The Philippine women's national football team will open their historic campaign in the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 on Friday at the Forsyth Barr Stadium, where they will seek an upset against world No. 20 Switzerland.

The Filipinas are underdogs in Group A of the tournament, but they will kick off the Women's World Cup with great confidence after a long preparation period and nearly two years' worth of promising results.

Ranked 46th in the world by FIFA, the Filipinas are making their first-ever appearance in the Women's World Cup after clinching their ticket in the AFC Women's Asian Cup 2022, where they reached the semifinals.

• History-making Filipinas want to prove they belong in world stage
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"We've been preparing for the time we qualified," said Filipinas coach Alen Stajcic in a pre-match press conference in Dunedin, New Zealand. "We were lucky that the qualifiers were a long time ago. We were probably one of the first teams to actually qualify to the World Cup, so it's been almost from ground zero to full throttle."

"I know we've given the players every opportunity to develop, to grow, to improve — as individuals, as a group. I know that the coaching staff have given everything they could possibly give to the playing group, to help accelerate them. Now the team chemistry is so wonderful, we’ve worked with the culture of the group," he added.

Kick off is at 1 p.m., Manila time.

The Filipinas know that the odds are against them when they play Switzerland, which features Arsenal midfielder Lia Wälti and Paris Saint-Germain's Ramona Bachmann, who has won 131 caps for her country.

Wälti, 29, will be the most dangerous player for Switzerland but the Filipinas have reason to be confident in their defense, anchored by the veteran partnership of Hali Long and Jessika Cowart, with Filipina-Australian Angie Beard tipped to make a difference as well.

It is on the attack that the Filipinas hope to pull a surprise, with Sarina Bolden providing the main goal-scoring threat while co-captain Tahnai Annis looks to pull the strings from the midfield and in set-pieces.

"I think right now our defense is really, really strong. And I think moving forward we need to work on how we possess the ball like once we win it, how can we get forward, how can we get more scoring opportunities," noted Filipinas midfielder Quinley Quezada.

"Being the Filipino in any sport, I would say you’re the underdog but that’s kind of where we thrive. So, we love to punch through the ceiling and we’ve constantly done that in the past 18 months to get to where we are now," said co-captain Hali Long.

After Switzerland, the Philippines will play co-host New Zealand on July 25, and wrap up the group stage against Norway on July 30.

FIFA has assigned Vincentia Amedome as the chief referee for the Philippines-Switzerland match, with Carine Atezambong Fomo and Fanta Kone as assistant referees.

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