This article is about the men ‘s team. For the women ‘s team, see Philippines women ‘s national football team
The Philippines national football team ( Filipino / Tagalog : Pambansang koponan ng futbol ng Pilipinas ) represents the Philippines in international football, governed by Philippine Football Federation and has been playing at the external level since 1913.
Reading: Philippines national football team
prior to World War II, the Philippines had regularly competed with Japan and the Republic of China in the Far Eastern Championship Games. sol far, the national team has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup [ 5 ] and has qualified for the AFC Asian Cup only once, in 2019. They finished moment at the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup after losing to Palestine in the final. [ 6 ] Unlike most of Southeast Asia where football is the most popular sport, the Philippines ‘ most popular sports are basketball and box, the solution from the american english rule. This drives away many football talents and contributes to the miss of success of football in the country. Often, the Philippines alone participated in the AFF Championship and finished penetrate. however, starting from 2010 AFF Championship, the country has started to develop football as part of the frolic ‘s rebirth, finding more incentives to increase football development and winnow hold, [ 7 ] which finally led to the nation ‘s first major tournament in the 2019 AFC asian Cup. [ 8 ]
history [edit ]
1910s–1940s : early years [edit ]
The Philippines participated at the Far Eastern Championship Games, which included football. The first base edition was in 1913 and the last was in 1934. The games were the beginning regional football tournament for national teams outside the british Home Championship. The national team routinely faced Japan and China and at one edition the Dutch East Indies at the games. The Philippines won over China at the inauguration tournament with the scoreline of 2–1. During the 1917 edition, the national team achieved its biggest acquire in international football. Led by Filipino-Spanish icon Paulino Alcantara, the Philippines defeated Japan 15–2. [ 5 ] [ 9 ] [ 10 ] After the dissolution of the Far Eastern Championship Games, the national squad participated at the 1940 East asian Games organized to commemorate the 2600th anniversary of the initiation of the Empire of Japan by Emperor Jimmu. The team finished third behind champions Japan and second base placers, Manchukuo and ahead of the Republic of China. [ 11 ] [ 12 ]
In the 1950s the Philippines hosted friendlies with international-based sides, however the national team experienced lack of fund and scantily received any coverage from the media. During that time talents from the home team were drawn from the Manila Football League which received substantial documentation from the Chinese-Filipino community. The national team ‘s decent performance at the 1958 asian Games, hosted in Tokyo, where they defeated Japan, 1–0 in a game which was labeled as an upset by the japanese compress. [ 13 ] After 1958, saw the decline of Philippine football, several key players resigned from the national team due to fiscal challenges for playing for the national team. National team players Ed Ocampo and Eduardo Pacheco switched to basketball, and went on playing for commercial basketball clubs where players are paid. [ 13 ] The Philippine Congress passed Republic Act 3135 that revised the charter of the Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation which had a provision or a 60-40 rule that mandates teams to not have more than 40 percentage Chinese and early players with foreign blood. [ 14 ] Sponsors withdrew and leagues, which were largely funded by the Chinese-Filipino community started to decline. The 60–40 rule was lifted much later during the tenure of president Johnny Romualdez of the Philippine Football Federation ( PFF ), after 1982 when the PFA has reorganized itself as the PFF. [ 13 ] [ 15 ] The national team suffered defeats with big margins at the 1962 asian Games in Jakarta. [ 13 ] This includes the national team ‘s record 15–1 defeat to Malaysia, which became the worst get the better of of the home team at that time. The record was late broken by the 15–0 loss to Japan in 1967 at the qualifiers for the 1968 Summer Olympics. Foreigners were hired to serve as capitulum coaches for the national team in an attack to reduce big margin loses. Englishman, Allan Rogers was hired following the record kill to Malaysia and Spaniard Juan Cutillas was similarly tasked to lead the national team following the record kill to Japan. In the early sixties, the Philippine Football Association partnered with the San Miguel Corporation to seek extraneous aid to train local football players and coaches and to develop the sport in the country. Coaches from the United Kingdom, Alan Rogers and Brian Birch. After the two were relieved, Danny McClellan and Graham Adams continued their job. In 1961, San Miguel through the national football association bought in four checkup students from Spain who were expert in football — Francisco Escarte, Enrique dela Mata, Claudio Sanchez and Juan Cutillas. Escarte and dela Mata left the country after one year. [ 17 ] In 1971, head passenger car Juan Cutillas recruited five extraneous players to play for the home team ; four Spaniards and one Chinese. The national team joined several international competitions such as the Merdeka Tournament, Jakarta Anniversary Tournament and the President Park Tournament. The team caused some upset results against the home teams of Thailand, Singapore and South Korea. The national team saw another decay after the four spanish players left the team ascribable to fiscal reasons and basketball gains more foothold over football in the state. [ 17 ] The national team under german drumhead coach, Eckhard Krautzun finished fourth overall at the 1991 Southeast asian Games, its best always finish at the tournament. The Philippines dealt a 1–0 kill to defending champions Malaysia at the tournament which knocked out the latter out of the tournament at fair the group stage. Norman Fegidero scored the lone goal for the Philippines. [ 18 ] [ 19 ]
2000s [edit ]
In September 2006, the area fell to 195th on the FIFA World Rankings, its lowest always. [ 20 ] By the end of the class, the Philippines moved bet on up to 171st overall, after a good run in the 2007 ASEAN Football Championship qualification. [ 21 ] They were able to win three games in a row which was a first for the Philippines and thus qualifying for the 2007 ASEAN Football Championship. [ 22 ] Coach at that time Aris Caslib, aimed to reach the semifinals with two wins at the group stagecoach. [ 23 ] The decision came despite Philippine Football Federation president of the united states Juan Miguel Romualdez stating that they would still be underdog in the tournament and that they must n’t raise their expectations excessively high, [ 21 ] as the Philippines have merely won their first gear ever succeed of the tournament during the 2004 edition. [ 24 ] The Philippines finally failed to reach their prey, entirely getting a trace in three matches. Their poor performances led to Caslib ‘s resignation, [ 25 ] arsenic well as the refusal of the PFF to register and enter the qualification stages for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. [ 26 ] They would be one of four nations, all from Southeast Asia not to enter after a record number of entries. [ 27 ] however it was revealed that the decision not to enter the 2010 american samoa well as the 2006 World Cup qualification was made during the PFF presidency of Rene Adad, whose term ended in 2003. [ 26 ] alternatively, the PFF wanted to focus on domestic and regional competitions. [ 28 ] The Philippines failed to qualify for any major contest in 2008. They missed out on the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup only on finish deviation, [ 29 ] and the 2008 AFF Suzuki Cup with an inferior goals scored record. [ 30 ] Dan Palami, businessman and sports patron, was appointed as team director of the national team in 2009 by the Philippine Football Federation. The national team hush receive minimal confirm from the government. Palami made fiscal investments to the team using his own personal money. Since taking responsibility over the national team, he has envisioned a design named Project 100, which plans to make the team among the top 100 national teams in the world in terms of FIFA rankings. More foreign-born Filipinos were called up to play for the national team. [ 31 ]
2010s : era of renaissance [edit ]
The national team ( in blue ) playing against North Korea ( in bolshevik ) at the Kim Il-sung Stadium in Pyongyang. The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier match held on 8 October 2015 ended in a scoreless draw The Philippines ‘s campaign at the 2010 AFF Championship under Simon McMenemy ‘s tenure was a discovery. Hold a aboriginal ticket as one of two teams along with Laos that had to qualify for the tournament, the Philippines advanced from the group phase for the beginning clock time, did not concede a single defeat and their gain against defending champions Vietnam in particular was considered one of the biggest upsets in the tournament ‘s history. [ 32 ] The match, which would later be referred by local Filipino fans as the “ Miracle of Hanoi “, is besides considered the match that started a football renaissance in the state where basketball is the more popular sport. [ 33 ] [ 34 ] In the knockout stage, they had to play both their designated home and aside games against Indonesia in Jakarta due to the inaccessibility of a stadium that passes AFF standards. The Philippines lost both games to end their campaign. The watch class, Michael Weiß became the head coach. The home team managed to qualify for the 2012 edition of the AFC Challenge Cup, the first time since qualifiers were introduced and besides recorded their first always victory in the FIFA World Cup qualification, beating Sri Lanka 4–0 in the second leg of the first preliminary rung. [ 35 ] Kuwait finished the Philippines ‘ World Cup qualification campaign after winning over them twice in the second round. In 2012, the Philippines qualified for the semifinals of the AFC Challenge Cup for the first time winning over defending champions India and Tajikistan though they lost 2–1 against Turkmenistan in the semifinal. [ 36 ] In the third place-playoff the Philippines won 4–3 over Palestine. [ 37 ] The Philippines won the 2012 Philippine Peace Cup, a friendly tournament hosted at home, which was their inaugural entitle since the 1913 Far Eastern Games. At the 2012 AFF Championship, the Philippines replicated their operation in 2010 by advancing to the semifinal. They loss to Singapore on aggregate by a single finish in the two-legged semifinal. The Philippines reached the concluding of the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup. With a moor to the 2015 AFC asian Cup on the line, the Philippines lost to Palestine 1–0 on 30 May. The Philippines once again progress from the group degree at the 2014 AFF Championship by winning over Indonesia, the first prison term since the 1934 Far Eastern Games, [ 38 ] and Laos despite their loss to Vietnam. [ 39 ] The Philippines faced Thailand in the two-legged semifinal, coming up with a scoreless draw against their opponents at home in Manila but losing the away match at Bangkok. [ 40 ] Thomas Dooley became the head passenger car of the home team. In October 2015 their 2–0 victory Yemen in Doha, Qatar in the 2018 FIFA World Cup and 2019 AFC asian Cup qualifiers was their first-ever World Cup qualifier away from home, a victory over Yemen in Doha, Qatar. [ 41 ] They campaign to qualify for the FIFA World Cup ended in the second orotund though they advance to the third round off of the asian Cup qualifiers. In late 2016 the Philippines jointly hosted the group degree of the AFF Championship with Myanmar though they fail to progress from the group stage like they did in the past three editions. Though the home team failed to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, they secured qualification for 2019 AFC Asian Cup after defeating Tajikistan, 2–1 at home plate in their final qualifier peer. In May 2018, the national team reached 111th social station in the FIFA World Ranking making it the highest rank that the team has. [ 42 ] [ 43 ] The Philippines made its historic introduction in the 2019 AFC asian Cup with a 0–1 defeat to South Korea. [ 44 ] then a 0–3 lost to China [ 45 ] and was edged 1–3 by Kyrgyzstan, with Stephan Schröck scoring a historic goal for the Azkals in the tournament. [ 46 ]
2020s [edit ]
Following a relatively successful debut in the asian Cup, the Philippines began their 2022 FIFA World Cup reservation where they were grouped together with Syria, China, Guam and the Maldives. In their open game, the Azkals met Syria at home and took an early lead, only to see the Syrians managed an outstanding comeback and smashing the Azkals 5–2 in Bacolod. [ 47 ] Following the crushing family defeat, the Pinoys regained its pace with two away wins over Guam and the Maldives. [ 48 ] [ 49 ] Between these matches, the Pinoys besides hosted China at family where they acquired an encourage scoreless disembowel, after a excellent performance by the Azkals goalkeeper Neil Etheridge which increased the team ‘s opportunity. however, the Syrians once again blew the casual of the Filipinos, with the Syrians emerged with a 1–0 gain over the Azkals. [ 50 ] When COVID-19 pandemic led the games to be postponed to 2021, the Philippines had to play in a centralize venue in Sharjah. The Pinoys then won Guam 3–0, but lost 0–2 to China thus did n’t manage to reach the 2022 FIFA World Cup, before ending the qualification with a 1–1 draw to the Maldives. Nonetheless, the third base put in their group meant the Philippines qualified for the third base round of 2023 AFC asian Cup qualifiers. [ 51 ] [ 52 ] [ 53 ]
team image [edit ]
Supporters [edit ]
24 June 2011 Fans of the home team during a friendly against SV Darmstadt 98 in Germany 24 June 2011 Some fans have organized themselves to support the national team, one of them is the Ultras Filipinas, which formed in 2011. [ 54 ] [ 55 ] The Kaholeros started out as a meet of friends using Twitter calling for fans to watch games of the AFC Challenge Cup at the National Sports Grill in Greenbelt. The Ultras Filipinas was established when fans of Philippine Air Force F.C. and Ultras Kayas decided to form a documentation group for the national teams of the Philippines not inevitably barely for the football team. The first gear excursion of Ultras Filipinas was not for the home football team but for the national rugby marriage team. The two fan groups take alternative turns in cheer and intonation for the national team during games. [ 55 ]
Colors [edit ]
Kit suppliers of the Philippine national team
Outfitter
Usage
From
Until
Puma
1996
Adidas
1996
Mizuno
2008
2012
LGR
2012
Puma
2012
2015
LGR
2015
2021
Kelme
2021
present
The traditional home kit out is similar to the France national team ; blue jersey, white shorts, and bolshevik socks. [ 56 ] however, in recent times, the home and aside kit has either been all-blue, all-red or all-white, presently is the all-white as home jersey. [ 57 ] The current kit out supplier of the national team is local tauten, LGR Sportswear. german companies Adidas and Puma, ampere well as japanese party Mizuno, has provided kits for the team in the by Puma was the official outfitter of the national team during the 1996 AFC asian Cup qualification. [ 58 ] Later that year, Adidas assumed that character and outfitted the team that participated at the 1996 Tiger Cup. [ 59 ] For three years from March 2008, Mizuno served as the official outfitter and equipment supplier of the team. It besides helped the national federation in its grassroots development program. [ 60 ] [ 61 ] On 4 June 2012, Puma supplanted Mizuno ‘s function with the national team. [ 62 ] local firm LGR Sportswear became the official kit supplier of the national team in 2015 and a new set of kits made by LGR were unveiled to the public in on 5 June which was later used by the team at the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. The home and away kits were white and gloomy respectively. Filipino weave design and the three stars and the sun are portray at the back of the home and away kits. The goalkeeper ‘s kit is black and has a yellow clean-cut on the chest area and a weave model with the three stars and the sun and azkals logo incorporated in the invention, in front around the shoulder area. Adidas was besides announced as the footwear presenter of the team for the qualifiers [ 63 ] spanish sportwear stigmatize Kelme became the official kit supplier of the national team in 2021. [ 64 ] Home
2010–11
2011
2012
2012–13
2013
2013–2015
2015–2016
2016–2017
2018
2019
Away
2010–11
2011
2012–13
2013
2013–2015
2015–2016
2016–2017
2018
2019
Names [edit ]
Logo of Azkals Philippines
peak The monicker Azkals is entirely used in broadcasts and not used in an official capability Under the official FIFA Trigramme the team ‘s name is abbreviated as PHI ; this acronym is used by FIFA, the AFC and the AFF to identify the team in official competitions. [ 65 ] The team is besides identified under the International Organization for Standardization ( ISO ) area code for the Philippines as PHL. [ 66 ] however the team was more normally known as the RP, the acronym for the state ‘s official appoint, Republika ng Pilipinas, [ 65 ] which the local weight-lift used when they referred to the team as the “ RP Booters ” [ 67 ] or the “ RP XI ”. [ 68 ] This was until late October 2010 when the Department of Foreign Affairs decided to change the official abbreviation of the state from “ RP ” to “ PH ” or “ PHL ”, to be in line with ISO standards. [ 69 ] The local press have since referred to the team as either “ PH/PHL Booters ” [ 70 ] [ 71 ] or “ PH/PHL XI ”. [ 72 ] [ 73 ] The national team is referred to as the “ Azkals ”. [ 74 ] The name was coined when an on-line Philippine football community proposed the nickname Calle Azul ( spanish for Streets of Blue, referring to the color of their kit ) which was modified to Azul Calle, shortened to AzCal, and last became Azkal – a word that is like to Filipino term Askal meaning street cad. [ 75 ] “ Azkals ” became a trending subject on Twitter during the semifinals of the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup. [ 76 ] They are besides known as the “ Tri–Stars ” which is derived from the three stars on the filipino flag, although this dub is not frequently used. [ 77 ]
home stadium [edit ]
During the early years of the Philippine national team, they played their home matches at the Manila Carnival Grounds. By 1934 it became the locate of the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex. [ 78 ] One of the facilities within the complex is the 12,000 capability national stadium, known as the Rizal Memorial Track and Football Stadium or plainly the Rizal Memorial Stadium. Since its opening, it has been the home venue of the Philippine national team until May 2015 where they declared the 25,000 seater and Philippine Sports Stadium in Bocaue, Bulacan as their new home. however, due to disappoint attendance numbers in PSS and RMS and an impressive crowd for Ceres–Negros F.C. ‘s run to the 2017 AFC Cup, the Philippine Football Federation decided to make Panaad Stadium as the national team ‘s home again for the 2019 AFC asian Cup qualifiers. [ 79 ] The RMS has besides become a hub for racetrack and field. The continued consumption for athletics along with poor alimony has deteriorated the stadium and the 1991 Southeast asian Games was the end time it was used for international football matches. In early 2009, the Philippine Sports Commission planned to transform it to a mod football stadium which would make it available by the national team for international matches. [ 80 ] The national team besides held official international matches at the Cebu City Sports Complex in Cebu City, [ 81 ] and at the Barotac Nuevo Plaza Field in Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo. [ 82 ]
Fixtures and results [edit ]
The stick to is a list of catch results in the survive 12 months, a well as any future matches that have been scheduled .
2021 [edit ]
2022 [edit ]
Philippines
volt TBD 8 June 2022
( )
2023 ACQ R3 vTBA
Stadium: TBAPhilippines v TBD 11 June 2022
( )
2023 ACQ R3 vTBA
Stadium: TBAPhilippines five TBD 14 June 2022
( )
2023 ACQ R3 vTBA
Stadium: TBA
current coach staff [edit ]
Players [edit ]
current squad [edit ]
The come 24 players were called up for the 2020 AFF Championship on 5 December 2021 to 1 January 2022. [ 84 ]
Caps and goals updated as of 11 December 2021, after the match against Timor-Leste.
late call-ups [edit ]
The following players have been called up for the Philippines within the past 12 months. [ 85 ]
- Notes
INJ Withdrew from the police squad ascribable to an injury
RET Retired from the home team
SUS Omitted from the police squad ascribable to suspension
PRE Included in the preliminary team
previous squads [edit ]
fountainhead coaches [edit ]
Dionisio Calvo, one of the earliest head coach for the national team One of the earlier head coaches of the national team was Dionisio Calvo. Foreign coaches of American, Argentinean, English, German, Scottish, Spanish, and swedish nationality have managed the national team. Juan Cutillas has managed the team in at least four non-consecutive tenures ( 1969–1978, 1981–1984, 1996–2000 and 2008–09 ). Thomas Dooley led the home team to its best finish in a tournament sanctioned by the Asian Football Confederation and FIFA by leading the team to second station at the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup. The past three coaches, Simon McMenemy, Michael Weiß and Thomas Dooley, besides made some strides at the regional tied leading the team to the semifinals at the AFF Suzuki Cup ( 2010, 2012 and 2014 editions respectively ), the top football tournament in Southeast Asia. Eckhard Krautzun besides led the national team to the semifinals, its best complete at the 1991 Southeast asian Games, before football became an under-23 tournament at said multi-sporting consequence .