Football is the world’s game. Most of the population on Earth considers football as their favorite game. But it’s a different story here in the Philippines.
During the Spanish colonial era, the Spaniards introduced the beautiful game near the end of their 300-plus-year reign on our islands. As a result, we possibly produced one of the greatest footballers of Filipino or Asian descent ever in Paulino Alcantara, who is also regarded as one of F.C. Barcelona’s greatest players, before a certain Lionel Messi entered into the picture.
Football was starting to get a hold in our islands in the early 1900s, but when the Americans and the Japanese came, it all came to an abrupt halt. The Americans brought with them sports like baseball and basketball, and ever since then, hoops have become the national pastime for Filipino kids everywhere.
Football has taken a backseat to other more popular team sports here, such as basketball and volleyball, and even individual sports like boxing. It wasn’t until 2010 that football reclaimed the spotlight, thanks to a certain game in Hanoi, Vietnam. In the 2010 edition of the AFF Suzuki Cup, Southeast Asia’s most prestigious football tournament, an unlikely group of underdogs rocked the apple cart by defeating the defending champions, Vietnam, 2-0 in front of 40,000-plus Vietnamese at the My Dinh Stadium. The result was so unthinkable that it was dubbed “The Miracle of Hanoi” by the media and fans alike.
That event triggered a chain of events back home in the Philippines. Filipinos are accustomed to being underdogs, but we love winners. At that time, the Men’s national team, formerly known as the Azkals, was finally achieving victory, even against the champions
I was a junior in college that year. Although I had been playing football for fun, this event reignited my passion for the game. It made me dream that football could become significant here in this country—a game I personally valued more highly than basketball
Now, that team’s run came to an end in the semifinals against Indonesia. At the time, the PFF was so unprepared that they didn’t anticipate the team’s ability to make a deep run in the tournament. They failed to secure a home venue for the semifinals, resulting in both legs being played in Indonesia, in front of over 70,000 Indonesian fans. The Azkals lost both games by a score of 1-0 each, for a total aggregate of 2-0. Since then, that performance has remained unmatched.
The aftermath of that year was extraordinary, to say the least. Investments, sponsorships, and fans began to flood into both the national team and the then-top league, the semi-pro United Football League. Millions of pesos were invested in TV deals and marketing efforts to grow the game. Notably, stars of the national team returned to play in the UFL, while more players of Filipino descent who were competing at the highest levels of the game expressed interest in playing for the Azkals. It was indeed a glorious decade for Philippine football.
But what is the current state of football here after the Miracle of Hanoi? The Azkals made the semifinals of the AFF Championship three more times in the past 6 editions and made their maiden Asian Cup in 2019. The UFL folded in 2016 and was replaced by the fully professional PFL or Philippines Football League. Club teams started to qualify for the AFC Cup and AFC Champions League, with Ceres Negros being the most successful in that span from 2016-2020, winning an ASEAN Zone of the AFC Cup and qualifying for the AFC Champions League, with their most notable performance beating Australia’s Brisbane Roar in the 2018 AFC Champions League prelims, still one of the best results by a Filipino team in the competition.
As for the Women’s National Team, the Filipinas made history by qualifying for the first-ever World Cup by any Filipino football team in 2023, qualifying for the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia/New Zealand by reaching the semis in the 2022 Women’s Asian Cup, beating Chinese Taipei in the quarterfinals on penalties in the process.
Both national teams have recorded averages of 9-10k fans in Rizal Memorial Stadium during games in the past year and a half.
The latest edition of the PFL currently has a record number of teams participating with 15 for this year’s edition. The PFF Women’s League currently has 10 teams competing. Both national team coaches, Tom Saintfiet and Marc Torcasso, are regular fixtures in PFL and PFFWL games.
Football in the Philippines is kicking, but it still needs support. The league’s attendance could be better, and the scorelines could have fewer blowouts, but the potential is there. Most PFL teams are named after localities, and it’s really up to these teams to embrace these communities and hopefully get their support. The Maharlika Philippines Basketball League is a regional league with decent attendance numbers which the PFL can emulate.
Social media presence could do some work. Matchday Media, the company that handles the broadcast for the PFL, is doing a great job so far, making games available on YouTube and the league’s Facebook page. As a football fan, I couldn’t really ask for more. But if I were to nitpick, they could be more interactive on social media and release more creative content to market the league.
The culture is here. Philippine football only needs a push in the right direction to reach greater heights than ever before.
Engineering Graduate and a long-time Football Fan. Started covering local Football in 2013 after a short career in Football Analytics. Contributed to Pinoyfootball, Fox Sports Asia, and HuddlePH before finding his way here. Has a love-hate relationship with Man Utd and The Portland Timbers. Football Manager fanatic.
Follow @cedsered on X.
