Next Goal Wins – a film about the worst football team in the world, based on real events

Next Goal Wins is Taiki Waititi’s new film (What We Do in the Shadows, Thor: Ragnarok, Jojo Rabbit), based on documentary of the same name in 2014.

The movie tells about the football team of American Samoa, known as the worst team in the world. During the selection for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, the national team of American Samoa lost to the national team of Australia with a fantastic score 31:0. In general, during that qualifying tournament, the national team of American Samoa missed 57 goals without scoring a single one.

The documentary Next Goal Wins and its live-action adaptation by Taiki Waititi tells how the national team recovers from this embarrassing defeat by hiring Dutch-American soccer coach Thomas Rongen. Such a Ted Lasso, but about real events. The role of coach Rongen was performed by the famous actor Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs, 12 Years a Slave, Macbeth).

Next Goal Wins will be released on November 17, 2023.