Vietnam 3-0 Philippines, Asian women's futsal: Secure ticket to quarterfinals

PRE-MATCH PREDICTIONS

In the first match of Group B - the 2025 Asian Women's Futsal Championship Finals, the Vietnamese women's futsal team won a dramatic 5-3 victory over Hong Kong, while Iran defeated the Philippines with a score of 1-0. Up to now, the Vietnamese girls are leading Group B with 3 points (goal difference +2), Iran is second with 3 points (goal difference +1), the Philippines is third with 0 points (goal difference -1), and Hong Kong is at the bottom of the table with 0 points (goal difference -2).

The 2025 Asian Women's Futsal Championship has 12 competing teams, divided equally into 3 groups, competing in a round-robin format to calculate points and rank. The top two teams in each group, along with the two third-place teams with the best results, will advance to the quarter-finals. Thus, if the Vietnamese women's futsal team defeats the Philippines in the second match, coach Nguyen Dinh Hoang and his team will soon pass the group stage. This is also the first step in the journey to conquer a ticket to the Women's Futsal World Cup.

Is the Philippines different now?

In Group B, the Philippine women's futsal team is the team with the lowest position in the FIFA rankings. The Vietnamese futsal team is ranked 11th in the world , while the Philippines is ranked 55th. In the last meeting, coach Nguyen Dinh Hoang and his team won 6-1 against the Philippines, at the Southeast Asian women's futsal tournament at the end of 2024. This is also the tournament that witnessed the Vietnamese girls crowned champions for the first time, after defeating Thailand in the final match.

The Vietnamese women's futsal team is currently leading Group B.

PHOTO: VFF

However, the current strength of the Philippine women's futsal team cannot be measured by their FIFA rankings or their head-to-head results. The Philippines is the host of the 2025 Women's Futsal World Cup (first held in November). Therefore, they have prepared carefully and shown great determination at the 2025 Asian Women's Futsal Championship, aiming to prepare for the world-class tournament. The result of the opening match is a testament to the progress of the Philippine women's futsal team. Against the Iranian women's futsal team (ranked 9th in the world, ranked 2nd in Asia), who won the continental championship twice in a row in 2015 and 2018, the Southeast Asian representative had a commendable performance.

The Philippine women's futsal team played a tight defense and only conceded 1 goal with only 3 minutes left in the match. When facing Vietnam, the Philippines needs to win to keep their hopes of reaching the quarterfinals of the continental arena alive. Evaluating the opponent, the head coach of the Philippine women's futsal team - Mr. Rafael Rodriguez said: "Vietnam is a strong team. They move the ball very quickly, but I think the Philippine players are ready. We need to maintain the spirit we showed against Iran. We have trained very hard, and maintaining mental stability is an important factor for the Philippines to be able to compete with stronger opponents."

The Vietnamese women's futsal team is expected to face many difficulties against the Philippines in the second match. However, coach Nguyen Dinh Hoang's team needs to get a good result against the representative from the same region to ensure a place in the quarterfinals. Because in the last match of Group B, the Vietnamese girls will face the strongest opponent in the group, and also a strong candidate for the championship - the Iranian women's futsal team. To win 3 points against the Philippines, the Vietnamese women's futsal team must overcome the limitations revealed in the first match against Hong Kong. The Vietnamese girls need to improve their coordination and finishing ability in the area near the opponent's goal, while maintaining focus at the beginning/end of the match and knowing how to regulate the match based on the reality on the field. In addition, set pieces are the points that the Vietnamese women's futsal team needs to continue to promote to find goals. Against an opponent who is likely to play tight defense, set pieces can be the key for coach Nguyen Dinh Hoang and his team.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/viet-nam-0-0-philippines-futsal-nu-chau-a-thang-de-vao-tu-ket-185250509085936427.htm