The Philippines has never qualified to play in the most widely viewed and followed sporting event in the world, the FIFA World Cup. The country also has failed to qualify in Asian Cup, an international association football tournament run by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), since 1913.
The Philippines national football team or the Philippine Azkals are now aiming to play in the next two biggest international football tournament as they compete in the joint qualification round of 2018 FIFA World Cup and the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.
The Philippine Azkals is grouped with in Group H with Uzbekistan, Bahrain, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and Yemen. They will be competing in a home-and-away round robin format from June 11, 2015 up until March 29, 2016.
The top team from the group H and other winners from the different group along with the four best group runners-up across all groups will advance to the third round of 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification as well as qualify for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup finals.
Here’s the complete schedule of Philippine Azkals for 2018 FIFA World Cup and 2019 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers:
Date | Time | Team | Score | Team | Venue | TV Coverage | Video |
June 11, 2015 | 8:00 pm | Philippines | 2 - 1 | Bahrain | Philippine Sports Stadium, Bocaue, Bulacan | ABS-CBN Sports + Action Ch23 | Video Replay & Highlights |
June 17, 2015 | 12:00 am | Yemen | 0 - 2 | Philippines | Qatar Sports Club Stadium, Doha, Qatar | ABS-CBN Sports + Action Ch23 | Highlights |
September 8, 2015 | 8:00 pm | Philippines | 1 - 5 | Uzbekistan | Philippine Sports Stadium, Bocaue, Bulacan | ABS-CBN Sports + Action Ch23 | |
October 8, 2015 | 3:30 pm | DPR Korea | 0 - 0 | Philippines | Kim II Sung Stadium, Pyongyang | ||
October 13, 2015 | 11:00 pm | Bahrain | 2 - 0 | Philippines | Bahrain National Stadium, Manama | ||
November 12, 2015 | 8:00 pm | Philippines | 0 - 1 | Yemen | Philippine Sports Stadium, Bocaue, Bulacan | ||
March 24, 2016 | 9:00 pm | Uzbekistan | 1 - 0 | Philippines | Bunyodkor Stadium, Tashkent | Highlights | |
March 29, 2016 | 8:00 pm | Philippines | 3-2 | DPR Korea | Philippine Sports Stadium, Bocaue, Bulacan | Highlights | |
[Source: Asian Football Confederation | ABS-CBN Sports + Action] |
Group H - Team Standings | |||||
Team | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
Uzbekistan | 7 | 0 | 1 | +13 | 21 |
DPR Korea | 5 | 1 | 2 | +6 | 16 |
Philippines | 3 | 1 | 4 | -4 | 10 |
Bahrain | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 9 |
Yemen | 1 | 0 | 7 | -15 | 3 |