Philippine football star Sarina Bolden proud of Filipina5’s World Cup showing despite early exit

The Philippine women’s futsal team has endured a difficult start to the inaugural 2025 FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup, opening their Group A campaign with back-to-back defeats on home soil despite strong support from the local crowd.

The Filipina5 were overwhelmed by Poland, 6–0, in their tournament debut on Friday, November 21. They showed significant improvement in their second outing on Monday, November 24, but narrowly fell short in a 3–2 loss to Morocco.

Still, there were bright moments. The Philippines scored its first-ever goals in the history of the Futsal World Cup in that match, courtesy of Tolentin and Cathrine Graversen. Among the supporters in the stands was Philippine women’s national football team star striker Sarina Bolden, who expressed admiration for the squad’s performance and resilience.

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“I’m really proud, like, they are doing incredible things, they are doing it in front of the whole country, in front of the home crowd, family, friends, brothers, sisters, aunts, titas, titos, you know, what have you,” Bolden said to the media at the arena.

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Sarina Bolden highlights how the #FutsalWWC on home soil fuels belief, support, and the future of football brought by the Filipinas5 that fought for the flag 🇵🇭⚽#ReadMore 👉 https://t.co/kYSAjPveZT

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“So that’s like, definitely, really a personal and huge thing to do especially on a big stage like a World Cup. What we have put up is really amazing — regardless of what the outcome was, I’m really proud of everyone,” she added.

Bolden knows the magnitude of such moments better than anyone, having scored the Philippines’ first-ever FIFA Women’s World Cup goal in 2023 — a historic strike that sealed a 1–0 victory over co-hosts New Zealand.

The 29-year-old emphasized that hosting major global events like the Futsal World Cup can only accelerate the growth of football and futsal in a nation where basketball still dominates the sports landscape.

“I think it’s really important, it definitely sets the tone to see in the future, having other events such as World Cups being held in the future, men’s, women’s. So I hope this just kind of gets things started and shows the rest of the world that we are capable, the Philippines is capable of hosting such big World Cups under FIFA so I feel like it’s a good precursor for what’s to come,” Bolden concluded.

The Philippines has emerged as a premier Southeast Asian destination for international sporting events, having already hosted the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship and the 3rd FIG Artistic Gymnastics Junior World Championship earlier this year.

The Filipina5 will look to close out their campaign on a high note as they face South American powerhouse Argentina in their final Group A matchup on Thursday, November 27, at the PhilSports Arena.

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