Philippines Soccer made its debut at the last edition of the Asian Cup but didn’t make it past the group stage of the tournament.
Philippines Soccer benefited from the expansion of the tournament from 16 teams to 24 teams. Philippines was drawn alongside South Korea, Peoples Republic of China (China PR) and Kyrgyzstan in Group C of the tournament.
In the first match at the Asian Cup in the history of Philippines Soccer, the Philippines players battled hard for the majority of the game only to lose by a lone goal to South Korea. Hwang Ui-Jo was the matchwinner for the South Koreans. His goal came midway into the second half.
In the second game, the Philippines also ended it on the losing side just as what was obtainable with the first game but this time, the defeat was more emphatic. Philippines lost 3-0 to China PR thanks to Wu Lei who scored a brace either side of the interval. His first goal came five minutes before the break before he completed his brace around the midway point of the second half. Yu Dabao added a third goal ten minutes from time to make it an emphatic defeat for Philippines Soccer.
In their third and final group game at the tournament in the UAE, Philippines lost 3-1 to Kyrgyzstan with Vitalij Lux netting a treble for his country. Lux was responsible for all the three goals scored by Kyrgyzstan, while Stephan Schrock made history with the first goal for the Philippines in the history of the Asian Cup. His goal came ten minutes from time after Kyrgyzstan had gone three goals up in the game.
Philippines finished last in Group C after a return of zero point in three games in the group.