Next Goal Wins

Next Goal Wins (2023) is Taika Waititi's sports comedy you can watch online on iFILM. It draws on the true story of the American Samoa national team — the squad that once lost to Australia by a humbling thirty-one goals to nil.

Michael Fassbender plays Dutch coach Thomas Rongen, a man at the end of his rope who gets shipped off to a tiny Pacific island to fix a team that has never scored in World Cup qualifying. The local players train between day jobs and church, take their time, and seem perfectly content with their lives. Rongen wants wins. They just want to play. Among them is Jaiyah, the first transgender player to compete in a men's World Cup qualifier.

Waititi turns it into something gentle and funny, asking what winning even means once the scoreline stops being the point. Warm jokes, the ocean, shambolic practice drills, and a squad that values joy over the number on the board. Stream Next Goal Wins (2023) online on iFILM.