Big Three of ASEAN Women’s Football in Final Preparation for World Cup
by Cole Kinder
The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup Qualification is almost completed for ASEAN with only one nation left in it: Thailand.
So far, Vietnam and the Philippines have both qualified for the 2023 World Cup via the 2022 AFC Asia Cup held earlier this year from January 20 to February 6.
This event served as the qualification for Asia with the five best finishers qualifying for the 2023 World Cup. Teams that placed 6th and 7th in the overall rankings advanced to the Inter-confederation Play-offs, the last qualification opportunity for nations from all continents held from February 18-23, 2023.
The Philippines finished 2nd in Group B defeating Thailand 1-0 and Indonesia 6-0, and losing to Australia 0-4. The Philippines then tied with Chinese Taipei 1-1 in the Quarter-finals, but eventually won on penalty kick shootouts 4-3. This secured the Philippines a Top 4 finish and a 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup Qualification – the first qualification by any Filipino men’s or women’s senior football side to the FIFA World Cup.
Meanwhile, Thailand finished 3rd in Group C and advanced to the Quarter-finals after defeating Indonesia 4-0. Both countries lost to Australia, which eliminated the latter from the qualifiers.
Vietnam finished 3rd in Group C, losing to South Korea 0-3 and Japan 0-3, and getting a draw with Myanmar 2-2. Vietnam held the goal differential over the latter, thus eliminating the Burmese nation and advancing to the Quarter-finals.
In the Quarter-finals, Vietnam lost 1-3 to China PR and Thailand lost 0-7 to Japan, resulting in a tie for 5th place, so both went to the Play-offs Round. Vietnam beat Thailand (2-0) and Chinese Taipei (2-1) to finish 5th and qualify for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, leaving Thailand to take on the Inter-confederation Play-offs.
Singapore, Malaysia, and Laos were all eliminated in the AFC Cup Qualification for not winning in their groups, while Brunei Darussalum, Cambodia, and Timor-Leste did not enter.
This leaves Vietnam and the Philippines with World Cup preparations and Thailand with Inter-confederation Play-offs preparations beginning this past spring and summer.
The next sections focus on how each nation is doing in their preparations.
The Philippines:
The Philippines scheduled seven friendlies and one unofficial friendly since the AFC Asia Cup, and also competed in the Southeast Asia Games (SEA Games) in May and the ASEAN Football Federation Championship (AFF Championship) in July.
Below are the results of those matches:
The Filipinas were successful in their friendlies. The first-time qualifier won 6 of 7 matches and did well in their unofficial match in April against Australian second division side, Blacktown Spartans. Most impressive were their European friendlies, with wins over world #63 Bosnia and Herzegovina in neutral Slovenia and a very close fight with world #27 Republic of Ireland.
In competition, The Malditas‘ SEA Games bronze was good, but not great, as they lost to all ASEAN world cup quality teams. However, their AFF Championship 1st place finish was exhilarating, as it upped the team’s momentum and displayed their massive improvement. Winning 4-0 over Vietnam and 3-0 over Thailand showed a side ready to compete against the world’s best – an endeavor the first-time AFF champions are trying to do next.
The Malditas are in the midst of scheduling matches against World Cup qualified Costa Rica, as well as World Cup qualified and co-host, New Zealand. The next available FIFA International Windows will be from August 29 to September 2 and from October 3 to 11. The Filipinas look forward to playing these matches, as they are only eight points shy of being a Pot 3 team with the World Cup draw scheduled for October 22. The Philippines is more likely to advance as a Pot 3 team because from this position, the Filipinas would be expected to beat the Pot 4 team. In contrast, the Philippines as a Pot 4 team could potentially lose all their matches.
Additionally, the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) is hoping to schedule a friendly tournament of four nations in June 2023 in either Bocaue or Clark right before the World Cup.
Vietnam:
Vietnam scheduled three friendlies and played in both the SEA Games and AFF Championship since their 5th place finish at the AFC Asia Cup. Here are their results:
The Vietnamese did well against South Korea and in the SEA Games. Their South Korean friendly series was impressive, with Vietnam beating the world #18 nation. Their 3rd straight SEA Games Gold was equally remarkable. Vietnam won all their matches, creating lots of momentum heading into this summer.
After their 0-7 defeat to world #3 France, however, Vietnam suffered an unimpressive AFF Championship. They started so well too, winning all four matches in their group and outscoring opponents 23-0. But in the Semi-finals and 3rd Place Final, Vietnam was outscored 3-7 in losses against the Philippines and Myanmar. Vietnam’s loss to the Filipinas is, by itself, not a big deal, but losing by four goals to the Filipinas is!
At the very least, Vietnam was expected to finish in the Top 3 in every ASEAN competition. But by losing to Myanmar, Vietnam finished fourth despite how good the Burmese are! This upset has psychologically put a huge damper on the Vietnamese expectations for their side in the World Cup.
The Những Nữ Chiến Binh Sao Vàng currently have no public plans on future friendlies but hope to regain the momentum they had prior to the AFF Championship.
Thailand: Thailand is the odd nation out of the three ASEAN countries, deciding to only play in the SEA Games and AFF Championship following their Inter-confederation Play-offs birth last February. Here are their results:
The Chaba Kaew played very well overall, securing the SEA Games Silver and the AFF Championship 2nd place. Nonetheless, the Thai are upset they were second best in two consecutive regional events. While the Thai failed to snatch 1st place in ASEAN events, they still managed to finish at a high level. To make the cut for the 2023 FIFA World Cup, however, they will have to carry the same vigor into the Inter-confederation Play-offs.
Outside of the aforementioned Inter-confederation Play-offs, there is currently no news on future Thailand matches.
Conclusion
The Philippine team has extensive preparations set out, as The Malditas attempt to repeat their successes in the AFF Championship in New Zealand and Australia next summer.
Meanwhile, Vietnam and Thailand have yet to disclose their plans. To add, Thailand still needs to qualify for the World Cup in the Inter-confederation Play-offs next February.
Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines have all done marvelously in getting this far in the FIFA Women’s World Cup. And, as the World Cup draws nearer, each team will be busy preparing in their own separate ways.
If everything goes according to plan, three ASEAN nations will be featured in the 2023 Women’s World Cup!
References:
BusinessWorld. (2022, July 20). Topnotch friendlies in the pipeline for ASEAN champions. BusinessWorld. Retrieved from https://www.bworldonline.com/sports/2022/07/20/462232/topnotch-friendlies-in-the-pipeline-for-asean-champions/
Sports Illustrated. (2022, July 15). Women’s World Cup 2023: Qualified teams list and playoffs. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved from https://www.si.com/soccer/2022/07/15/womens-world-cup-2023-qualified-teams-list-playoffs
ESPN. (2022). Philippines beat Thailand in final to claim historic AFF Women’s Championship title. ESPN. Retrieved from https://www.espn.com/soccer/aff-cup/story/4702355/philippines-beat-thailand-final-claim-historic-aff-womens-championship-title
Hanoi Times. (2022). SEA Games 31: Vietnam bag gold medals for women’s football. Hanoi Times. Retrieved from https://m.hanoitimes.vn/sea-games-31-vietnam-bag-gold-medals-for-womens-football-320839.html
ASEAN Football Federation. (2022). Thailand women’s team in inter-confederation playoffs. ASEAN Football Federation. Retrieved from https://www.aseanfootball.org/v3/thailand-womens-team-in-inter-confederation-playoffs/