Next Goal Wins (2014 film)

In 2001, American Samoa lost 31–0 to Australia, the worst loss in international football history, and have been dogged by defeat ever since. They want to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, but continue to lose on the pitch. To help turn their luck around, the Football Federation American Samoa hire Dutch-born, America-based coach Thomas Rongen.[3]

Over the next three weeks, Rongen trains the team, and introduces some players based overseas, until they can acquit themselves with pride at the qualifiers at the OFC World Cup Qualification.

Jaiyah Saelua, a member of the squad since 2003, is a fa'afafine and is the first transgender player to compete in a FIFA World Cup qualifier.[4][5]

The American Samoa football team had refused permission to numerous film and TV crews before being approached by Brett and Jamison, the directors were given permission to film the team because they aimed to celebrate the fact that the team continued to play in the face of their defeats. The film was shot on 5k resolution using a RED Epic camera over two visits to the island of six and eight weeks respectively.[6]

The film had its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on 19 April 2014.[7] It was released in the United Kingdom on 9 May.[3]

Next Goal Wins received overwhelmingly positive reviews from both critics and audiences. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 100% approval rating based on 30 reviews, with a rating average of 7.6/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Finding beauty in sports beyond the mere satisfaction on winning, Next Goal Wins is a moving documentary filled with a lovable array of underdogs".[8] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 71 out of 100, based on reviews by 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[9]

In the UK the film was admired by those who loved football and those who didn't. Representing the latter, Mark Kermode reviewed the film twice. In The Observer he gave Next Goal Wins four stars out of five and wrote that "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."[10] While on his film review programme with Simon Mayo on BBC 5 Live he admitted that the film made him both cry and punch the air.[11] In the New Statesman, Arsenal fan Mark Lawson called Next Goal Wins, "one of the best films about football",[12] because it will appeal to football fans and the football indifferent alike.

Across the rest of the world the coverage was also positive. In The New York Times Anita Gates called the film "splendid celebration-of-humanity documentary" comparing its best moments to an Edith Wharton novel.[13] A number of reviewers remarked that interest in soccer or even sport was not necessary to enjoy the film.[14][15] Despite their largely positive reviews, Liam Lacey in The Globe and Mail noted that the film was predictable[16] and in the Los Angeles Times Sheri Linden wrote that there is nothing exceptional about the film cinematically.[15]

Next Goal Wins won the Special Jury Award as part of the Documentary Film Competition at the 2014 Abu Dhabi Film Festival and was also nominated for a Black Pearl Award for Best Documentary Feature at the same festival. The same year it won the Best Documentary award at the British Independent Film Awards. In 2015 the film was nominated for Documentary of the Year at the London Critics Circle Film Awards 2015.

In August 2019, Variety reported that director Taika Waititi would oversee a feature film adaption of Next Goal Wins for The Walt Disney Company under their 20th Century Fox banner. Waititi will co-write the script with Iain Morris. Garrett Basch, Jonathan Cavendish, Andy Serkis, Mike Brett, and Steve Jamison will serve as producers. The production will be a joint venture between Fox Searchlight, and The Imaginarium. Principal photography is scheduled for late 2019. Michael Fassbender was announced to star in the film adaption in the role of Thomas Rongen.[17]

• Official website
• Next Goal Wins at IMDb
• Next Goal Wins at Rotten Tomatoes