Taika Waititi directs true story comedy-drama about the worst football team to make it to the World Cup
Next Goal Wins is a biographical sports comedy-drama produced by Fox Searchlight Pictures. The film is co-written by Taika Waititi and Iain Morris. Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok, What We Do in the Shadows) also directs the feature, which is based on Mike Brett and Steve Jamison’s 2014 documentary of the same name about the American Somoa national football team’s goal to turn their team around after suffering a humiliating defeat at the 2001 World Cup (31-0) to Australia.
Michael Fassbender stars as the team’s Dutch-American coach, Thomas Rongen, whose efforts to bring the team up to scratch somewhat succeed. He is joined by Waititi’s frequent collaborator Rhys Darby, in addition to Will Arnett, Elizabeth Moss, Oscar Kightley, Rachel House, Beulah Koale, Uli Latukefu, Frankie Adams, and others.