The PMNFT have a tall order ahead of them this year: qualifying for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup.
The year 2024 felt like a turning point for the Philippine Men’s National Football Team (PMNFT) for a number of reasons: they dropped the iconic ‘Azkals’ monicker, onboarded a new head coach in Albert Capellas, and recruited a group of young Filipino players from all over the world.
All these developments were signals of a new chapter brewing, and the 2024 ASEAN Mitsubishi Electric Cup (AMEC) — which took place last December and saw the national team make a memorable semifinals run — was the first true sign that this new era may be one to look forward to.
After the PMNFT went toe-to-toe with Southeast Asian powerhouse teams in the AMEC, the Philippine football faithful are brimming with optimism; they believe that this team has what it takes to go up against the best teams in the region.
Twenty-twenty-five will be their chance to prove it.
Where does the PMNFT stand?
This year, the Philippine Men’s National Football Team has one task to focus on: the third round of the 2027 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers.
A little refresher: the PMNFT competed in the second round of the qualifying tournament in 2023 and 2024, doubling as qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup. You may recall the Philippines competing against Iraq, Indonesia, and Vietnam in their home matches at Rizal Memorial Stadium over the last couple of years, hoping for a chance to go far in the World Cup qualifying tournament.
But the Philippines struggled. They wound up with zero wins, one draw, and five losses across six home and away matches to land at the bottom of the table with just one point.
This, unfortunately, put them out of contention in the World Cup Qualifiers. However, all hope is not lost — the team still has the chance to qualify for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, which will be their next big assignment.
This year’s matches will mark the third round of the 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification process.
For a little extra background on the tournament format, the bottom two teams of each group from the second round advance to the third round of the competition. As the bottom-placed team in Group F, the Philippines will move on, alongside 23 other teams.
The PMNFT are now part of Group A of the third round of the qualifiers and will compete against Tajikistan, Maldives, and Timor-Leste in a home-and-away double round-robin format. From there, only the winner of each group will advance to the 2027 AFC Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia.
What stands in their way?
The members of the Philippine Men’s National Football Team are hopeful about their chances of qualifying for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup. As rising star Sandro Reyes told The GAME, “I think we have to clearly dominate.
“I think our group is, I wouldn’t say easy, but very favorable. I think it’s a good chance for us to continue to build, and the Asian Cup is still far away, so we have a long time to build for that.”
Indeed, in comparison to the previous round, the Philippines is in a favorable position in Group A. Tajikistan, ranked 104th as of December 2024, is the only team ranked higher than the PMNFT at 150th. The Maldives are at 162nd and Timor-Leste is at 197th.
On the results side, the Maldives have yet to win, while Timor-Leste had to defeat Mongolia 4-3 on aggregate in the play-off round to make it this far in the tournament. Meanwhile, Tajikistan finished the second round of qualifiers with two wins, draws, and losses each.
Tajikistan will likely be the PMNFT’s biggest competition as they vie for the top spot in the group, but they should not underestimate any of their opponents.
The challenge with international matches is that national team players only get together every so often. Each of them have their own professional clubs where they spend majority of their training. Thus, a lot of adjustments come into play in every international window.
To win, the Philippines will need to bank on their assets and continue what they started last year.
As mentioned, the Philippines is coming off its promising run at the 2024 ASEAN Mitsubishi Electric Cup, and their semifinal campaign was a result of their roster of young, talented players, as well as Head Coach Albert Capellas’ aggressive playing style.
The current roster of the PMNFT includes many impressive players still in their early twenties. Among those who became familiar faces in the AMEC include homegrown wunderkind Sandro Reyes, MLS Next Pro player Alex Monis, 20-year-old Javier Mariona who plays in the USA League 1 club, former MLS player Zico Bailey, and sharpshooter Bjørn Kristensen, who also plays in the Norwegian pro league Eliteserien.
As a young team, Reyes himself can attest that they’re all eager to win and willing to play with some aggression to do so — perfectly suited to the heavy attacking style of Coach Albert.
Coach Albert joined the PMNFT just in September last year, and already, his impact on the team has been felt. As Reyes shared, as early as their first game with the Spanish UEFA Pro Licensed Coach, he already felt that his preferred style of play — creating as many chances as possible, building from the back with better composition, pressing forward with aggression — was eventually going to find success.
And indeed, it did, as shown in their AMEC run that allowed them to put a great deal of pressure on Southeast Asia powerhouse teams Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand.
“I think our character and the way we play football it’s like we want to have the ball, we want to feel like we’re in control of the game,” Sandro explained. “I think a lot of us are alpha players, so we don’t wanna be chasing the ball and defending and feel like the other team is controlling us. So yeah, it’s been really good to adapt and play that style.”
The star midfielder also believes that given how quickly the PMNFT was able to adapt to this new style of football — a far cry from the highly defensive style they had been previously used to — is a testament to the skills of the players.
“It shows not only how good of a coach he is but how intelligent us players were to be able to adapt in just a few games.”
In a short window of time, the PMNFT managed to prepare well for the AMEC and deliver an impressive run. The 2027 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers will be a tall order for the team, but this time around, time is on their side.
The Philippines’ first match will be on March 25, 2025, away at the Maldives. From there, they will face Tajikistan at home on June 10, Timor-Leste away on October 9 and at home on October 14, and the Maldives at home on November 18. Their final match, an away match against Tajikistan, will be in March 2026.
A long journey lies ahead of the team, but this works in their favor.
“I think it’s actually good, because we’ll only have around one game for a window… So I think there’s gonna be more training before the first game so I think that’s actually very good for us,” Reyes said.
Looking towards what needs to be done in order to keep their momentum from 2024 going, Sandro also added, “Our brotherhood [as a team] as well, I think that’s important because obviously new players will be coming and going, so it would be important to keep that atmosphere. I think that’s the most important part.”
As one of the young members of the PMNFT, one of Reyes’ goals is to reach the knockout rounds of the Asian Cup — but first, they must qualify. Will they be able to make it to Saudi Arabia in 2027?
Banner image from PMNFT on Facebook.