The Philippine Men’s National Football Team released its 28-man lineup for the second window of the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, which are home-and-away games vs Iraq.
The men in blue under the new head coach Tom Saintfiet feature a mixture of veterans and young faces.
This is the new-look Philippine Men's National Football Team, formerly known as the Azkals, for the second window of the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2027 Asian Cup joint qualifiers.
Among them are brothers Michael and Matthew Baldisimo, who are both experienced midfielders for the San Jose Earthquakes, and Canada’s York United, respectively.
The forward line will also be bolstered by the former UP Men’s Football Team standouts Jeremiah Borlongan and Marco Casambre.
Meanwhile, brothers Jefferson and Paul Tabinas, who came off from a successful stint at the Buriram United, and Croatian Prva NL club Vukokar 1991, will show their strength at the defensive line.
National team veterans Neil Etheridge, Patrick Reichelt, and Patrick Deyto, Kevin Ingreso, Justine Baas, and Daisuke Sato, who also played in the first window, were also included.
The new Philippine Men’s National Football Team looks to improve their game as they had an opening loss against Vietnam and settled for a draw against Indonesia in the first window.
Ranked 139 in FIFA, the new squad of the men’s national football team will be having a daunting task as they take on Ranked 59 Iraq in two games as part of the qualifiers.
The first game will be on March 21 at the Basra International Stadium, while the second one is on March 26 at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
Check out the full roster here: