Writer's Note: The Filipinas are bound for their second consecutive FIFA Women's World Cup in 2027, but this time, they arrive with something they did not have during their maiden appearance: the belief that they can go further.
Since their historic debut, the team has grown in experience, confidence and expectation. The challenge now is not simply to be at the World Cup, but to continue scaling greater heights and establish the Philippines among Asia's emerging forces.
This series brings you conversations with the players themselves as they reflect on their journeys, the growth of the national team and what it means to carry the Philippines into Brazil 2027.
There is a difference between wearing the Philippines jersey and understanding what it means to wear it.
Hali Long learned that difference after more than a decade with the national team.
She has worn it through uncertainty and breakthrough, through empty stadiums and historic nights, through a first World Cup qualification that felt surreal and a second that felt like confirmation. She has witnessed the Filipinas evolve from a team chasing a place on the global stage into one expected to stay there.
Through it all, Long has remained anchored to the same idea: the jersey is bigger than the player wearing it.
"I don't care if my name is on the jersey or not. It's about the flag and who represents it," Long told ESPN. "That has never changed. That was what I was taught when I joined the team. That's what I had to learn 10-plus years ago."
That philosophy has followed Long through the most significant chapter in the Filipinas' history, and now places her at the center of what comes next.
Long was part of the Philippines' breakthrough qualification for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup after the Filipinas reached the semifinals of the AFC Women's Asian Cup in India in 2022, beating Thailand and Indonesia in the group stage before edging Chinese Taipei on penalties in the quarterfinals.
The achievement was historic, but the circumstances made it difficult to fully absorb.
"Qualifying during the pandemic felt bittersweet," Long recalled. "We had so many bouts of COVID going into India, and also in India, it was so emotionally taxing."
The Philippines had made history, but the experience was marked by isolation and uncertainty, with family, friends and supporters largely absent.
"I was so thankful that we had qualified, but I was ultimately happy that it was over."
Three years later, qualification for the 2027 Women's World Cup carried a very different weight.
Coming off the Philippines' first SEA Games gold medal, the Filipinas carried that momentum into the 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup qualifying campaign and secured their second consecutive World Cup appearance with a 2-0 win over Uzbekistan in the playoff.
This time, there was no sense that the breakthrough might be a one-off.
"It just felt like proper growth," Long said. "It solidified that we deserve to be on a global stage."
The achievement also reflected how much expectations around the Filipinas have changed.
"We said that after the first time that this isn't just a one-off," Long said. "We want to be able to do this time and time again."
Now, the challenge is no longer simply reaching the World Cup. It is building a program capable of returning to it and competing for more when it gets there.
Long believes that begins with what happens underneath the senior team.
The Philippines' rise has been aided by its vast diaspora and players who have moved into the senior squad relatively quickly. But Long sees the need for a stronger pathway where young Filipina players can develop towards the national team rather than having to make the jump once they reach senior level.
"We're doing everything top-down," Long said. "Our senior team is doing well, so let's continue the youth programs, when it should be the youth rising up and pushing up the senior teams."
For Long, that is one of the clearest signs of progress: younger players are now arriving into an environment that already expects more.
"I think my ultimate goal is that there were stepping stones before me that I got to walk on, and now I'm placing my own," she said. "Now I get to watch other girls place their own."
The Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya offer another opportunity to do that.
The Filipinas return to the continental stage with greater experience and expectation, while the tournament gives younger players a chance to test themselves against stronger opposition alongside veterans such as Long.
For a team preparing for Brazil 2027, it is another measure of how far the Filipinas have come, and how much further they can go.
For Long, it is also a chance to help set the standard for those who will eventually take her place.
Her own journey began with plenty still to learn. She had to navigate the complexities of representing the Philippines while growing up in America, ask questions and find her place within a national team that would ultimately shape her as much as she helped shape it.
"I've changed as a person. I've changed as a player because of the national team," Long said.
That experience has changed the way she views leadership. It is less about being the voice at the front and more about making sure the players behind her have a stronger foundation than she did.
"Not everyone gets to do this," Long said. "I get to do this. I don't have to do this. I get to. I have the opportunity."
That sense of privilege is at the heart of why she continues to play.
Her family, friends, teammates and the people who helped her along the way all form part of her motivation. But when Long talks about what drives her, the answer is ultimately bigger than football.
"My why is the country. My why is the girls. My why is so much bigger than football."
For more than a decade, Long has helped carry the Philippines through a period of transformation.
Now, with the Filipinas heading towards another World Cup and a new generation begins to emerge, her role in the team has changed.
She is no longer simply part of the story of how the Philippines got here. She is helping set the direction where it goes next.
And when the time eventually comes for someone else to wear the jersey, Long wants them to inherit more than a shirt.
She wants them to inherit a team that believes it belongs.
