The Philippines' Sara Eggesvik in action against South Korea in the AFC Women's Asian Cup 2026. PFF-PWNFT
MANILA – The Philippine women's national football team will focus on getting a positive result against Iran on Sunday, their final group stage match in the 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup.
After absorbing two losses against Australia and South Korea, Filipinas head coach Mark Torcaso underscored the importance of following their game plan against Iran.
"We believe that Iran will provide us with really good competition, like they have provided the first two teams in their first two games. We are ready and focused to make sure that we get the outcome that we need after this game," Torcaso said during the pre-match press conference on Saturday.
"Obviously, we don't know what's going to happen in the other groups, we just have to do what we can first. It's obviously a slight advantage for the other two teams, because they potentially can see what they have to do, but that could also be a bad effect as well for them. They might put pressure on them to have to score a certain amount of goals or whatever, so we can just control what we can control," he added.
READ: Filipinas absorb 0-3 loss at hands of South Korea in Asian Cup
READ: Filipinas coach optimistic of Jaclyn Sawicki's return in crucial match vs. Iran
Torcaso said some changes can be expected in the strategy of the Filipinas against Iran.
"We will be set up a little bit different. But more importantly, we'll be ready to take on whatever the opposition give us because they're in the same position as well, they need to win the game too. So we're anticipating a tough battle, I think it'll be very transitional, but we're really excited to take that challenge on," he said.
Ariana Markey said the Filipinas are determined to get a win, keeping them in the hunt to secure qualification for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup in Brazil.
"We're really just focused on working together and just building off of our past couple of games to make sure that we're really properly prepared and ready, and that we all have the same mindset, same goals going into this next game," she shared.
Markey, who made her senior debut at the 33rd Southeast Asian Games last December, looks to continue what the players before her have started on the pitch.
"The older players have definitely created such a historic path for us, and we as younger players are really just hoping to continue that momentum for the rest of the country and the rest of the team, and they have just implemented such an amazing foundation for us to follow and for us to build off of as well," she said.
"I've just been so blessed and honored to just be able to represent the flag and be able to represent the flag on so many different levels, from the youth level to the senior level. It has just meant so much to me to be able to represent my family back home and just have a country of people behind me as well," Markey added.
The Filipinas are entering a must-win situation against Iran, as they aim to be the one of the two best-ranked third place teams in the group stage to enter the playoffs.
The match against the Lionesses kicks off 5 p.m. at the Gold Coast Stadium.