The following is a list of films featuringassociation football (soccer).
| Title | Year | Genre | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harry the Footballer | 1911 | Drama | Silent film about a star player being kidnapped by the opposition. However, they are foiled by his girl-friend, just in time for him to get to the match and score the winning goal. |
| The Winning Goal | 1920 | Drama | Silent film about a fictional team called the Blackton Rovers. |
| The Great Game | 1930 | Comedy | British film about fictional Manningford F.C. |
| Sportszerelem | 1936 | Comedy | |
| The Arsenal Stadium Mystery | 1939 | Crime comedy | When a player is poisoned during a match, Detective Inspector Slade must investigate.[1] |
| Das große Spiel | 1942 | Comedy | |
| O Leão da Estrela | 1947 | Comedy-drama | ThisArthur Duarte movie includes original images of the Portuguese cup final Porto – Sporting |
| The Great Game | 1953 | Comedy-drama | The chairman of a British club is penalized for approaching a player from a rival team. |
| The Love Match | 1955 | Comedy | Arthur Askey stars as a football mad train driver, with Thora Hird as his wife who takes in a referee as a lodger. |
| Két félidő a pokolban | 1961 | Drama | Based on 1942'sThe Death Match between team in modern-day Ukraine (including players fromDynamo Kyiv) and aGermanWehrmacht side. |
| Garrincha: Hero of the Jungle | 1962 | Documentary | Brazilian film on the career of then-current superstarGarrincha. |
| Третий тайм (The Third Half) | 1962 | Drama | Also based on 1942'sThe Death Match |
| Fútbol México 70 | 1970 | Documentary | The1970 FIFA World Cup held in Mexico. |
| Dhanyee Meye | 1971 | Comedy | |
| Pirveli mertskhali | 1975 | Comedy-drama | Passionate and talented sportsman Jason founded the first ever Georgian football team in the seaport ofPoti |
| Mohunbaganer Meye | 1976 | ||
| Yesterday's Hero | 1979 | Drama | Ian McShane as a former football player turned alcoholic. |
| Coup de tête | 1979 | Comedy/Drama | French film about player kicked off the team for fighting with the star. |
| El Chanfle | 1979 | Comedy | Chespirito as a waterboy for a Mexican team whose life unexpectedly changes when his wife gets pregnant. |
| La Fiesta de Todos | 1979 | Documentary | The1978 FIFA World Cup held inArgentina. |
| Escape to Victory | 1981 | War | Loosely based on The Death Match, withSylvester Stallone andMichael Caine; released in North America asVictory.[1] |
| Gregory's Girl | 1981 | Comedy | Scottish teen tale directed byBill Forsyth.[1] |
| A Captain's Tale | 1982 | Drama/documentary | Film made for TV, about an "international" tournament (mainly 1909) in which West Auckland town somehow get invited to take part. |
| Those Glory Glory Days | 1983 | Drama | A group of girls growing up in 1960–61 London develop an interest in football andTottenham Hotspur.[1] |
| The Champions | 1983 | Comedy | Lee Tung (Yuen Biao) gets taunted by rival football teams. |
| Piłkarski poker | 1988 | Comedy-drama | Polish film about the corruption in football environment directed byJanusz Zaorski. |
| Ultra | 1991 | Drama | Italian film. |
| Cup Final | 1991 | Drama | Israeli film about a kidnapping during the1982 FIFA World Cup. |
| Ladybugs | 1992 | Comedy | Rodney Dangerfield as a soccer coach who makes a boy suit up as a girl. |
| An Impossible Job | 1994 | Documentary | |
| The Big Green | 1995 | Family Comedy | A British woman teaches soccer to Texas school kids. |
| The Final Goal | 1995 | Drama | An Idealistic pro soccer player is pressured to throw the biggest game of his life. |
| I.D. | 1995 | Drama | Four police officers go undercover to investigate thugs on East London soccer team. |
| Fever Pitch | 1997 | Romantic comedy | Colin Firth in an adaptation ofNick Hornby's book aboutArsenal.[2] |
| When Saturday Comes | 1996 | Drama | A factory worker (Sean Bean) is recruited by professional football clubs.[2] |
| The Cup | 1999 | Comedy | Buddhist monks in a remote Himalayan monastery try to obtain a television for the monastery to watch the 1998 World Cup final. |
| Soccer Dog: The Movie | 1999 | Family comedy | An orphan's dog has an uncanny skill at soccer. |
| Home Team | 1999 | Family comedy | Ex-pro football player (Steve Guttenberg) is sentenced to serve as a handyman at a boys' home. |
| Switching Goals | 1999 | Family comedy | Twin sisters (Olsen twins), total opposites, become soccer opponents. |
| Air Bud: World Pup | 2000 | Family comedy | Direct-to-video film in theAir Bud series. |
| The Goalkeeper | 2000 | Drama | The plot follows the mishaps of Ramiro Forteza, a goalie arriving to anAsturian village in 1948, coming to acquaint both with theGuardia Civil and theMaquis |
| There's Only One Jimmy Grimble | 2000 | Comedy-drama | A 15-year-old's goal is to play forManchester City. |
| Shaolin Soccer | 2001 | Comedy | Hong Kong comedy about a football-playing monk.[3] |
| A Shot at Glory | 2001 | Drama | A coach (Robert Duvall) tries to get his team to the Scottish Cup final. |
| Mean Machine | 2001 | Comedy-drama | Adaptation ofThe Longest Yard with association football instead of American football. Stars former footballerVinnie Jones. |
| Mike Bassett: England Manager | 2001 | Comedy | Manager from lower leagues becomes manager ofEngland national football team, aims for World Cup in Brazil. |
| The Game of Their Lives | 2002 | Documentary | ChroniclesNorth Korea national team that made surprising run to quarterfinals of1966 FIFA World Cup. |
| Bend It Like Beckham | 2002 | Comedy-drama | Two teenaged girls in England (Parminder Nagra andKeira Knightley) try out for football.[3] |
| Garrincha: Lonely Star | 2003 | Documentary | Brazilian documentary examining the spectacular playing career and troubled off-field life ofGarrincha, coinciding with the 70th anniversary of his birth and 20th of his death. |
| Just for Kicks | 2003 | Comedy | Story of soccer-playing twin brothers (Dylan and Cole Sprouse). |
| The Miracle of Bern | 2003 | Drama | Set against backdrop of1954 FIFA World Cup Final, which became known in Germany as the "Miracle of Bern".[1] |
| The Other Final | 2003 | Documentary | Match betweenBhutan andMontserrat, lowest-ranked teams inFIFA World Rankings, held on same day as2002 FIFA World Cup Final. |
| United | 2003 | Romantic comedy | Norway film. |
| Pelé Eterno | 2004 | Documentary | |
| Soccer Dog: European Cup | 2004 | Comedy | Sequel to 1999 children's film. |
| Guys and Balls | 2004 | Comedy | A gay goalkeeper assembles a gay-only soccer team to play against his ex-team, which fired him due to homophobia. |
| Dare to Dream: The Story of the U.S. Women's Soccer Team | 2005 | Documentary | A history of theUS women's national team. |
| Goal! | 2005 | Drama | Santiago Muñez (Kuno Becker), a Mexican youth in U.S. illegally, gets an opportunity to play in England. |
| Green Street | 2005 | Drama | StarringElijah Wood andCharlie Hunnam. A film about football hooliganism in England. |
| Kicking & Screaming | 2005 | Family comedy | Will Ferrell screwball comedy about coaching soccer.[2] |
| Real, The Movie | 2005 | Documentary | Explores history ofReal Madrid, incorporating some fictional elements. |
| The Game of Their Lives | 2005 | Drama | Based onUSA'smassive upset ofEngland in the1950 FIFA World Cup. |
| Merry Christmas aka Joyeux Noël | 2005 | Drama | During World War I, soldiers put aside differences to play a game of soccer. |
| Garpastum | 2005 | Drama | Two brothers in 1914 on the eve of the outbreak of World War I wish to build a football stadium. |
| Goal II: Living the Dream | 2006 | Drama | Continuation of 2005 story, with Santiago switching fromNewcastle toReal Madrid. |
| Offside | 2006 | Comedy | Sweden film. |
| Offside | 2006 | Drama | Iranian film about girls trying to see Iran's qualifier against Bahrain.[1] |
| Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos | 2006 | Documentary | Matt Dillon narrates story ofNorth American Soccer Leagueclub, with player interviews. |
| La Gran final | 2006 | Drama | Three groups of people from remote areas around the world attempt to watch the 2002 World Cup Final. |
| Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait | 2006 | Documentary | Chronicles life and career ofZinedine Zidane.[2] |
| She's the Man | 2006 | Comedy | Amanda Bynes disguises herself so she can play with the boys. |
| Sixty Six | 2006 | Comedy/Drama | The misadventures surrounding a London boy'sbar mitzvah that conflicts with the1966 FIFA World Cup final. Based on the real-life bar mitzvah of the film's directorPaul Weiland, which took place on that specific day. |
| Gracie | 2007 | Drama | New Jersey girl battles to play on boys' team. Loosely based onElisabeth Shue, who co-produced film and plays girl's mother. |
| Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal | 2007 | Drama | |
| Her Best Move | 2007 | Comedy | A 15-year-old girl has a shot to make the US national team. |
| Maradona by Kusturica | 2008 | Documentary | A look at the career ofDiego Maradona. |
| Kicking It | 2008 | Documentary | Colin Farrell narrates a look at theHomeless World Cup. |
| Soccer Mom | 2008 | Comedy | TV family movie starringMissi Pyle. |
| Football with a Cause | 2009 | Documentary | Académica Coimbra team resistance against Portuguese dictatorship, shown to world in cup final againstBenfica in 1969 |
| The Damned United | 2009 | Drama | A fictionalized version ofBrian Clough's tenure as manager ofLeeds United.[3] |
| Goal! 3: Taking on the World | 2009 | Drama | Direct-to-video third part of trilogy following the experiences of a Mexican footballer in Europe. |
| Offside | 2009 | Romantic comedy | Story about rival footballers in Australia. |
| A Time for Champions | 2009 | Documentary | Made for TV. Explores history of soccer inSt. Louis, focusing onSaint Louis University in the 1960s and early 1970s. |
| Looking for Eric | 2009 | Fiction | Eric Bishop is a football fanatic postman whose life is descending into crisis. When he gets high his idolEric Cantona appears to him and offers him advice.[3] |
| One Night in Turin | 2010 | Documentary | ChroniclesEngland's run in the1990 FIFA World Cup. |
| Tim Cahill: The Unseen Journey | 2010 | Documentary | Australian made-for-TV film followingSocceroos starTim Cahill during the run-up to the team's appearance in the2010 FIFA World Cup. |
| The Referee | 2010 | Documentary | Film about Swedish soccer refereeMartin Hansson and his dramatic journey to2010 FIFA World Cup inSouth Africa. |
| The Two Escobars | 2010 | Documentary | Made for TV as part of ESPN's30 for 30 series. Explores lives of footballerAndrés Escobar and drug lordPablo Escobar, and links between murders of both men.[2] |
| For the Glory | 2011 | Drama | |
| Egaro | 2011 | Drama | Indian Bengali teamMohun Bagan wins 1911IFA Shield against mighty British teamEast Yorkshire Regiment inCalcutta under background circumstances ofPartition of Bengal of 1905. |
| The Four Year Plan | 2011 | Documentary | Chronicles the 2007 takeover of nearly bankruptQueens Park Rangers by a group of billionaires and their attempt to get the club promoted to thePremier League by 2011. |
| The Last Proletarians of Football | 2011 | Documentary | Swedish film exploring the 1980s "golden age" ofIFK Göteborg amid the backdrop of significant changes to Swedish society. |
| Lucky Trouble | 2011 | Comedy | A school teacher is mistaken for a football coach and ends up training a group of juvenile delinquents for the Russian Youth Soccer Cup. |
| Will | 2011 | Drama | After losing his parents, 12-year-old journeys across Europe to witness2005 UEFA Champions League Final, which features dad's favorite football clubLiverpool. |
| United | 2011 | Drama | Based on the true story of theMunich air disaster which claimed 23 lives including lives of eight Manchester United players. In the aftermath of the disaster a makeshift United team reached the1958 FA Cup Final against all odds. |
| Abby Head On | 2011 | Documentary | ESPN Film about soccer phenomAbby Wambach |
| Playing for Keeps | 2012 | Romantic comedy | A former professional star (Gerard Butler) coaches a kids' team. |
| Metegol | 2013 | Comedy | Argentine computer-animated film about a man who plays football who tried to protect a whole town with his help with his foosball players to play real soccer. |
| The Other Sport | 2013 | Documentary | 3-part TV series about the history and developments inside women's soccer in Sweden. |
| The Class of '92 | 2013 | Documentary | Chronicles the rise of six youngManchester United players—David Beckham,Nicky Butt,Ryan Giggs,Gary Neville,Phil Neville, andPaul Scholes—from the club's 1992FA Youth Cup win, featuring four of the group, to United's Treble victory in1999. |
| The 99ers | 2013 | Documentary | Made for TV as part ofESPN'sNine for IX series. An insider account of the 1999 US World Cup soccer team that broke new ground for women's sports |
| The Whistle | 2013 | Documentary | Winner of theSundance Film Festival'sGrand Jury Prize for Short Film, The Whistle is a documentary about a soccer referee who has reached a critical crossroads in his life |
| Eighteam | 2014 | Documentary | Spanish–Zambian co-production. Explores the recent history of theZambia national team—from promise in the late 1980s, tounspeakable tragedy in 1993, resurrection in1994, andultimate victory in 2012. |
| Hillsborough | 2014 | Documentary | Made for TV as an ESPN–BBC co-production. A 25-year retrospective of theHillsborough disaster, featuring many accounts from fans in attendance, police officers, and victims' family members. First aired in the U.S. as part of the30 for 30 series in 2014; first aired in the UK in 2016. |
| Messi | 2014 | Documentary | Spanish film exploring the rise of Argentine superstarLionel Messi. |
| Next Goal Wins | 2014 | Documentary | British film aboutAmerican Samoa team trying to qualify for World Cup.[1] |
| United Passions | 2014 | Drama | French film about origins ofFIFA. |
| White, Blue and White | 2014 | Documentary | Made for TV as part of ESPN's30 for 30 series. After victory in the1978 World Cup,ArgentinesOssie Ardiles andRicky Villa become cult heroes atTottenham Hotspur, but later find themselves torn by theimpending conflict between Argentina and Britain. |
| The Opposition | 2014 | Documentary | Made for TV as part ofESPN's30 for 30 Soccer Stories Series. Chile hosts a World Cup qualifier in a stadium that only months earlier had been used as a concentration camp |
| Maradona '86 | 2014 | Documentary | Made for TV as part ofESPN's30 for 30 Soccer Stories Series. In the1986 FIFA World Cup,Diego Maradona redefined what is possible for one man to accomplish on the soccer field. |
| Ceasefire Massacre | 2014 | Documentary | Made for TV as part ofESPN's30 for 30 Soccer Stories Series. On 18 June 1994, as the Republic of Ireland World Cup team played in New Jersey, six fans were gunned down 24 miles south of Belfast. |
| The Myth of Garrincha | 2014 | Documentary | Made for TV as part ofESPN's30 for 30 Soccer Stories Series. A profile of Brazilian association football icon ManéGarrincha. |
| Mysteries of the Rimet Trophy | 2014 | Documentary | Made for TV as part ofESPN's30 for 30 Soccer Stories Series. TheJules Rimet Trophy, the holy grail of sport trophies, was the target of numerous thefts and ultimately disappeared without a trace |
| Barbosa: The Man Who Made Brazil Cry | 2014 | Documentary | Made for TV as part ofESPN's30 for 30 Soccer Stories Series. A look at Brazilian goalkeeperMoacir Barbosa Nascimento and how a costly mistake in the1950 FIFA World Cup which cost Brazil the title and impacted his countrymen |
| Boca Juniors 3D | 2015 | Documentary | Argentinian film exploring the history ofBoca Juniors. |
| Ronaldo | 2015 | Documentary | FilmmakerAnthony Wonke examines the life and career of famed soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo. |
| Pelé: Birth of a Legend | 2016 | Film that examines the life and career ofPelé. | |
| Becoming Zlatan | 2016 | Documentary | Swedish film that explores the early life and football development ofZlatan Ibrahimović, leading up to his international breakthrough in 2005 withJuventus. |
| Ola Bola | 2016 | Comedy/Drama | Malaysia first sport football film exploring the real story aboutMalaysia during qualifying to1980 Summer Olympics. |
| Bo66y | 2016 | Documentary | A film which marks the 50th anniversary of England's victory in the 1966 World Cup. |
| George Best: All By Himself | 2017 | Documentary | Made for TV as part of ESPN's30 for 30 series.George Best was one of the most naturally gifted footballers ever, lifting Manchester United to new prominence a decade after itsunspeakable tragedy—butalcoholism ended his football career while he was still in his twenties. |
| Early Man | 2018 | Comedy | British stop-motion film following Dug and his Stone Age tribe who must beat Lord Nooth's Bronze Age team at football to reclaim their land.[3] |
| The Bromley Boys | 2018 | Comedy | British film about a boy from Bromley who wants to become a football manager, and becomes a football manager. |
| Diamantino | 2018 | Comedy-drama | The film follows premier association football star Diamantino after he loses his special touch and ends his career in disgrace. |
| Trautmann (The Keeper) | 2018 | Drama | The film tells the story ofBert Trautmann, a German prisoner of war who became a football legend in England. |
| Kolej Havası | 2019 | Documentary | Turkish film about the story of theBeşiktaş football team, nicknamed theCollege Team, which won championships between 1989-92. |
| King Otto | 2021 | Documentary | Greek film about how German managerOtto Rehhagel took aGreece national team that had never before won a match in a major international tournament toEuro 2004 glory. |
| The United Way | 2021 | Documentary | The film tells the story ofManchester United from theBusby Babes era to the1999 Champions League final, includingEric Cantona's Manchester United career. |
| The Soccer Football Movie[4] | 2022 | Animation | Animated film featuringZlatan Ibrahimovic andMegan Rapinoe where their footballing abilities are stolen by an evil scientist. |
| City of Dreams | 2023 | Drama | Young Mexican association football player is trafficked into the United States. |
| Next Goal Wins | 2023 | Comedy-drama | Feature film based on the 2014 documentary |
| The Beautiful Game | 2024 | Drama | Film about a squad of English homeless footballers who are led by their coach Mal, to compete inRome at the global annual football tournament, theHomeless World Cup. |
| Iluminados | 2024 | Documentary | Peruvian film that explores the2023 Liga 1 final betweenclassic rivalsUniversitario de Deportes andAlianza Lima, ending with the victory of the former for the third time. |
| #SeAcabó: Diario de las campeonas | 2024 | Documentary | Netflix Spain production recounting theSpain women's national team's run to the2023 World Cup crown and thecontroversy that followed the win. |
| U.S. Palmese | 2024 | Comedy | A star footballer is transferred fromParis Saint-Germain FC toUS Palmese inCalabria, Italy. |
| Berlusconi: Condemned to Win | 2025 | Documentary | Three-part entry in ESPN's30 for 30 series, exploring howSilvio Berlusconi's ownership ofAC Milan helped propel him to three stints as Italy'sprime minister, raising questions of the relationship between sports and politics. |