The Philippines reached next year’s World Cup in Brazil after scoring twice in five minutes to beat Uzbekistan 2-0 in the Women’s Asian Cup playoffs on Thursday.
Angela Beard volleyed home in the 47th minute on the Gold Coast in Australia and Jaclyn Sawicki added a second with her head to secure passage to the global showpiece for only the second time.
Australia, China, Japan and South Korea have also qualified for Brazil, courtesy of making the Asian Cup semifinals.
One last spot remains up for grabs when North Korea faces Taiwan later on Thursday in the other playoff game between the losing quarterfinalists.
Uzbekistan, which has never played at a World Cup, still has one final opportunity to qualify via the inter-confederation playoffs, which will offer an additional two tickets.
Ranked 40 in the world, the Philippines has been on the rise in recent times under Australian coach Mark Torcaso, winning gold at the Southeast Asian Games last year.
It played at a World Cup for the first time in 2023 when it was co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
Then, led by another Australian, Alen Stajcic, it won one and lost two matches to finish at the bottom of its group.
Australia and Japan meet in the Asian Cup final on Saturday.
Published on Mar 19, 2026
