As the sole Philippine representative, Stallion Laguna FC will play in the group stage of the AFC Women’s Champions League.
Stallion Laguna FC advanced to the group stage of the 2025-26 AFC Women’s Champions League despite a last-minute setback against hosts ISPE in their last match of the preliminary stage.
The team finished as the best runner-up across the five groups, becoming the sole Philippine team to qualify for the group stage.
Stallion stumbled against ISPE on Sunday, August 31, in a 1-3 loss at the Thuwunna Stadium in Yangon to end their campaign with six points built off of two wins and a loss.
The loss came even as Stallion were the first to strike when McKenna Davidson found the back of the net at the 13th minute, putting the Burmese champions at the back foot early in the fixture despite their home court advantage.
The 1-0 advantage held until the halftime break, with Stallion looking poised to go undefeated in the preliminary stage and come home with a complete nine points.
But Sandar Lin netted the equalizer not long after the halftime break, bringing the score level at the 50th minute mark.
A draw would’ve still put Stallion through automatically, owing to superior goal difference.
However, the hosts remained the determined and pushed against Stallion’s backline spearheaded by Olivia McDaniel.
San Thaw Thaw was the one to pull ISPE ahead at the 79th minute, making it a 2-1 scoreline in favor of the Burmese champions. Though the door remained open for an equalizer late for Stallion, they just couldn’t penetrate in the remaining time.
Khin Marlar Tun then scored the insurance goal at the 89th minute to seal the victory for ISPE.
Despite the loss, Stallion owns the distinction of being the only team to score on ISPE after a 17-nil scoreline across their first two games.
Thailand’s College of Asia Scholars, which features Filipinas skipper Hali Long, missed out on the group stage after a 1-2 loss against Uzbek side Nasaf in their last game.
CAS were ranked second among runner-ups behind Stallion as the latter beat them to the last spot to the group stage.
The Group Stage, which features teams from Australia, Korea, Japan, China, Vietnam, Iran, North Korea, Myanmar, Singapore, Uzbekistan, and India.