As they look to back up on their remarkable semifinal appearance from 2022, Philippines will have it all to do at next year's AFC Women's Asian Cup after Tuesday's draw handed them a testing route out of the group stage.
As part of the second pot to be drawn at the draw at Sydney Town Hall, Philippines joined Iran but immediately knew they would also be up against host nation Australia -- who were predetermined to be the top seeds in Group A.
Moments later, the group was completed with the inclusion of South Korea - meaning Philippines will come up against both Asia's third and fifth-best teams according to the FIFA world rankings.
It is however worth noting that Philippines are currently seventh in Asia although, given they sit 41st in the world rankings, are significantly behind Australia (15th) and South Korea (21st) on a global scale.
Nonetheless, all is not lost for Philippines given the teams finishing third still stand a chance of reaching the knockout round.
This is due to the fact that with just a total of 12 teams participating, all group winners and runners-up will advance to the quarter-finals -- along with the two best-performing third-place teams.
It is imperative that Philippines reach the last eight at least given there is a bigger prize on offer in qualification for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup.
The four losing teams in the semifinals will subsequently compete in two play-in matches, with the victors qualifying for the Women's World Cup. The losers meanwhile will still have a chance to do so via the inter-confederation playoffs.
Philippines' historic exploits at the last Women's Asian Cup saw them seal a first-ever Women's World Cup appearance in 2023, where they failed to make it out of the group stage but still notched a win in their debut campaign with a 1-0 upset over co-hosts New Zealand.
Philippines will not have to wait that long to come up against Australian opposition with the ASEAN Women's Championship kicking off on August 7.
Drawn in Group B, the Filipinas will meet Australia U-23 in their second match in between matches against Timor-Leste and Myanmar.
Given their status as one of the pre-tournament favourites, Philippines will be desperate to finish to given only the group winners are guaranteed to progress to the semifinals -- with the best-performing runners-up grabbing the final last-four berth.