My First World Cup: The Philippines announce themselves with first World Cup win, but it had been years in the making
Following the first round of group matches at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, none of the eight teams who were participating at football’s top table for the very first time had even scored a goal – let alone picked up a point.
Whilst Zambia, Morocco and Panama had all suffered heavy defeats at the hands of established World Cup regulars, most of the newcomers had shown they belonged in their opening fixture.
The Republic of Ireland defended resolutely but for one momentary lapse against co-hosts Australia. Haiti limited one of the tournament favourites in England to a single re-taken penalty goal, and even found ways to test a backline that conceded just two goals in winning the European Championship last summer. The Philippines thought they had scored their first World Cup goal in their opener against Switzerland, only for Katrina Guillou’s effort to be ruled out for offside before the Swiss scored two unanswered goals.
Perhaps the frustration of that moment added to the emotion of Tuesday’s Group A encounter against New Zealand in Wellington. The on-field joy that greeted Sarina Bolden’s 24th-minute goal was wild and uncontrolled, almost matched by the celebrations from the sporadic red, white and blue pockets in the sellout 34,500 crowd. At full-time, there were tears on the pitch, on the bench and in the mixed zone not long after.
“This has to be one of the biggest wins in the history of sport in the country,” said manager Alen Stajcic. “How can you top beating a host nation at a World Cup? It’s number one.”
Former Australia boss Stajcic has played a vital role in guiding the Philippines to this tournament and this win, having taken charge in October 2021. However, the process of the Southeast Asian archipelago reaching this stage goes back further.
Having struggled to make an impression on international football since the formation of the team in the early 1980’s, members of the country’s Football Federation (PFF) decided to think outside of the box. There is believed to be some 12 million people of Filipino heritage living overseas, with at least at third of this number based in the United States.
In 2012, the PFF held a training camp in California. Not only did this act as an opportunity for members of the squad to utilise elite training facilities, but members of the coaching staff were tasked with finding US-born players who qualified to play for the country of their ancestors.
Success on the field has meant that this process has been repeated regularly, with over 400 players evaluated across three camps held in Los Angeles earlier this year.
In 2018, the Philippines qualified for the AFC Asian Cup for the first time in 15 years.
Their performance at the next iteration of the tournament, held in India in 2022, earned them a place at this World Cup, and later that year they won the AFF Women’s Championship for the first time ever, seeing off regular winners Vietnam and Thailand along the way.
Eighteen of the 23 players selected to take part at this World Cup were born in the US. Utilising the diaspora has proven an effective strategy. Bolden, goalscorer against New Zealand, was born in Santa Clara and Olivia McDaniel, the goalkeeper who made a string of impressive saves to hold on to this all-important win, is from Laguna Beach and is a regular in the squad alongside younger sister Chandler.
Based on the depth of feeling present throughout their debut World Cup win, it is evident that their place of birth has not dulled the affection they have for the country they are representing on a global stage.
“We’re a very tightknit group and it’s very much like a family,” midfielder Tahnai Annis told The Guardian ahead of the tournament. “It doesn’t really matter how long anyone has been on the team, or if we grew up in the States or Manila. Everyone knows we share the same blood and that we’re family.”
With qualification from Group A now realistic, it is quite possible that the gatherings of fans caught on camera at public events across the Philippines will only swell for Sunday’s game against Switzerland.
Stajcic was willing to put the victory in perspective in a way that goes beyond how the rest of this World Cup plays out. “It’s unbelievable,” he said. “When you hear stories of other teams needing to wait so long to win World Cup matches…We have done it in our second match in our first World Cup.”
