The Philippine women’s national futsal team opened 2025 with a banger, beating 2022 West Asia Futsal Championship semifinalist Kuwait, 4-1, in the opening game of the 2025 AFC Women’s Futsal Asian Cup qualifiers Group C in Tashkent on Saturday.
2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup star Katrina Guillou sizzled in her first ever futsal international cap with a brace, scoring early in the third minute on the rebound off a Sara Castañeda miss from a corner kick-in, then closing the game by scoring off the interception in the last two minutes.
This was the first international futsal win in 15 months for the 2025 FIFA Women’s Futsal World Cup host, when it nipped New Zealand, 1-0, in the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) Tri-Nations Cup in October 2023.
Furthermore, this was the women’s team’s biggest winning margin in a high-profile international tournament since the 2007 Asian Indoor Games, when it won 5-2 against Malaysia.
Also scoring for the Philippines were Guillou’s World Cup teammate Isabella Flanigan, who followed with a nifty chip off her miss early in the second half, and Inday Tolentin, who pierced the net from outside the arc off Nicole Ramores’ sprint.
Shrouq Mohammad scored the consolation goal for the Kuwaitis in the 36th minute off Noor Alherz’s interception.
The 59th-ranked Philippines faced host and top seed Uzbekistan (18th in the world) on Monday at 6 PM, Manila time.
Photo Credit: AFC