Filipina5 face tough draw in ASEAN futsal

The Philippine women’s national futsal team, known as the Filipina5, are set to return to international action in early 2026 after being drawn into a highly competitive Group B of the ASEAN Women’s Futsal Championship in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand.

The biennial tournament will be held from Feb. 24 to March 2, 2026, marking the Philippines’ next major test following a demanding and historic 2025 campaign.

Group B will see the Filipina5 face defending champions Vietnam, regional contenders Myanmar, and tournament debutants Australia.

Group A will be headlined by host nation Thailand, the reigning Southeast Asian Games bronze medalists, alongside SEA Games silver medalist Indonesia and first-time participants Malaysia.

The championship traces its roots to the Philippines, which hosted the inaugural ASEAN Women’s Futsal Championship at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City in November 2024.

That breakthrough event helped spark increased women’s futsal activity across Southeast Asia and laid groundwork for the successful staging of the 2025 FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup in the Philippines.

“I am happy to see that the surge of women’s futsal in Southeast Asia—and eventually the world—began in the Philippines,” said Philippine Football Federation President John Anthony Gutierrez.

“With international women’s futsal tournaments now becoming as regular as international football competitions, futsal as a people’s sport will continue to grow rapidly in our region, and PFF is honored to be among the pioneers of this resurgence,” he added.

The Filipina5 enter the 2026 championship with increasing confidence, having faced their Group B opponents multiple times over the past two years as part of an accelerated development program.

During the 2024 ASEAN Women’s Futsal Championship, the Philippines opened its campaign with a 2–2 draw against higher-ranked Myanmar, highlighted by Isabella Bandoja’s opening goal in the 12th minute and Agot Danton’s equalizer in the 33rd.

Two matches later, the Filipina5 absorbed a 1–6 loss to Vietnam, with Shai del Campo scoring the lone Philippine goal.

Subsequent encounters, however, reflected steady progress against one of Asia’s elite sides.

At the AFC Women’s Futsal Asian Cup in May 2025, the Philippines narrowed the gap in a 0–3 defeat to Vietnam.

The Filipina5 then delivered their strongest performance yet against the same opponent at the Southeast Asian Games, bowing out with a narrow 0–1 semifinal loss to the eventual gold medalists.

The team also gained valuable experience against Australia during the 2025 AFC Women’s Futsal Asian Cup Qualifiers.

In that campaign, the Philippines pushed their co-debutants to a tight 1–2 result after victories over Kuwait and Turkmenistan and a hard-fought 3–3 draw against higher-ranked Uzbekistan.

The qualifiers concluded with the Filipina5 securing their first-ever berth in the AFC Women’s Futsal Asian Cup, underscoring their rapid rise on the continental stage.

With a challenging group ahead and a growing body of high-level experience, the Filipina5 head into the 2026 ASEAN Women’s Futsal Championship aiming to build on recent gains and extend the legacy sparked by the inaugural Futsal Women’s World Cup.