The Philippines faces a tough road to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup after landing in Group B with former AFC Women’s Asian Cup champion Australia and Southeast Asian countries Thailand and Indonesia in the 2022 Women’s Asian Cup in India.
The draw held last Thursday also saw host India in Group A with China, Chinese-Taipei and Iran, while Group C is made up of defending champion Japan, Korea Republic, Vietnam and Myanmar.
The top five countries will punch their ticket to the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 that will be jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
Should Australia finish in the top five, the sixth-ranked team will also gain entry to the World Cup, which has been expanded to 32 teams for the first time.
The tournament format calls for the Top 2 countries from each of the three groups making the last eight together with the two best-ranked third placed teams.