Filipinas grouped with Hong Kong, Tajikistan, Pakistan in 1st round of Olympic qualifiers

The Philippines has been grouped with Hong Kong, Tajikistan, and Pakistan for the first round of the Asian qualifiers for the 2024 Paris Olympics women's football tournament.

The draw was conducted on Thursday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The seeding of the selection for the first round draw was based on the FIFA Women's World Ranking released last December 9, with the Filipinas placing 11th in Asia.

The first round of the qualifiers will be held in a centralized venue on April 3 to 11 and the world no. 53 Filipinas will look to emerge as the top team from Group E to advance to the next round.

Hong Kong is ranked 77, Tajikistan is no. 144, while Pakistan is world no. 160.

Other groupings from the draw were:

Group A: Uzbekistan, Jordan, Timor-Leste, Bhutan
Group B: Myanmar, Iran, Bangladesh, Maldives
Group C: Vietnam, Nepal, Palestine, Afghanistan
Group D: Thailand, Mongolia, Singapore, Sri Lanka
Group E: Philippines, Hong Kong, Tajikistan, Pakistan
Group F: Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Lebanon
Group G: India, Kyrgyz Republic, Turkmenistan

The qualifiers will have seven groups and only the top team of each group will advance to the next round.

The seven teams will join the five best-ranked Asian countries Korea DPR, Japan, Australia, China, and Korea Republic in the second round.

From the 12 teams, only the three group winners and the best second-placed team will move to the home-and-away playoff matches for the two alloted Olympic spots.

Aside from the Paris Olympics qualifiers, the Filipinas will also compete in the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup in New Zealand in July.

—Justin Kenneth Carandang/MGP, GMA Integrated News