The Philippine Men’s National Football Team saw its winless run in the second round of the FIFA World Cup 2026 and 2027 AFC Asian Cup joint qualification stage continued with a 1-0 loss to Iraq on Friday morning Manila time in front of 63,750 fans at the Basra International Stadium.
The Philippines fought valiantly to earn a point against the team ranked 59th in the world, but it just was not meant to be.
It took a good long pass from Amir Al Ammari to unlock the Filipino backline so that Mohanad Ali could score past goalkeeper Neil Etheridge in the 84th minute.
The result meant that the Philippines is now bottom of Group F with just a point and minus-3 goal difference behind one draw and two losses.
For coach Tom Saintfiet, a loss in his competitive coaching debut with the Philippines was hard to take, yet there were silver linings.
“I’m not happy with the loss because I hate losing,” said Saintfiet. “But I’m very proud of the performance of my team. I knew that we would play against a strong team. As I told you, I am a big fan of Iraqi football. I think there are so many quality players and if you see the pitch, the stadium, the fantastic fans, it’s world-class level.
“I think the Philippines can compete and the goal was to try a point. Like I said, my team did very well but one moment of lack of concentration and the opposing team utilized it. The Iraqi team, for most of the time, had no solution against the tactical discipline of the Philippines.”
Both teams will meet again this Tuesday at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila.
Iraq XI: Adhamat, Ali, Hantoosh, Al-Kaabawi, Ali, Hassan (GK, C), Bonyan, Al-Quraishi, Fouad, Elaibi, Rashid.
Philippines XI: Etheridge (GK, C), Curran, Tabinas, Lyngbo, Ingreso, Baldisimo, Gayoso, Aguinaldo, Kekkonen, Reichelt, Rontini.
