INDIA --- Jessica Miclat and the Philippines scored the first World Cup berth for the country Sunday edging out Chinese Taipei in a penalty shootout.

The Philippines had a 1-0 second half lead before Chinese Taipei knotted things up in the 83rd minute to send the match to extra time. No goals in the extra periods put a World Cup berth to a penalty shootout which the Malditas won, 4-3, to celebrate a World Cup berth and a trip to the AFC Asian Cup's semifinals. Miclat started and played all 120 minutes even getting a chance in the shootout despite her attempt being saved. Now Miclat and UCI's goalkeeper coach Ludo Antunes coaching for the Philippines have secured a ticket to the 2023 World Cup taking place in Australia and New Zealand.

Should she make the roster in 2023, Miclat will become the second Anteater to play in the any World Cup including the Women's World Cup joining Simone Ferrara Carmichael who played as part of the New Zealand national team in their trip to the 2007 games in China.

The AFC Asian Cup continues with the semifinals played on Thursday, February 3. The Malditas are matched up with Korea Republic at 6:00 AM with a spot in the final on the line.

In three group stage matches, the Philippines earned six points with a 1-0 win over Thailand and 6-0 win over Indonesia sandwiched around a 4-0 loss to Australia to finish in second to automatically advance to the knockout round. The quarterfinals begin Sunday with the Philippines taking on Chinese Taipei with the winner earning one of the six berths for the AFC automatically. The loser will still have a chance at a berth in a consolation pool yet to be determined along with an inter-confederation play-off opportunity as well.

Miclat has contributed starting each group stage match playing 70 minutes against Thailand, 87 against Australia, and hitting a high mark with her first international goal vs. Indonesia on a penalty kick in the 74th minute Thursday. That goal made it 4-0, and she also assisted on a goal in the first half to make it 2-0.
 

2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup	Date	Time	Follow / Result	Jessica Miclat
Group Stage vs. Thailand	Jan 21	4:00 AM PST	W, 1-0	Start, played 70'
Group Stage vs. Australia	Jan 24	2:00 AM PST	L, 0-4	Start, played 87'
Group Stage vs. Indonesia	Jan 27	6:00 AM PST	W, 6-0	Goal, Assist
Quarterfinals vs. Chinese Taipei	Jan 30	6:00 AM PST	W, 1-1 (4-3)	Start, full 120'
Semifinals vs. Korea Republic	Feb 3	12:00 AM PST	L, 0-2	Start, played 86'

The road to the 2023 Women's World Cup continued with qualification tournaments resuming in 2022. One of those tournaments is the AFC Women's Asian Cup taking place in India.

Throughout the Fall of 2021, 24 Asian countries matched up to be 1 of the 12 qualifying countries for the 2022 Asian Cup that determines the Asian slots for the 2023 Women's World Cup. Among those countries were the Philippines and Jessica Miclat looking to qualify. The Philippines were placed in a group with Nepal and Hong Kong needing to win the group to advance. Two late goals avoided a shock result to Nepal, and a 2-1 win over Hong Kong provided the necessary points to advance. Miclat was front and center starting each match including the full 90 and extra time against Nepal.

Last week, the Philippines announced their squad for the Asian Cup Tournament which includes Miclat among the 23 players. The tournament begins for them on January 21 as they learned their path would begin in the group stage grouped with Australia, Thailand, and Indonesia. The squad needs to finish in the top two in the group to secure a spot in the knockout stage. Even a third-place finish could advance them if they are 1 of the 2 best of the three third-place teams from the three groups.

With the Women's World Cup being expanded to 32 countries in 2023, the Asian Football Confederation's allocation has grown to six teams, which includes host Australia. There is also an inter-confederation play-off where two Asian countries will earn spots in the 10-squad field for the final three World Cup spots. Countries reaching the semifinals will secure four of slots with the fifth-place team also being determined and earning a spot. Sixth and seventh place will earn spots in the play-off.

Miclat enters the tournament with six caps for the national team, and has a chance to become the second Anteater to play in the Women's World Cup. Simone Ferrara was the first as a UCI alum playing for New Zealand in the 2007 tournament. Earlier in 2021, freshman Laila El Behery played with Egypt in the first round of qualifying in Africa. El Behery scored once in the two-legged tie with Tunisia, but Egypt's run ended in the first round with an aggregate 7-2 loss. More Anteaters may get the chance with Mexico as the CONCACAF women's championship begins qualifying in February. Janelly Farias and Kiana Palacios each played for Mexico during the last qualifications falling one match short of reaching the tournament.

Joining Miclat and the squad is Anteater volunteer assistant and goalkeeper coach, Ludo Antunes, who joined UC Irvine this season.

Each match of the tournament can be seen with a subscription to Paramount+ streaming platform.