Football: PFF eyes 10K fans for Azkals home games throughout qualifiers
The FIFA World Cup 2026/AFC Asian Cup 2027 joint qualifiers begin on November
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Football Federation (PFF) has launched a campaign on Wednesday urging Filipino football fans to flock the Rizal Memorial Stadium and show their support for the Philippine Azkals.
The Azkals are going to face Vietnam on November 16 and Indonesia on November 21 for their first pair of home matches as part of the FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup 2027 joint qualifiers which begin in November.
In a statement, the PFF unveiled the “Stand Your Ground: 10K Strong!” battle cry, optimistic that the days when fans packed the stadium can be done again.
“The fans have always played a vital role behind the success of the Men’s National Team,” PFF president Mariano Araneta said.
“As the Azkals embark on another historic World Cup qualifiers campaign, our objective is to make them feel the support of the fans. Let us rally behind our team and show that we can pack Rizal Memorial Stadium.”
Already the mecca of Philippine football in the past dozen years, the Rizal Memorial Stadium hosted the team’s first-ever World Cup qualifiers win over Sri Lanka, the Azkals’ historic first victory over DPR Korea in 2016, and the squad’s thrilling come-from-behind win over Tajikistan in 2018 which clinched the country a 2019 AFC Asian Cup berth.
PFF general secretary Mikhail Torre sees the campaign as an opportunity to ignite the support for the Azkals and Philippine football in a banner year highlighted by the Philippine Women’s National Team’s historic appearance in the FIFA Women’s World Cup co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
“We want to finish the year strong,” he said. “Our Filipinas did an amazing job in New Zealand and now it’s the Azkals’ turn to play at home.”
The campaign will be divided into three parts, with the first component focusing on the fan experience, the second on promotional campaigns involving social media, influencers, and fan-made content, and the last being its consistency for future home matches.
