The Philippine women's national football team will try to end a historic year on a winning note when they take on Papua New Guinea in a pair of friendly matches this week at the Western Sydney Wanderers Park in Sydney, Australia.

Coming off a trip to South America last month where they played Chile twice, the Filipinas will now take on a Papua New Guinea side ranked two places above them by FIFA, at No. 51.

They meet on Sunday afternoon, before playing again on Thursday at the same venue.

The matches do not fall on an international window, and thus Coach Alen Stajcic only had three training sessions in the lead-up to the clash with the Oceania side. Papua New Guinea is preparing for the FIFA Women's World Cup continental playoffs in February.

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The Filipinas have already qualified for the FIFA Women's World Cup after making it to the semifinals of the AFC Women's Asian Cup in India last January -- the highlight of a historic year for the up-and-coming side.

Their run continued in Vietnam in May, when they captured a bronze medal in the Southeast Asian Games, before delivering a first ever major football title for the country by ruling the AFF Women's Championship in Manila last July.

Stajcic welcomes the challenge of facing another higher-ranked opponent.

"These matches are critical for us to keep developing our patterns of play and principles, especially with the ball," he explained.

The friendly matches against Papua New Guinea will be the 29th and 30th for the Filipinas this year, capping off a busy campaign for the 53rd ranked team.

They have booked victories over regional powerhouses in Thailand and Vietnam, and beaten a European team in Bosnia and Herzegovina. They also picked up draws against Costa Rica and Chile while giving a good account of themselves in losses to Australia and South Korea.

The match against the Filipinas will mark the debut of new Papua New Guinea coach Spencer Prior, who coached Thailand to the 2016 AFF Women’s Championship crown and a silver medal in the Southeast Asian Games in 2017.

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