Filipinas eye Women’s World Cup slot despite AFC tough grouping

COACH Mark Torcaso expressed confidence the Filipinas will step up to the plate in the face of a tough group assignment in next year’s AFC Women’s Asian Cup (WAC).

The recent draw put the Pinay booters in early collision course with host Australia and 2022 runner-up Korea as well as Iran in the dispute for Continental honors and tickets to the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

“I know our players will be up for the challenge. Every team here (WAC) is going to be a difficult opponent. It didn’t really matter who we were going to play, every game is going to be tough, and every game, we have to be extremely determined and focused to get an outcome,” Mr. Torcaso said.

The Filipinas, who finished fourth in the 2022 edition en route to their historic stint in the 2023 Women’s World  Cup (WWC) in New Zealand, need to finish in the Top 6 of the 12-nation WAC in March to book a return trip to the global showpiece.

Initial objective for Mr. Torcaso’s charges is to advance to the quarterfinals as the topnotcher or runner up of Group A or the No. 1 or No. 2 squad among third placers across the three groups. Reaching the semifinals will lead to automatic qualification to the prestigious world meet; if not, a victory in the playoff matches for losing quarterfinalists will send them through.

“We are going to do our absolute best to bring World Cup opportunities back to our players and back to our country,” said Mr. Torcaso, looking to duplicate the feat of his predecessor Alen Stajcic, who brought the Filipinas to a milestone appearance and 2-0 upset of NZ in the previous WWC.

“We’ll be extremely determined and excited by making sure that we make this happen and we’ll do everything possible over the next few windows to make sure that we’re as prepared as possible,” he said. — Olmin Leyba