Mark Kermode, Observer film critic 

Next Goal Wins review – uplifting documentary about world’s worst football team

A charming film about the struggles of American Samoa's national side to improve its performance finds Mark Kermode punching the air
  
  

Next Goal Wins: it will have you in tears.
Next Goal Wins: it will have you in tears. Photograph: PR

Having infamously lost 31-0 to Australia, the "world's worst football team" American Samoa attempt to regain a sense of national pride by enlisting a coach and a couple of related off-islanders to help them rise from the bottom of the league during the World Cup qualifiers. Whether or not you give two hoots about "the beautiful game" (and I don't), this charming and uplifting documentary will have you cheering for the underdogs and wishing that all footballers were this humble, determined and just plain decent. The star is transgender player Jaiyah Saelua, who tackles hard and comes up smiling, winning the respect of gruff coach Thomas Rongen, a tough nut with personal tragedy in his past who is reduced to tears by the efforts of his team. You'll be the same; watching this was the first time I have ever punched the air because a football sailed into the back of a net. And very probably the last.

 

Leave a Comment

Required fields are marked *

*

*