After a rousing FIFA Women’s World Cup debut, the Philippine women’s national football team has again made history, rising two spots in the latest FIFA women’s world rankings to climb up to no. 44—the highest ever for the program.
The Filipinas’ latest ascent up the world rankings continues what has been a five-year trend in which the national team has made incremental improvements after falling to no. 74 in 2018. Since then, the Filipinas have continued rising, at one point even climbing 11 rungs from no. 64 to no. 53 between 2021 and 2022—the year the team first made history when it clinched a FIFA Women’s World Cup berth.
Since then, the Filipinas have just kept building and building, climbing to no. 49 early this year before achieving the country’s highest-ever ranking at no. 46 just a month before the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Midfielders Katrina Guillou and Carleigh Frilles had the best reactions to the Filipinas’ meteoric rise, with the former describing it as “special” and the latter calling it “insane.”
This next accomplishment is equally special and insane—if not more, as it is a nod to the Filipinas’ outstanding run up to the FIFA Women’s World Cup, where they again made history by shocking co-host New Zealand in only their second game in the tournament.
As of this writing, the Filipinas have now accumulated 1540.89 points in FIFA’s world rankings—27.92 more than their previous total of 1512.97.
This latest news should be a shot in the arm for the national team, who will be gearing up for the Asian Games and the Olympic Qualifiers later this year.