MANILA, Philippines–The Philippine men’s football team will face Thailand in the group stage of the ASEAN Football Championship, which will kick off in late July.
The Filipino booters were drawn into Group B, along with Thailand–the tournament’s most successful country–Myanmar, and Laos, following a ceremony held on Thursday.
Thailand was the same team that knocked off the Philippines in the semifinals of the 2024 edition, edging the Filipinos, 4-3, on aggregate in a two-legged series.
That run marked the Philippines’ first semifinal appearance since 2018, and coach Carles Cuadrat is hoping to replicate, or even surpass, that feat in the tournament now known for commercial reasons as the ASEAN Hyundai Cup.
“Although we all know how difficult it will be to achieve one of the first two places, we are also aware that we are a very competitive team that we can be fighting for classification until the last game as happened in the last edition 2024, where after three draws the team managed to beat Indonesia away and move on to the next phase,” Cuadrat said.
The top two teams after the group stage will advance to the semifinals, with the finals also being two home-and-away affair.
Vietnam, which defeated Thailand for the title, is in Group A alongside Indonesia, Singapore, Cambodia and the playoff winner between Brunei and Timor-Leste.
The ASEAN Championship, the biggest football competition in Southeast Asia, will now be held in the middle of the year instead of its usual November to early-January schedule.
The Philippines, then coached by Albert Capellas, finished second in Group B behind Vietnam in the last tournament to reach the semifinals.
A historic finals appearance looked like a possibility after a thrilling 2-1 win over Thailand in the first leg of the semis at Rizal Memorial Stadium before falling short in the return match in Bangkok.
