The legacy left by the FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup Philippines 2025™ will continue to resonate across the Southeast Asian nation long after Brazil lifted the freshly minted trophy at the PhilSports Arena in the Filipino capital, Manila. The Philippines will always have the honour of hosting the inaugural edition of the tournament, part of FIFA’s wide-ranging investment to accelerate the women’s game globally. Football’s world governing body have worked closely with the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) to also ensure tangible benefits are delivered long into the future. With that goal in mind, FIFA and the PFF launched a strategy for the tournament named ‘Beyond the Court: Futsal Impact Initiatives’. The focus includes growing futsal in the Philippines, increasing and sustaining participation across all ages, genders, and ability levels, and promoting and developing the game as an exciting sport for Filipinos.

While legacy-focussed projects will continue into the future, numerous activities took place before and during the 16 days of tournament action.

A major refurbishment and uplifting of the PhilSports Arena was carried out prior to the arrival of the world’s futsal elite. Discussions between the PFF and the Philippine Sports Commission are ongoing on how to best make use of the tournament facilities for inter-city leagues, and serve the young players inspired by the action on the court during the first FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup.

The tournament contributed to the refurbishment of the Tuloy sa Don Bosco Foundation’s court in Alabang, Muntinlupa with the installation of world-class flooring. Used by participating teams such as Italy as a training venue, the venue will benefit the foundation – which cares for over 100 orphaned children - long into the future. The foundation proudly counts current Philippines national futsal team member Lanie Ortillo among the many it has aided over the decades. Father Rocky Evangelista, the Salesian priest who founded the Tuloy Foundation, said: “We are deeply grateful to FIFA and the PFF for this donation and for making Tuloy a part of this historic moment. Turning our gym into a World Cup training hall affirms our mission – that every child has the right to play. Your support encourages us to push the development of futsal even further in the Philippines. “With FIFA’s support, we will continue to do our part in nurturing a love for futsal and football in our country, especially among less privileged children and youth. This is fully aligned with our mission that every child has the right to play, to grow, and to be inspired, and to help disadvantaged children build character through football and futsal. We pray for a continuing and growing partnership.”

A total of 150 balls – 100 footballs and 50 futsal balls – were distributed to futsal and football communities, universities and organisations in the Philippines to thank them for their commitment and ongoing efforts in developing the sport, especially for younger generations. One of the FIFA Ball Turnover Distribution events was at Tuloy sa Don Bosco and took place in the presence of FIFA Head of Olympics, Futsal & Beach Soccer, Kasra Haghighi; PFF Deputy General Secretary Michael Kevin Goco; and FIFA Head of Women’s Refereeing, Bibiana Steinhaus-Webb, who is also an ambassador for Beyond the Court initiatives.

“I want to thank FIFA for bringing the world's stage to our nation. This opens up more opportunity for our nation to grow the sport and be part of the world when it comes to futsal,” said Mark Dennis Balbin, head coach Tondo of FC, whose club benefitted from the ball distribution. “Now people will look at this as a nation building and hopefully the futsal communities around the country can make more efforts to make the sport bigger and better creating our own culture of play the bayanihan way,” added the community coach referencing a core Filipino value and tradition of communal unity and cooperation.

Chester De Torres, whose club Gawad Kalinga SipaG FC also benefitted, said: “We at GK SipaG would like to thank FIFA for its generous donation of futsal and footballs. For our club, balls, are simply tools for something larger - which is teaching life skills, values formation, and showing kids how to dream big. Sport is a great simulation of life, and through football and futsal, we teach kids how life lessons on how to work as a team, lead, collaborate, and achieve great things together.”

In the context and unique opportunity of the tournament being hosted in the Philippines, FIFA departments helped create programmes to help support and promote the development of futsal in the form of the Women’s Football and Futsal Strategy and League Development. Three online sessions and a mid-tournament workshop in Manila for various local representatives were part of the Women’s Football and Futsal Strategy focussed on long term plan for women’s football and futsal growth and development in the country. Gabrielle del Rosario, co-founder of Alon and Araw, a non-profit organisation that empowers youth through football/futsal/beach football and sustainability, said: “The insights from the FIFA experts were invaluable, but just as meaningful was the sense of community among fellow women who share the same passion for football and futsal for girls. Hearing stories, experiences, and even struggles that felt so familiar made me feel less alone in this work. “It was refreshing to exchange ideas and learn best practices from coaches from all over the Philippines. As someone who leads my own community, the workshop was especially empowering - it reminded me that we’re part of a bigger movement, and that the challenges we face are shared, but so are the solutions.”

As part of the futsal pathway development, FIFA’s League Development programme was used to establish a series of regional community tournaments called the Filipina5 Futsal Fiesta. First stages ran in various regions, after which the winners of each local tournament had the opportunity to travel to Manila for the final competition and to engage first-hand with the tournament. For many youngsters it was the trip of a lifetime, being their first time in the capital and first time in a plane. These are days they will never forget: meeting and connecting with futsal players from other regions, sharing experiences beyond their own communities, and watching matches live inside a world-class arena. “The Filipina5 Futsal Fiesta embodies our vision of inclusion, empowerment, and excellence,” concluded PFF President John Gutierrez. “It’s a celebration of how far we’ve come and how much further we can go when we give Filipinas the platform to shine.”