Football Ferns to face Philippines after 7.7 quake cancels Panama games

The Football Ferns will look to end 2026 on a high with two games against the Philippines after their matches against Panama were cancelled because of an earthquake.

A magnitude 7.7 earthquake in Panama forced the fixtures in that country to be scrapped and the touring party to return to New Zealand.

Their games against the Philippines will be at Wellington’s Porirua Park on November 29 and December 4, with coach Michael Mayne keen to show his team’s capabilities after so long away from the pitch.

“Prior to [Panama] we hadn’t toured since June, so there’s a lot of work built into these last two windows that we’d planned and I was really pleased with the first four or five days we were on the ground over in Panama,” Mayne told Newstalk ZB.

“Some of the things we developed off the pitch took a step forward. I thought on the pitch we just tweaked our session design a little bit as well, so that was good and then the earthquake came at an interesting time.

“I was one slide away from naming the team for the first match and then we got the big earthquake come through.

The Football Ferns will play together for the first time since June when they take on the Philippines at Porirua Park. Photo / Photosport

“So, I wouldn’t say it was the nicest experience to be part of. I think obviously my role then takes on a very different look very quickly and whilst we had to maintain the direction we had until we had a bit more information, at the same time I was very wary what we’d gone through.”

He said aftershocks and evacuations had made some within the camp feel uneasy.

“I think the impact on, for the players and the progression as we go towards Brazil [Women’s World Cup], there was definitely an impact on the work we wanted to do but at the same time we all got everybody out safe and sound and obviously now we can turn our attention to this next window.”

The 41-year-old said he was pleased at news of the fixtures against the Asian nation and these were the type of games he felt the team needed before the World Cup draw in mid-December.

“These are critical fixtures. Unfortunately, losing those two games against Panama means there’s probably just a bit more emphasis on what we do in these two games, both from a results point of view and winning formula point of view, but also from a squad lens looking towards Brazil and what I need to see going into the next year.

“So yeah, there’s some really, really exciting stuff that should come from this tour. The main thing is that we spend the next couple weeks really looking at the playing group and what we need on the ground in a few weeks time.”

The Football Ferns last played in June, losing 2-1 to Haiti and drawing 0-0 with Morocco, while the Philippines played in the Asian Games in September, losing to Japan in the playoffs, and more recently won one and lost one against Peru this month.