A 12th place finish at their debut world championship – China 2024 – ensured that the Philippines would take home a positive feeling from their new experience, and they did not have to wait long to qualify again, sealing a place at Croatia 2026 after finishing second in their continental qualifier last year.

At China 2024, the Philippines beat Australia and China 2-0 in the preliminary group to make it through to the main round where they lost to Spain, Argentina and Croatia 2-0, a step too far. The 9-16 placement round started off with a 2-1 defeat of Puerto Rico, before losing 2-1 to Vietnam and then 2-0 to Norway in the 11/12 placement match.

“We’re glad to be back in the world championship,” said head coach Joanna Franquelli to ihf.info. “Our goal is to perform our best in every match and hopefully improve from our 2024 ranking. We are confident that we will go to the main round, and then from there, we hope.

“Everyone who goes to any competition has the goal of winning, but our goal is to at least qualify for the quarter-finals. If not, then our goal is to be the highest-ranked team in Asia so we hope for the best. We prepared well, and we're just going all out with it.”

In general, Franquelli’s squad, led by captain Aurora Adriano, features athletes from different sporting backgrounds, transferring their talents to beach handball, with the average experience of the sport per athlete ranging from one to three years. This is best demonstrated in the squad for Croatia 2026 featuring five who played at China 2024 and five debutants.

At Croatia 2026, the Philippines will face Argentina, Denmark and debutants Benin in their preliminary group games, the South American side the only team faced before by the Asian team with Argentina winning their main round clash at China 2024 on their way to silver.

To get to Croatia 2026, Philippines qualified through their runners-up spot behind Vietnam at the 2025 CAHB Women’s African Beach Handball Championship in Oman.

Despite losing to the continental powerhouse Vietnam, Philippines narrowed their points difference in the two games from an overall 75-35 points score in 2023, to just 86-72 in 2025, earning praise from their competition.

“The fact that the Philippine team is close to us, is a good thing,” said Vietnam captain Ha Hanh to ihf.info while Franquelli was happy for what was to come at Croatia 2026.

“We had three new players including two goalkeepers, so this is a good start for them. Our goal was to qualify for the world championship so coming in second was enough for now – we are happy with the results and will look to improve at Croatia 2026 on our performances compared to our debut world championship in 2024.”

Franquelli’s side did not have a good preparation for Croatia 2026 though, competing at the 2026 Asian Beach Games where they lost all three of their group games 2-0, against Vietnam, Hong Kong and Thailand to go out at the preliminary group stage.

Despite that disappointment, Philippine Handball Federation Inc. President Ernesto Adalem is hopeful of beating that 2024 world championship 12th spot.

“We are hoping to do better than the last time and I’m very confident that we can flourish in this sport,” he said to local media in the build-up to Croatia 2026.

“That’s the goal. We want to surpass our finish last time but our immediate concern is to prepare strongly and continue building a competitive programme for Philippine handball.”

Coach: Joanna Franquelli

Key Players: Aurora Adriano, Chi Roque, Daphne Payadon

Qualification information: 2025 AHF Women’s Asian Beach Handball Championship – 2nd

History in Tournament: 2004-2022: DNQ, 2024: 12th

Group at Croatia 2026: Group D: Argentina, Denmark, Philippines, Benin