In September 2006 the country fell to 195th on the FIFA World Rankings, its lowest ever.[1] By the end of the year, the Philippines moved back up to 171st overall, after a good run in the 2007 ASEAN Football Championship qualification.[2] They were able to win three games in a row which was a first for the Philippines and thus qualifying for the 2007 ASEAN Football Championship.[3] Coach at that time Aris Caslib, aimed to reach the semi-finals with two wins at the group stage.[4] The decision came despite Philippine Football Federation president Juan Miguel Romualdez stating that they would still be underdogs in the tournament and that they mustn't raise their expectations too high,[2] as the Philippines have only won their first ever win of the tournament during the 2004 edition.[5] The Philippines eventually failed to reach their target, only getting a draw in three matches. Their poor performances led to Caslib's resignation,[6] as well as the refusal of the PFF to register and enter the qualification stages for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[7] They would be one of four nations, all from Southeast Asia not to enter after a record number of entries.[8] However it was revealed that the decision not to enter the 2010 as well as the 2006 World Cup qualification was made during the PFF presidency of Rene Adad, whose term ended in 2003.[7] Instead, the PFF wanted to focus on domestic and regional competitions.[9] Since 2007, the Philippines have failed to qualify for a major competition. They came close in 2008 after missing out on the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup only on goal difference,[10] and the 2008 AFF Suzuki Cup with an inferior goals scored record.[11] In 2010, they qualified for the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup, and went on to beat defending champions Vietnam during the group stage, becoming one of the biggest upsets in the history of the tournament.[12] The team reached the knockout stage for the first time, eventaully losing to Indonesia 2–0 on aggregate.
Current squad
The following players were named in the squad for the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualification playoffs first leg vs Mongolia on 9 February 2011.
Recent call-ups
The following players have been called up for the Philippines within the past 12 months.
Previous squads
- AFF Championship squads
| - AFC Challenge Cup squads
| - Southeast Asian Games squads
|
- *Squads for all editions of the Far Eastern Games and the four editions of the Asian Games the Philippines has entered are unknown.
Coaches
| |  Noel Casilao (1993–1996) Juan Cutillas (1996–2000)- Rodolfo Alicante (2000)
 Masataka Imai (2001)
| - Sugao Kambe (2002–2003)
- Aris Caslib (2004–2007)
- Norman Fegidero (2008)
- Juan Cutillas (2008–2009)
| |
