Film

Next Goal Wins

A charming sports comedy about a washed-up Dutch coach tasked with rescuing American Samoa's perpetually terrible national soccer team. It's warmhearted rather than cynical, funny without being mean, and genuinely moving about underdogs who don't know they're supposed to fail. For anyone who loves their sports movies with heart and humor in equal measure.

TMDb rating3.2

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like underdog sports comedies where the humour comes from warm, awkward human moments rather than gags, and you enjoy seeing a stubborn outsider slowly win over a team that doubts him.

Skip it if you want a fast, relentlessly funny ride; the jokes are gentle and the middle stretches lean on earnest character moments that some viewers will find slow going.

What it asks of you: It runs about 104 minutes and settles into an easy, affectionate rhythm, asking for patience with its sincere scenes and a willingness to let the comedy arrive quietly.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Ted Lasso2020

An American coach in a foreign land learning that believing in people matters more than winning. Both films find comedy and depth in earnest optimism, and they share a gift for making you care about unlikely characters.

But The relentless positivity can feel saccharine if you're in the mood for something darker or more cynical about sports and ambition.

Ted Lasso poster

DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story2004

A ragtag team nobody believes in fights their way to legitimacy. It's got the same blend of underdog comedy and genuine stakes, plus a willingness to be silly without losing sight of what matters.

But The humor is broader and occasionally cruder than Next Goal Wins, and some jokes have dated worse than others.

DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story poster

The Mighty Ducks1992

A coach transforms a hopeless kids' hockey team through belief and unconventional methods. Both celebrate the idea that outsiders and misfits can surprise everyone, including themselves.

But It's aggressively '90s in tone and sensibility, which can feel cheesy if you're not in the right headspace for it.

The Mighty Ducks poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Next Goal Wins

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople2016

Same director bringing the same blend of deadpan humor and genuine affection to outsiders learning to trust each other.

A cantankerous old man and a foster kid on the run become a team nobody expected to work. Taika Waititi (who also directed Next Goal Wins) has a gift for finding humor and real tenderness in misfits—this proves it.

But It's set in New Zealand wilderness and moves at a deliberately unhurried pace. If you want plot momentum, you won't find it here.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople poster
More like this (8)

Cool Runnings1993

Jamaican bobsledders chase an impossible dream at the Winter Olympics. It nails the exact tone Next Goal Wins is going for: funny, touching, and genuinely inspiring without winking at the audience.

But Some of the comedy lands softer now than it did thirty years ago, and the film occasionally leans on stereotypes.

Cool Runnings poster

Rocky Balboa2006

An underdog nobody expects gets his shot. The DNA is the same: a person or team starting from nowhere, gaining belief, and proving that showing up with heart matters as much as talent.

But It's considerably more serious and gritty, with less humor and more suffering. If you want lightness, this is the opposite tone.

Rocky Balboa poster

Ratatouille2007

A rat with no business being in a kitchen changes everything about how his team sees what's possible. Same theme: belief in the underdog, humor with real emotion, and finding family in unexpected places.

But It's animated and whimsical where Next Goal Wins is live-action and grounded. The registers are quite different despite the overlapping spirit.

Ratatouille poster

Goon2012

A hapless guy becomes a hockey enforcer and discovers he's better at belonging than he thought. It's funny and crude, but underneath is real warmth about misfits finding their place.

But The humor is significantly darker and more aggressive, with a lot of violence and profanity. It's a rougher movie in every sense.

Goon poster

Senna2010

A documentary about obsession and greatness that treats a sports story with real dramatic weight. If you loved the emotional core of Next Goal Wins and want to go deeper into what drives people in sports.

But It's deadly serious, focused on tragedy and ego. There's no humor here, and the mood is entirely different from a comedy.

Senna poster

Invincible2006

Mark Wahlberg as an everyman who tries out for the Philadelphia Eagles. It's sincere about the dream, funny about the struggle, and genuinely moving about what matters beyond winning.

But It's uneven tonally, occasionally strains credibility, and some scenes drag when the energy should be building.

Invincible poster

The Power of the Dog2021

Both explore how outsiders and misfits are perceived, but this one asks what happens when the vulnerable person doesn't get saved—when the system itself is broken.

A masterwork about masculinity, shame, and the masks men wear. It starts as a Western and becomes something far more psychologically complex and devastating. If you want to see what happens when you take the underdog story seriously and let it go dark.

But It's slow-burn and austere, with violence that matters and lingers. The emotional tone is bleak in ways Next Goal Wins never approaches.

The Power of the Dog poster

Conan the Barbarian1982

Both films subvert what the setup suggests they'll be, replacing cynicism with genuine warmth about misfits forming unexpected bonds.

A horror film that hijacks genre expectations and becomes something unexpectedly human about belonging and found family. It's genre cinema that understands what Next Goal Wins knows: that the real story is about people learning to care for each other.

But It's genuinely unsettling with gore and body horror, and the tonal shifts from comedy to dread will confuse or alienate viewers looking for consistency.

Conan the Barbarian poster

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