Every World Cup Movie, Ranked | FIFA World Cup Match

For a tournament often billed as the world’s greatest sporting spectacle, the men’s World Cup seems curiously underrepresented in cinema. By our reckoning, there have been only 20 fictional films — less than one per tournament cycle — themed around the Jules Rimet trophy since it was first lifted back in 1930, and we’re not counting the Homeless World Cup (hence no The Beautiful Game), or the women’s World Cup (which, sadly, means no Air Bud: World Pup).

Of course, Hollywood is always going to gravitate more toward America’s insular sporting worlds. Let’s not forget there was a 40-year gap where the USMNT didn’t even qualify. The finesse and flow of a high-stakes football match is notoriously difficult to recreate, too. But not every film about FIFA’s pride and joy has required Messi-like skills. The movies have portrayed the World Cup in everything from cringe comedies and coming-of-age pictures to political parables and period pieces — not to mention a corporate drama so tone deaf it spawned a special category at the Razzies. With America ’26 underway, here’s a look at those movies that missed an absolute sitter and those that spectacularly hit the back of the net.

20. United Passions

Year: 2015
Run time: 1h 50m
Director: Frédéric Auburtin

United Passions, a hagiographic vanity project that sold FIFA as the bastion of sporting morality, achieved instant infamy after hitting cinemas the same week the same organization was investigated for widespread corruption. Of course, 90 percent bankrolled by Sepp Blatter and his cronies, the critical flop (a zero Rotten Tomatoes rating) and commercial loser ($171,000 at the box office against a $30 million budget, America’s lowest-grossing opening ever) was never going to paint a well-balanced picture. Even so, it’s still staggering that self-congratulations such as “We’ve done more for Black people than all the U.N. resolutions!” ever made it past the first draft of its screenplay. It doesn’t help that the virtually nonexistent story revolves not around the on-the-field action of the World Cup but the boardroom admin behind it: The film’s biggest source of tension is a will-they-won’t-they sponsorship deal with Coca-Cola. It’s little surprise that both its leading man, Tim Roth (“This is a role that will have my father turning in his grave”), and director Frédéric Auburtin (“I was not paid to be the Che Guevara of the sports business”) have distanced themselves from a disaster whose only passion is for blowing smoke up Blatter’s backside. ➽ Available on demand.

19. Balls Up

Year: 2026
Run time: 1h 44m
Director: Peter Farrelly

Adding to the landfill of Amazon’s so-called “action comedies” that disappear from the public consciousness quicker than you can say “easy paycheck,” Balls Up brings together the unlikely buddy duo of Paul Walter Hauser and Mark Wahlberg for this list’s most tenuous World Cup tie-in: the bid-gone-awry story of a plan to secure the tournament’s official condom. As you’d expect, director Peter Farrelly — desperately trying but failing to recapture the glories of his gross-out heyday — throws in plenty of juvenile one-liners and shock-value set pieces (a coked-up alligator, a blood-sucking fish which swims up the human urethra) as the two squabbling salesmen incur the wrath of an entire nation. But they all fall flatter than a used rubber, not helped by a typically charmless “no homo” performance from Wahlberg as a man who not only prevents Brazil from winning the World Cup but forces an alcoholic to break his nine-year sobriety. We’re supposed to root for this guy? Even Hauser can’t rescue this culturally insensitive, stereotype-perpetuating nonsense. ➽ Streaming on Amazon’s Prime Video.

18. Goal III: Taking on the World

Year: 2009
Run time: 1h 36m
Director: Andy Morahan

Essentially the footballing film equivalent to Divergent, Goal! seriously overestimated the potential interest for a long-running franchise. The 2005 original was given a relatively large $33 million to play with, directed by a future Emmy winner, and graced with cameos from legends Alan Shearer and Zinedine Zidane. Completing the hat trick in pitiful style, Taking on the World was shot on a shoestring budget, helmed by the man behind Highlander III, and forced to rely on stock footage of real-life footballers. Perhaps its most red card-worthy offense was relegating Kuno Becker’s charismatic lead — the series’ only mainstay — to bit part, focusing instead on two new England internationals without an ounce of personality. Their clearly green-screened route to and through the 2006 World Cup, involving everything from a Romanian vampire film to a mood-sapping fatal car accident, is also quite frankly bizarre. In fact, the only thing that rings true is how the Three Lions end up exiting the tournament. Yes, even in straight-to-video fiction, they can’t avoid missing penalties. ➽ Not licensed for streaming in the United States.

17. Lange Flate Ballær

Year: 2005
Run time: 1h 37m
Directors: Bjørn Fast Nagell, Harald Zwart

As with the likes of Get Hard and Freddy Got Fingered, you get the feeling that Lange Flate Ballær (Long Flat Balls) was made simply to sneak a juvenile innuendo title into cinemas. The Norwegian comedy is nowhere near as offensive, but it isn’t much funnier, either. (To be fair, the humor may well have got lost in translation.) Directed by Harald Zwart (The Karate Kid remake), the caper follows six garage workers who, on learning that their livelihoods are now under threat, decide to pool all their resources together for one last hurrah cheering on their country at the 2006 World Cup. The gang even help Norway win the whole thing, a typically over-the-top case of wish fulfilment considering that in the real world, Åge Hareide’s men didn’t even qualify. Remarkably, Lange Flate Ballær spawned two non-footballing sequels, with the military-themed follow-up featuring a U.S. Navy Admiral played by none other than Don Johnson. ➽ Not licensed for streaming in the United States.

16. The Game of Their Lives

Year: 2005
Run time: 1h 41m
Director: David Anspaugh

Not to be confused with the same-named doc about North Korea’s 1966 campaign, The Game of Their Lives travels back to one of football’s biggest shocks of the post-war era: The New York Times reportedly believed it was a hoax on first hearing USA had defied the colossal 500-1 odds to beat England at the first Brazil World Cup. But other than Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale rocking up as the opposition center forward, this cinematic retelling lacks such unpredictability. Director David Anspaugh, whose resume includes small-town basketball tale Hoosiers and against-all-odds college football biopic Rudy, sticks rigidly to his sporting underdog formula, only skimming the surface of the David-versus-Goliath encounter. A glorified Wikipedia page, you could say, if not for the fact it’s riddled with factual inaccuracies. The drama also fails to get under the skin of its immaculately coiffured players, although Gerard Butler impresses with some goalkeeping skills which, along with his terrible ’00s rom-coms, suggest he’s in the wrong job. ➽ Streaming for free on Tubi.

15. See You in Montevideo

Year: 2014
Run time: 2h 22m
Director: Dragan Bjelogrlić

Interestingly, Dragan Bjelogrlić felt compelled to shine a light on Yugoslavia’s early World Cup history — namely their showing in the 1930 inaugural tournament — after watching The Game of Their Lives. It’s unsurprising, therefore, that See You in Montevideo, a follow-up to the origin story Montevideo, God Bless You, takes a similar nuts-and-bolts approach. But the director has more to work with than an on-the-field upset, the unfancied nation also having to contend with an exhausting trip across the Atlantic, temptations both romantic and financial, and a breakdown in team spirit that spills over into violence. The pivotal match itself — the semifinal encounter against hosts Uruguay — is also more convincingly depicted and dramatic, particularly for how one of the goals is assisted by an interfering policeman (incredibly, this did actually happen). ➽ Not licensed for streaming in the United States.

14. Next Goal Wins

Year: 2023
Run time: 1h 44m
Director: Taika Waititi

Following in the footsteps of Eddie the Eagle and Cool Runnings, Next Goal Wins focuses on a real-life sporting underdog that even Hollywood recognizes is incapable of being turned into a champion team. In this case, it’s American Samoa, the Pacific island nation who, having just been thumped 31-0 by Australia in a record-breaking (for all the wrong reasons) World Cup 2002 qualifier, sit rock bottom of FIFA’s world rankings. Step forward former MLS Coach of the Year Thomas Rongen (Michael Fassbender), tasked not with making the tournament but simply restoring some national pride. The 2014 documentary with the same name was so compelling it left you biting your nails for a relatively meaningless game whose final whistle had blown several years prior. But unfortunately, unable to keep his trademark goofiness in check, director Taika Waititi lessens its impact, with pioneer Jaiyah Saelua (Kaimana) — the first and still the only trans player to compete at such a level — in particular, done dirty. The normally reliable Fassbender also has an off day with an uninspiring, dour performance that’s the pure antithesis of Ted “Aww Shucks” Lasso. ➽ Streaming for free on Tubi.

13. Africa United

Year: 2010
Run time: 1h 30m
Director: Debs Paterson

Perhaps surprisingly, Balls Up isn’t the only World Cup film to heavily feature a condom. One is also used to construct a makeshift football by the young lead in this scrappy, pan-African adventure. Thankfully, Deborah Gardner-Paterson’s directorial debut isn’t as reliant on dick jokes. Centered on three Rwandan youngsters who defy their strict, joy-defying parents (“Africa doesn’t need dreams, it needs to wake up”) to make a 3,000-mile trip to the 2010 World Cup, Africa United is a curious watch. At times, particularly when the kids outmaneuver the grown-ups, it resembles an Enid Blyton flight of fancy. But we don’t remember the Famous Five ever picking up a child soldier or a teenage sex worker along their travels, nor the threat of hunger, tuberculosis, and the Congo militia. The tragic ending, meanwhile, could traumatize those expecting a colorful, carefree romp for life. ➽ Available on demand.

12. Pelé: Birth of a Legend

Year: 2016
Run time: 1h 47m
Directors: Jeff Zimbalist, Michael Zimbalist

Netflix’s recent miniseries The Third Star showed how Pelé guided Brazil in 1970 to their third World Cup. Birth of a Legend, however, depicts how he did the same 12 years earlier for their first. Although executive produced by the real legend (he even makes a cameo nearly crashing into his fictionalized younger self) the film largely avoids the hero worship you might expect. Played with aplomb by newcomer Kevin de Paula, the striker’s nifty footwork, rooted in the tradition of ginga, speaks louder than any self-congratulations. But his journey from shining shoes in the slums to terrorizing defenses in the world’s biggest stadiums relies too heavily on the flashy montage to pack an emotional punch. Indeed, director siblings Jeff and Michael Zimbalist seem hesitant to explore any wider issues, a surprise considering how effectively they connected the dots for their ESPN 30 for 30 contribution The Two Escobars. File under solid but unspectacular. ➽ Streaming for free on Tubi.

11. Shooting for Socrates

Year: 2014
Run time: 1h 31m
Director: James Erskine

After documenting England’s tear-jerking run at Italia ’90 in the evocative One Night in Turin, James Erskine switched his attention to Northern Ireland’s slightly less iconic campaign four years earlier. Their biggest achievement at Mexico ’86 was a 1-1 draw with Algeria. The entirely fictionalized Shooting for Socrates, therefore, lacks the sporting drama’s usual triumph-over-adversity narrative arc. It does, however, capture a football fan’s rites of passage — watching your first World Cup — through the lens of a birthday boy (Game of Thrones’ Art Parkinson) just as excited to see his homeland take on the mighty Brazil, and their influential real-life playmaker Sócrates, as he is turning 10. Pity the film doesn’t stick with this more intimate angle as the exploits of coach Billy Bingham (John Hannah), sports reporter Jackie Fullerton (Conleth Hill), and abundance of supporting characters aren’t quite as involving. Like the team at its heart, it’s an admirably plucky but ultimately underwhelming affair. ➽ Not licensed for streaming in the United States.

10. Mexico ’86

Year: 2026
Run time: 1h 36m
Director: Gabriel Ripstein

Like United Passions, Netflix original Mexico ’86 roots itself in the behind-the-scenes bureaucracy of the World Cup. Unlike United Passions, however, it doesn’t present its pen-pushing crooks as the saviors of mankind. Here, Andor’s Diego Luna plays Martin de la Torre, a semi-charming, thick-mustached member of Mexico’s Football Federation who seizes an opportunity for greatness when a cash-strapped Colombia abruptly withdraws as the next tournament host. Cue a whole host of dodgy deals and shady string-pulling, not to mention an extramarital affair, as the entirely fictional — but no doubt true to life — character abandons any sense of morality. Returning to the director’s chair 11 years after drug-cartel drama 600 Miles, Gabriel Ripstein keeps things zipping along in an entertaining satire which, once again, highlights the rottenness at international football’s core. ➽ Streaming on Netflix.

9. The Miracle of Bern

Year: 2003
Run time: 1h 58m
Director: Sönke Wortmann

The Miracle of Bern was such a massive hit in Germany that director Sönke Wortmann was invited to document — and even sit on the bench of — the 2006 team that finished third in front of a home crowd. His first World Cup experience, however, took things back to 1954, when Sepp Herberger’s men defeated hot favorites Hungary in a final credited with spearheading the Wirtschaftswunder, a miracle of the economic kind. Viewers outside Germany may balk at how Wortmann attempts to paint the team as lovable underdogs. But the film is much more successful in tackling how the nation was still adjusting to life after Hitler. Peter Lohmeyer is brilliantly haunting as a visibly broken Soviet POW who struggles to reconnect with modern life, particularly the young son who now sees the country’s star striker as his dominant father figure. It’s a powerful, if occasionally jingoistic, insight into Germany’s postwar recovery. ➽ Not licensed for streaming in the United States.

8. Mike Bassett: England Manager

Year: 2001
Run time: 1h 29m
Director: Steve Barron

Arriving in the same year The Office revitalized the format, mockumentary Mike Bassett: England Manager charts the fortunes of a lower-league journeyman coach as he’s appointed to the highest post — and most poisoned chalice — in English football, basically only because no one else wanted it. Best known for directing the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Steve Barron has a blast skewering a culture almost as ridiculous as crime-fighting, pizza-eating amphibians, from the venomous media and hopelessly inept FA to the egotism of players paid more in a week than many spectators earn in a lifetime. There are aspects that haven’t aged well, like the voiceover provided by Martin Bashir, and the many references specific to turn-of-the-century UK. But Ricky Tomlinson is pitch perfect as the old-school, no-frills boss who writes his team sheets on the back of a cigarette packet, while fans still enraged by Maradona’s “Hand of God” goal will enjoy watching how Argentina got their World Cup comeuppance. With England’s subsequent very real campaign at South Korea/Japan ’02 drawing several parallels, the film proved to be strangely prophetic. ➽ Streaming for free on The Roku Channel.

7. La Gran Final

Year: 2006
Run time: 1h 26m
Director: Gerardo Olivares

Perhaps inspired by the entry below, La Gran Final also celebrates the dedication of World Cup fans in the world’s remotest regions, in this case, the Sahara Desert, Mongolia’s Altai Mountains, and the Amazon rainforest. Gerardo Olivares’ globe-trotting comedy sees various nomads and tribesmen move heaven and earth to watch the final between 2002 World Cup final between Germany and Brazil. Indeed, undeterred by the danger of military patrols and unforgiving conditions, the football obsessives resort to everything from stealing government electricity to peering through enemies’ windows to catch a glimpse of the game single-handedly won by the less problematic Ronaldo. It’s an enjoyably lightweight watch complemented by the kind of stunning, panoramic cinematography you’d expect from Nat Geo. ➽ Not licensed for streaming in the United States.

6. The Cup

Year: 1999
Run time: 1h 33m
Director: Khyentse Norbu

Arriving two years after Seven Years in Tibet and Kundun, this amiable comedy offers a slightly less ponderous insight into life within an Asian monastery. This despite being directed by a Tibetan Lama. Indeed, Khyentse Norbu, deemed the third incarnation of an 18th century saint, is equally interested in the universality of football — specifically the 1998 World Cup — as he is spiritual enlightenment. Filmed in Bhutan, set in India, but spoken in Tibetan, The Cup centers on a young football-obsessed refugee who manages to convince a kindly abbot that the upcoming final between France (a champion of Tibet’s cause) and Brazil is practically of holy significance. As the students and scholars embark on an adventure to rent and transport a television, they build a bond which bridges the generational and religious gaps. A love letter to the tournament’s unifying powers which invites you to leave all cynicism at the door. ➽ Available on demand.

5. Sixty-Six (2006)

Year: 2006
Run time: 1h 33m
Director: Paul Weiland

The only place to be on July 30, 1966, was at Wembley Stadium, or in front of a TV, watching England take on West Germany in the World Cup final. Unfortunately for the 12-year-old North Londoner at the heart of this low-key, low-stakes comedy, the momentous game just happened to coincide with his bar mitzvah. Sixty Six boasts a star-making performance from future Disney Channel pin-up Gregg Sulkin — unrecognizable as a bespectacled, asthmatic nerd — as the only kid in the land to begrudge the Three Lions’ progress, even resorting to voodoo in the hope they’ll crash out before his big day. Eddie Marsan also delivers a sympathetic turn as the sad sack dad worn down by the effects of capitalism and sometimes crippling OCD. Director Paul Weiland, who lived out the exact same bar-mitzvah scenario his protagonist does, nails the specifics of a summer that, for better and for worse, remains ingrained into the national psyche. ➽ Available on DVD.

4. The Year My Parents Went on Vacation

Year: 2006
Run time: 1h 50m
Director: Cao Hamburger

A slightly more melancholic World Cup–themed coming-of-age, this Brazilian drama takes place against the backdrop of the 1970 tournament won by Pelé and the political unrest that the dictator president Emílio Médici hoped it would distract from. Here, 12-year-old boy Mauro (Michel Joelsas) is shipped off to his grandfather shortly before kickoff by his parents, two fleeing leftists who promise they’ll return for the first game. But when they fail to show up and his temporary guardian dies, the youngster must find a way to ingratiate himself into an alien community. Director Cao Hamburger, whose mom and dad were arrested for hiding activists in the same era, draws upon both his own family’s experiences and his background in kids TV to capture the nation’s mood of fear mixed with fever pitch excitement through a child’s eye. ➽ Available on DVD.

3. Cup Final

Year: 1991
Run time: 1h 45m
Director: Eran Riklis

There are shades of World War I’s Christmas Day truce, when enemy soldiers briefly dropped their weapons to play a game of football, in this complex, thought-provoking drama. Cup Final stars the now-disgraced Moshe Ivgy as a young soldier taken hostage by an eight-man Palestinian foot patrol during his Israel homeland’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon. Although understandably fearing for his life, he soon finds common ground with his captors in the ongoing World Cup and the prospect of the Italians winning. Director Eran Riklis, who’d later spotlight Israel’s most successful basketball coach in documentary biopic Playoff, clearly understands the power sport can hold, even in the most desperate of circumstances. Supported by a gifted cast that includes Palestinian filmmaker Mohammad Bakri as a PLO commander, Riklis treats both sides with an equal amount of humanity and respect. Although he doesn’t avert his eyes from the horrors surrounding them, this is an antiwar film imbued with hope. ➽ Not licensed for streaming in the United States.

2. Saipan

Year: 2025
Run time: 1h 30m
Directors: Glenn Leyburn, Lisa Barros D’Sa

The feud between coach Mick McCarthy and captain Roy Keane might not mean anything to those unfamiliar with the machinations of Irish football circa 2002. But as this tragicomic dramatization shows, in their homeland, it was a fallout of epic proportions. “This is like our Princess Diana,” comes one of the many soundbites which help contextualize Saipan’s raison d’être: an argument about training standards which led to Keane flying home from the South Korea/Japan World Cup just 11 days before kick-off. Husband-and-wife directors Glenn Leyburn and Lisa Barros D’Sa play a little fast and loose with the truth (apparently the team’s hard-partying scenes are pure fiction). But they admirably don’t take sides, presenting the best and worst of both parties in a measured study of manhood, professionalism, and identity. As you’d expect, Steve Coogan nails McCarthy’s oft-dichotomous blend of gritty determination and easygoing modesty without descending into caricature (although there are a few Alan Partridge–esque moments). Éanna Hardwicke, meanwhile, is similarly impressive as the hothead whose national pride manifests itself in the most egotistical ways. ➽ Streaming on Mubi.

1. Offside

Year: 2006
Run time: 1h 28m
Director: Jafar Panahi

Don’t worry. You needn’t be familiar with the offside rule to enjoy this sociopolitical dramedy directed by Iranian New Wave veteran Jafar Panahi. In fact, there’s barely any football on display. Instead, most of the action takes place atop the Azazi Stadium roof, where a group of female fans are being held simply for trying to watch a 2006 World Cup qualifier. (Even 20 years on, Iran’s women are still largely prohibited from attending the men’s game.) Filmed while the very real encounter against Bahrain was playing out — two endings were prepared to correspond with its result — the freewheeling film fully recognizes the farcical nature of the situation; see how the guard tries to disguise one girl while escorting her to the toilet block, for example. But Panahi, inspired by his own daughter’s similar act of defiance, never loses sight of the policy’s unjustness, either, and the extremes required for something that in every other part of the world is naturally taken for granted. ➽ Streaming for free on The Roku Channel.