Filipina5 eyes historic SEA Games finals berth vs Vietnam

Isabella Bandoja scored her first goal in the 2025 Southeast Asian Games to help the Filipina5 edge Malaysia and barge into the semifinals for the first time in 18 years. (Photo: PFF)

A monumental finals seat awaits the Philippine women’s national futsal team when it faces world no. 11 Vietnam in the 2025 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games semifinals on Tuesday, December 16.

The Filipina5 advanced to the knockout stage for the first time since 2007 after finishing second in Group A with a 1-1 record. They sealed their semifinal berth after Thailand blanked Malaysia, 6-0, on the final day of group play Sunday, December 14.

A day earlier, on December 13, the Philippines bounced back from an opening-day loss to the host nation by edging Malaysia, keeping its medal hopes alive.

It was in 2007 when an unheralded Philippine squad notched a bronze medal for the country’s first podium finish in women’s futsal in SEA Games history.

Team captain Dionesa Tolentin and Tuloy FC standout Isabella Bandoja are expected to lead the charge for the Filipina5. Both scored during the group stage of the biennial meet and were also on the scoresheet for the nationals in the inaugural FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup, which the Philippines hosted.

But rewriting history will not come easy with Vietnam standing in the Filipina5’s way.

A regional powerhouse, Vietnam topped Group B with an unbeaten 2-0 slate. It finished runner-up to Thailand in all five women’s futsal editions of the SEA Games and is seeking to end the latter's longstanding supremacy.

Last year, Vietnam captured the inaugural ASEAN Women’s Futsal Championship at Thailand’s expense in the gold-medal match. In that same tournament, the then-called Pinay5 suffered a 6-1 defeat at the hands of the Vietnamese.