The Philippine women’s national football team got a glimpse of what’s ahead in their 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup debut after falling to world No. 3 Sweden, 5-1, in their closed-door friendly match on Monday, July 17 in New Zealand.
There is no detailed account from the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) yet of how the game went down and who scored the consolation goal for the world No. 46 Filipinas.
The Nationals have been in Auckland since last week after wrapping up their month-long training camp in Sydney, Australia that saw the revelation of the 23-member lineup set to battle the powerhouses in the biggest football showpiece.
The Swedish women’s national team, though, posted on its official Instagram the result of the match that favored them.
All five goals of the Swedes came from three of their members who see action in the European leagues, with forward Stina Blackstenius of Arsenal scoring a hat-trick in the unofficial friendly.
Landing in Group A, the Philippines may have gotten an early taste of the World Cup as they are due to face higher-ranked opponents in Norway (No. 12), Switzerland (No. 20) and host nation New Zealand (No. 25).
The Alen Stajcic-coached Filipinas are tackling the Swiss on July 21 to open their bid in the international meet.