THE FILIPINAS’ chances of returning to the FIFA Women’s World Cup dimmed on Monday when Uzbekistan defeated Bangladesh, 4-0, in their Group B match in the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup in Perth, Australia.
Uzbekistan scored the required number of goals that it needed at the very least to move up in the race for the two best third placers and the remaining two berths in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
The fourth goal came in the final moments of the match when Nilufar Kudratova scored in the 88th for Uzbekistan to the disappointment of Filipino football fans watching on livestream monitoring the match.
READ: Filipinas revive Asian Cup quarterfinal bid after 2-0 win vs Iran
With the result, Uzbekistan and Philippines both have a goal difference of -2, but Uzbekistan wrested the No. 2 spot in the ranking of third-place teams due to a superior number of goals scored for the tournament, 6-4.
All is not lost, however, for the Filipinas with Group C third placer Vietnam facing Japan on Tuesday night with Japan needing to win by at least three goals for the Philippines to move to the quarterfinals.
Like Uzbekistan and Philippines, Vietnam also has one victory but has the better goal difference of 0.
The Philippines must finish in the top six of the Women’s Asian Cup in order to gain an outright entry in the Women’s World Cup 2027 in Brazil.
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