The road for the Philippines towards Paris and the 2024 Olympics has been determined, with the successful implementation of the draw for the first round of action at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.
"I’m very excited to know our opponents," according to head coach Alen Stajcic, under whose leadership helped steer the country towards its upcoming debut in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup co hosted by Australia and New Zealand, as well as its best-ever position in the latest FIFA Women's Football Rankings at 53rd overall. He adds, "It’s a long and difficult road to qualifying for Paris. But qualifying through Round 1 and trying to get some matches against the big nations of the AFC is a very enticing and appealing prospect."
Drawn into Group E, the Filipinas will be crossing paths against Hong Kong, Tajikistan, and Pakistan, the first two of which the Philippines has had recent success against.
In the road towards Asian Cup Qualification back in September 24, 2021, the Philippines defeated Hong Kong, 2-1, which was their third victory in ten meetings against each other. Meanwhile, the Filipinas has twice against Tajikistan, including a 3-1 win back in 2018 during the first round of qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Pakistan, ranked 177th overall by FIFA, completes the field, which will be played between April 3-11 at a venue to be determined.
The Filipinas will be facing the South Asians first, followed by the Central Asians and ending against their East Asian opposition, with the dates still to be confirmed.
Only the top team in each of the seven groups will advance in the next round, where the five best Asian teams (DPR Korea, Australia, Japan, China PR, and Korea Republic) are already waiting in the wings.
To advance into the final phase, the twelve teams in Round 2 will be drawn into three groups of four, with a round-robin to determine the winners of each group, as well as the best runner-up, advancing into a playoff for the two available spots for the Olympics.
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