MANILA – Panaad Park and Stadium in Bacolod City will serve as home venue of the Philippine men’s football team in the 2022 FIFA World Cup and 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers beginning later this year.
Philippine Football Federation general secretary Edwin Gastanes said the Bacolod City venue was chosen for the qualifier with the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium in Manila unavailable.
“The Azkals is playing their home matches at the Panaad Stadium,” Gastanes said. “The Rizal Memorial Football Stadium is unavailable as it is being prepared for the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.”
The Azkals has been bracketed with the People’s Republic of China, Syria, Maldives and Guam in Group A during the draw held on Wednesday afternoon in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The national football squad’s matches in Panaad are against Syria on Sept. 5, People’s Republic of China on Oct. 15, Guam on March 26, 2020, and Maldives on June 9, 2020.
Away matches for the Azkals are in Guam on Sept. 10, Maldives on Nov. 14, Syria on Nov. 19, and China on June 4, 2020.
The Philippines needs to finish on top of the group to move on to the next qualification phase of the World Cup. A second-place standing will also allow the Filipinos to advance but it must be one of the four best runners-up for that to happen.
Failure to finish in the top two will relegate the Philippines into the third qualification round of the Asian Cup./PN
