Football in the Philippines

Football in the Philippines
Football in the Philippines
	Filipino youths playing football at the Baguio Athletic Bowl
Country	Philippines
Governing body	Philippine Football Federation
National team(s)	Men's national team;
National competitions
	Copa Paulino Alcantara
Club competitions
	Philippine Football League; PFF Women's League; Philippine Futsal League; 7's Football League; PFF U19 Boys National Championship; Pacquiao 3 in 1 Coffee Challengers Cup (U21);
International competitions
	Club AFC Champions League Two; AFC Women's Champions League; AFC Futsal Club Championship; AFF Futsal Club Championship; National team FIFA World Cup; FIFA Women's World Cup; FIFA Futsal World Cup; FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup; AFC Asian Cup; AFC Women's Asian Cup; AFC Futsal Asian Cup; AFF Futsal Championship; AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup; AFF Championship; AFF Women's Championship; AFF Beach Soccer Championship;

Football in the Philippines is administered by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF), the governing body of football in the country.

Football is a popular sport in the Philippines, although basketball has been the most popular historically. However, football has a long history in the archipelago, dating back to more than 100 years ago when Paulino Alcántara Riestra became the first Filipino and Asian player to play for a European club. He made his debut as a striker at the age of 15 at Barcelona, which made him the club's youngest and second highest goalscorer behind Lionel Messi.^[1]^[2] Since then, the first football teams began to form, including the Manila Sporting Club in 1906, the Sandow Athletic Club in 1909, and the Bohemian Sporting Club in 1910.^[3]

To promote and revive the sport, some international and local football clubs helped the Philippines. FIFA also assisted the country by building and upgrading facilities including the creation of the PFF headquarters in 2009. As well, the establishment of the United Football League (UFL) and the National Men's Club Championship to provide more local competitions.

The Philippines national football team is the representative of men's international football for the Philippines. They won the Far Eastern Games once (in 1913) and became a two-time Philippine Peace Cup champion (in 2012 and 2013). The Philippines women's national football team, representing women's international football in the Philippines, achieved a third-place (bronze) finish at the 1985 Southeast Asian Games.

There are many stadiums that can be found in the Philippines, like the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila, which is the national stadium of the country. It is also the home stadium of the Philippine football team. Meanwhile, the Panaad Stadium in Bacolod is the secondary venue for the Philippines.

^ Woosley, Zach (16 March 2014). "Lionel Messi becomes Barcelona's all-time leading scorer". SB Nation. Archived from the original on 26 March 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
^ Rigg, Nicolas (24 March 2014). "Real Madrid 3 Barcelona 4: Amid the madness of El Clasico, Lionel Messi stands alone as its saviour". The Independent UK. Archived from the original on 24 March 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
^ Alcazaren, Paulo (9 April 2011). "A look at the history of Philippine Football: The first & future Azkals – The Philippine Star". The Philippine Star. Archived from the original on 26 December 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2013.

[a2-1] Woosley, Zach (16 March 2014). "Lionel Messi becomes Barcelona's all-time leading scorer". SB Nation. Archived from the original on 26 March 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2014.

[2] Rigg, Nicolas (24 March 2014). "Real Madrid 3 Barcelona 4: Amid the madness of El Clasico, Lionel Messi stands alone as its saviour". The Independent UK. Archived from the original on 24 March 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2014.

[b2-3] Alcazaren, Paulo (9 April 2011). "A look at the history of Philippine Football: The first & future Azkals – The Philippine Star". The Philippine Star. Archived from the original on 26 December 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2013.

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