The Philippines women's soccer team will play their first ever World Cup match in Dunedin, New Zealand.

When the Philippines soccer team faces Switzerland in a few hours time on Friday at the Women’s World Cup, they’ll be the first team of any gender from the Southeast Asian nation to make it to the tournament boosted by a contingent of dual US nationals players.

Led by coach Alen Stajcic, who formerly coached the Australian Women’s National Team, the squad will make history no matter the result of Friday’s game.

Stajcic took the helm of the Filipino team ahead of the World Cup qualifiers under a three month contract, with the goal of trying to give them the best possible chance to qualify.

He told CNN that a year and a half later, himself and all his coaching staff are still there.

Since Stajcic took over as coach, he said the team has come a long way. A number of different objectives have been achieved in terms of building up the playing experience building up depth within the squad.

To prepare for their first appearance in a World Cup, Stajcic said the team’s first objective was to try and play against as many different playing styles as they could.