In the Filipinas’ bid for their 2024 Paris Olympics berth, the team joins Group E and will be facing Hong Kong, Tajikistan, and Pakistan in the first round.
The Philippine Women’s National Football Team (AKA the Filipinas) are in for a busy 2023.
On their calendar for the year, they have three major tournaments to look forward to. Currently, the team has the Pinatar Cup in February, the Southeast Asian Games in May, and at the top of their priorities, the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in July.
Now, the team is adding another major tournament to their plate: the 2024 Paris Olympic qualifying tournament in April.
A new opportunity
Earlier today, the official draw of the tournament took place in the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. There, the Philippines was drawn into Group E of the tournament.
With this, the Filipinas will be facing Hong Kong (77th in the world), Tajikistan (144th in the world), and Pakistan (160th in the world) in the first round of the tournament.
The women’s team currently sits at 53rd in the FIFA Women’s World Rankings. This makes them the highest-ranking team in their group.
At the tournament, only the top teams from each of the seven groups will advance to the following stage. In the second round of the tournament, they will compete against the five highest-seeded teams which include DPR Korea, Japan, Australia, China PR, and Korea Republic.
After the second round, only the three group winners and the best second placer will move on to the playoffs. Following this, the playoffs will determine which nations will take the two tickets to the Paris 2024 Olympics.
In the national team’s previous bid for the 2020 Olympics, they were able to reach the second round of the tournament. However, they were unable to advance further after a loss to Chinese Taipei.
The Filipinas will be competing in the 2024 Paris Olympic qualifiers tournament from April 3 to 11. Just a few months before their historic World Cup appearance, they will have the opportunity to make yet another historic berth in the Summer Games.
Banner image from Philippine WNT on Twitter.
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