Need More Soccer? Watch These FIlms

Has the World Cup left you wanting more soccer? Fear not. Here are some films (and a TV show) to fill that void, suggested by UW Department of Cinema & Media Studies faculty and adjunct faculty. 

Some films are available on specific streaming platforms (information below is as of June 16, 2026); all can be rented on Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play, YouTube, and/or other services.

directed by Gurinder Chaddha, 2002, UK
Currently streaming on Disney+

‘Indian girls aren’t supposed to be playing football!’ but Jess Bamrah (Parminder Nagra), a London gal, must find a way to follow her passion for the beautiful game, which may lead to a full scholarship to an American university and professional futbol. But she must first win over her Sikh Indian family, who imagine Jess as a dutiful and modest young woman whose destiny lies in a preferably arranged marriage within her community.

Weaving in and out of this generously inclusive love letter to soccer, which also deftly reflects on the complications of multicultural identity and the history of diasporic migration, is a big colorful Indian wedding. This masterpiece of desi diaspora filmmaking comes with a popping soundtrack of Bollywood remixes, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Curtis Mayfield, and Basement Jaxx, and spirited cameos by soccer greats cheering Jess on, including Gary Linekar, Alan Hansen, and John Barnes. (And watch till the end, and David and Victoria make an appearance as well!)

Recommended by Sudhir Mahadevan
Associate Professor, Cinema & Media Studies
Associate Professor, Comparative History of Ideas

2026, directed by Gabriel Ripstein, Mexico
Currently streaming on Netflix

Mexico 86 is a Spanish-language satire about how Mexico won the bid to host the 1986 FIFA World Cup. A mixture of fact and fiction, the story is an account of the maneuverings and trickery used to secure the event for Mexico, which made it the first country to host the tournament twice. The film uses humor, irony, and exaggeration to expose and criticize administrative, societal, and political absurdities. On a certain level, it becomes a study of human behavior. As one clever critic has put it, “The film is more about poisoned ambition than who puts the ball in the net.”

Netflix has released this film at a moment when Mexico and the United States (along with Canada) are co-hosting the 2026 World Cup, an event that brings together many countries and purports to promote international unity through friendly competition. Yet the tension between the host countries, especially Mexico and the U.S. — largely rooted in immigration and drug trafficking issues — is palpable.  Corruption, a central topic portrayed humorously in the movie, also resonates with audiences in both countries.

Recommended by Lauro Flores
Professor, American Ethnic Studies
Adjunct Professor, Cinema & Media Studies
 

2006, directed by Jafar Panahi, Iran
Currently streaming on The Roku Channel

Women are banned from soccer games in Iran. A number of young women dress as men and try to slip into Tehran Stadium to watch the FIFA World Cup qualifying match between Iran and Bahrain. Those caught and arrested and taken to a holding area, where they experience the match vicariously and show that sports fandom does not stop at gender and crosses ideological barriers.

Recommended by Yomi Braester
Professor, Cinema & Media Studies
Byron W. and Alice L. Lockwood Professor in the Humanities

2006, directed by Andy Fickman, U.S.
Currently streaming on Amazon Prime, The Roku Channel, Tubi, Pluto TV

A beloved adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, She’s the Man’s theatrical release poster neatly previews the chaos awaiting its viewers. To quote said poster:  “Duke wants Olivia who is really Viola whose brother is dating Monique so she hates Olivia who’s with Duke to make Sebastian jealous who is really Viola who’s crushing on Duke who thinks she’s a guy….”

Translation: when soccer-lover Viola Hastings is barred from her high school’s soccer team because she’s a woman, she disguises herself as her twin brother Sebastian and joins the boy’s soccer team at a rival high school. In doing so, she finds herself juggling her persistent ex-boyfriend, Sebastian’s scorned former girlfriend, a new schoolmate crushing on “Sebastian,” and growing feelings for her new team captain/roommate…all while trying not to blow her cover. No pressure, right? 

Recommended by Golden Owens
Assistant Professor, Cinema & Media Studies

2020 - 2023, Apple TV
Currently streaming on Apple TV

By now, nearly everyone has heard of the feel-good hit of the pandemic era, Ted Lasso, in which the title character — originally invented for NBC Sports promos — is a displaced NCAA 'American football’ coach hired to coach a British football team. The show's fish-out-of-water premise makes it a good entry point for viewers unfamiliar with soccer, as demonstrated by the plentiful jokes about the offsides rule and relegation.

The show functions as a critique of toxic masculinity, and unexpected character developments occur amongst those in the locker room. But what makes the show’s three-season arc a real joy is the sisterhood between Rebecca Welton (the extraordinary Hannah Waddingham) and Keeley Jones (a marvelous Juno Temple). A fourth season of the show, focused on a new women’s team, starts August 5.

Recommended by Stephen Groening
Associate Professor and Chair, Cinema & Media Studies

1981, directed by John Huston, U.S./U.K.
Currently streaming on Amasian TV

So, John Huston, Michael Caine, Brazilian soccer superstar Pelé, and Sylvester Stallone walk into a bar… That might sound like the set-up for a joke, but it’s a real movie. Only the bar — all the bars — are made of iron. Allied prisoners of war who happen to be athletes are conscripted by their Nazi overseers to play a demonstration game for party bigwigs. The ever-reliable and oh-so-British Caine is captain. Stallone — because he’s, you know, American — can’t play soccer, but he does catch real good, so they make him goalie. And Pelé does exactly what you would expect Pelé to do: perform miracles on the turf.  (The film features several other real-life players as well.)

Though it makes for an odd mash-up of genres, Huston’s war drama/sports flick holds up serviceably enough. It’s even inspiring in parts. If Bridge on the River Kwai and The Bad News Bears had a soccer-playing baby, it might turn out something like this. One part has stuck with me since I saw it as a kid, for the grisliest of reasons. Our heroes, as part of their secret partisan maneuvers, need to make a substitution on the team. But how to justify it to the suspicious Nazis? Caine explains to the hapless player in question that the enemy will only accept the change if he’s broken his arm. So, we have to break your arm — for real. With a grim look, the man says, “Try to make it a clean break.” They position the poor guy, and Caine delivers a vicious kick which does the job. Talk about taking one for the team.

Recommended by José Alaniz
Professor, Slavic Languages & Literatures
Adjunct Professor, Cinema & Media Studies

Filmmaker Andre Andreev chronicles the heartache and heroism of Arsenal idol Bob Wilson in THE LONELY GOALKEEPER, a short that combines poppy animation with chippy archival footage to spotlight one of sports' most thankless gigs.  

The beautiful game may be just that due to its inclusive global nature. In THE MICHAEL LEON PROJECT, the eponymous University of Michigan star returns to Ghana to donate uniforms and gear to hundreds of aspiring footballers who grew up like him... That’s his goal. 

Recommended by Warren Etheredge
Teaching Associate, Cinema & Media Studies