SPORTS-FOOTBALL :FIFA World Cup | PH falls to Vietnam, out of FIFA World Cup qualifiers
The Philippine men’s national football team’s run in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers ended in a heartbreaking after losing to Vietnam in added time, 2-3, at the My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi on Thursday.
Philippine veteran goalkeeper Neil Etheridge managed to stop Nguyen Tuan Anh’s attack with the score tied at 2-2, but his efforts went down the drain as his deflection only set up Pham Tuan Hai who delivered the clincher off a rebound.
That last-gasp goal slammed the Philippines’ chances of finishing in the top two in Group F as the national football team formerly known as ‘Azkals’ finished the second round of qualifiers with one draw and four losses (1 point).
The Vietnamese, on the other hand, stayed in the hunt for that top two finish that merits a slot in the third round with their a 2-3 win-loss card (6 points).
Memento Maxima Digital MarketingThe Philippine national football team will wrap up its Group F campaign against Indonesia (2-2, 7 points) at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta on Tuesday. Vietnam, on other hand, takes on Group F leader Iraq (5-0, 15 points).
“I think the best result for both should have been a draw. I am very disappointed in the game,” said Philippine team head coach Tom Saintfiet. “Vietnam is a good team but I am also very satisfied with the performance of my team and I think the boys deserve a draw. But Vietnam won and we have to learn from this.”
Patrick Reichelt opened the scoring gates in the match in the 62nd minute as he got past Vietnam’s goalie Dang Van Lam for his 16th international goal, tied at second place overall with PH football team great Chieffy Caligdong.
Nguyen Tien Linh tied the count three minutes later after converting a Phan Tuan Tai cross before Tien Linh put Vietnam ahead in the 76th minute as he converted on a header off a cross from Phan Tuan Tai.
Kevin Ingreso saved the Philippines in regular time in the 89th minute with a volley for a Jesper Nyholm header that ultimately proved to be futile through Pham Tuan Hai’s goal off a rebound play.
TRIVIA
2026 FIFA World Cup
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| Tournament details | |
| Host countries | Canada Mexico United States |
| Dates | June 11 – July 19[1] |
| Teams | 48 (from 6 confederations) |
| Venue(s) | 16 (in 16 host cities) |
The 2026 FIFA World Cup, marketed as FIFA World Cup 26,[2] will be the 23rd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international men’s soccer championship contested by the national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament will take place from June 11 to July 19, 2026. It will be jointly hosted by 16 cities in three North American countries: Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The tournament will be the first hosted by three nations and the first North American World Cup since 1994.[3][4] Argentina is the defending champion.
This tournament will be the first to include 48 teams, expanded from 32.[5] The United 2026 bid beat a rival bid by Morocco during a final vote at the 68th FIFA Congress in Moscow. It will be the first World Cup since 2002 to be hosted by more than one nation. With its past hosting of the 1970 and 1986 tournaments, Mexico will become the first country to host or co-host the men’s World Cup three times. The United States last hosted the men’s World Cup in 1994, whereas it will be Canada’s first time hosting or co-hosting the men’s tournament. The event will also return to its traditional northern summer schedule after the 2022 edition in Qatar was held in November and December.
Format and expansion
Starting with this edition, the FIFA World Cup expanded to 48 teams, an increase of 16 from the previous seven tournaments. The teams will be split into 12 groups of 4 teams, with the top 2 of each group and the eight best third-placed teams progressing to a new round of 32, as approved by the FIFA Council on March 14, 2023.[6] This is set to be the first expansion and format change since 1998.
The total number of games played will increase from 64 to 104, and the number of games played by teams reaching the final four will increase from seven to eight. The tournament will last 39 days, an increase from 32 days of the 2014 and 2018 editions.[7][8] Each team will still play three group matches.[9][10] The final matchday at club level for players named in the final squads is May 24, 2026; clubs have to release their players by May 25, with exceptions granted to players participating in continental club competition finals up until May 30. The 56 days of the combined rest, release, and tournament periods remains identical to the 2010, 2014 and 2018 tournaments.[6]
The expansion to 48 teams had already been approved on January 10, 2017, when it was decided that the tournament would include 16 groups of 3 teams, and 80 matches in total, with the top two teams of each group progressing to a round of 32.[5][11] Under this format, the maximum number of games per team would have remained at seven, but each team would have played one fewer group match than before. The tournament still would have been completed within 32 days.[12] This format was chosen over three other proposals, ranging from 40 to 48 teams, from 76 to 88 matches, and from one to four minimum matches per team.[13][14][15]
Critics of this format argued that the use of three-team groups with two teams progressing significantly increased the risk of collusion between teams.[16] This prompted FIFA to suggest that penalty shoot-outs may be used to prevent draws in the group stage,[17] although even then some risk of collusion would remain, and a possibility would emerge of teams deliberately losing shootouts to eliminate a rival.[16] To address these concerns, FIFA continued considering alternative formats.[18]
The general idea of expanding the tournament had been suggested as early as 2013 by then-UEFA president Michel Platini,[19][20] and also in 2016 by FIFA president Gianni Infantino.[21] Opponents of the proposal argued that the number of games played was already at an unacceptable level,[22] that the expansion would dilute the quality of the games,[23][24] and that the decision was driven by political rather than sporting concerns, accusing Infantino of using the promise of bringing more countries to the World Cup to win his election.[25]
Host selection
The FIFA Council went back and forth between 2013 and 2017 on limitations within hosting rotation based on the continental confederations. Originally, it was set that bids to be host would not be allowed from countries belonging to confederations that hosted the two preceding tournaments. It was temporarily changed to only prohibit countries belonging to the confederation that hosted the previous World Cup from bidding to host the following tournament,[26] before the rule was changed back to its prior state of two World Cups.
The FIFA Council made an exception to potentially grant eligibility to member associations of the confederation of the second-to-last host of the FIFA World Cup in the event that none of the received bids fulfill the strict technical and financial requirements.[27][28] In March 2017, FIFA president Gianni Infantino confirmed that “Europe (UEFA) and Asia (AFC) are excluded from the bidding following the selection of Russia and Qatar in 2018 and 2022 respectively.”[29] Therefore, the 2026 World Cup could be hosted by one of the remaining four confederations: CONCACAF (North America; last hosted in 1994), CAF (Africa; last hosted in 2010), CONMEBOL (South America; last hosted in 2014), or OFC (Oceania, never hosted before), or potentially by UEFA in case no bid from those four met the requirements.
Co-hosting the FIFA World Cup—which had been banned by FIFA after the 2002 World Cup—was approved for the 2026 World Cup, though not limited to a specific number but instead evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Also for 2026, the FIFA general secretariat, after consultation with the Competitions Committee, had the power to exclude bidders who did not meet the minimum technical requirements to host the competition.[27] In March 2022, Liga MX president Mikel Arriola claimed Mexico’s involvement as cohost could have been at risk if the league and the federation had not responded quickly to the Querétaro–Atlas riot between rival fans that left 26 spectators injured and resulted in 14 arrests. Arriola said FIFA was “shocked” by the incident but Infantino was satisfied with the sanctions handed down against Querétaro.[30]
Canada, Mexico, and the United States had all publicly considered bidding for the tournament separately, but the United joint bid was announced on April 10, 2017.[31][32]
Voting
| Allowed to vote | Banned from voting |
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Voted for United bid
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Canada–Mexico–United States
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Voted for Moroccan bid
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Morocco
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Voted for neither
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Sanctioned by FIFA
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Abstained from voting
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Not a FIFA member
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The voting took place on June 13, 2018, during the 68th FIFA Congress in Moscow, and it was opened to all 203 eligible members.[33] The United bid won with 134 valid ballots, while the Morocco bid received 65 valid ballots. Iran voted for the option “None of the bids”, while Cuba, Slovenia, and Spain abstained from voting. Ghana was suspended by FIFA due to a corruption scandal and was therefore ineligible to vote.[34][35][36][37][38]
| Nation | Vote | |
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| Round 1 | ||
| Canada, Mexico, United States | 134 | |
| Morocco | 65 | |
| None of the bids | 1 | |
| Abstentions | 3 | |
| Total votes | 200 | |
| Majority required | 101 | |
Venues
