The Philippine women’s national football team completed their first step in booking a return trip to the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The Philippine women’s national football team have earned the right to compete for another spot in the FIFA Women’s World Cup, successfully qualifying for the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup slated in Australia next year.
Sweeping all their games in qualifiers in Cambodia last week, the Filipinas are headed to the same tournament that gave them their maiden stint in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in New Zealand, having finished as a semifinalist during the 2022 edition in India.
Among those who were already on the team during that time was the Filipinas’ lone goal scorer in their win over Hong Kong on Saturday, Chandler McDaniel.
[READ: Undefeated Filipinas book return trip to AFC Women's Asian Cup with win over Hong Kong]
After taking down three opponents with 10 goals scored and zero conceded in the qualifiers, McDaniel said that it was all about the Filipinas zeroing in on what they wanted to achieve in Cambodia.
“You know, the team had a goal and it was to win all three games and do the best that we absolutely could and I think that was exactly what our team did. You know, three games in six days is always hard but we showed a lot of heart,” McDaniel said during her post match interview.
“We came out and felt that, you know, we deserve to go back to Asian Cup again.”
It can be recalled that McDaniel also scored in that tournament for the Filipinas in 2022, netting the Philippines’ game-winning goal against Thailand, 1-nil, in their opening match of the tournament.
The big win kickstarted a history-making tournament for the Filipinas, highlighted by the quarterfinals win over Chinese Taipei 1-1 (4-3) that sent the Philippines to its first-ever FIFA Women’s World Cup.
However, the road remains long as the Philippines will still have to face stiffer competition in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup in Australia next year.
But for now, the Filipinas are happy to take the wins in Cambodia, especially as the Philippine community was able to come out and support them in all their games — including one against the hosts where they posted their biggest win of the tournament, 6-nil.
“Always the fans are so supportive. We love seeing all our Filipinos out to support us and we’re just so happy that we were able give them the three wins and give them the result that they deserve,” said McDaniel.
Up next for the Filipinas will be their title defense at the MSIG Serenity Cup in Vietnam in August.
The Filipinas won what was then-known as the AFF Women’s Championship in Manila back in 2022, which marked the first time a Philippine football team won a competition at any level — either men or women.