentive for the SEA Games gold, according to Gutierrez.
“Dahil sa success ng women’s national team natin in the last SEA Games, may mga pumasok na tayong sponsors. Number one, Pagcor will be helping us for the preparation. And number two, Alphaland," he said.
"Ang Balesin Island nila, merong FIFA-certified pitch. So we hit two birds with one stone. We get to reward the girls for some R&R dahil sa panalo nila and be totally secluded in the island to prepare for the AFC.”
Filipinas friendlies
Gutierrez said a friendly against Bangladesh is also being scheduled before the Filipinas leave for Perth on February 23 where they will also play two matches against top Australian club teams.
“Of course, coach Mark is Australian. He has access to the professional clubs. They have a very good league in Australia. So we will be doing a friendly with two first division teams,” he said.
The Philippines will open the Women’s Asian Cup on March 1 against host Australia in Perth, before moving to Gold Coast for the matches against South Korea on March 5 and Iran on March 8.
The top two teams in each of the three groups and two best third-placers in the groups will move to the quarterfinals.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
