Next Goal Wins

Mike Brett and Steve Jamison follow the American Samoa national team — ranked dead last in FIFA, infamous for the 31-0 loss to Australia — as they attempt to qualify for the 2014 World Cup under volatile new coach Thomas Rongen. The film's most quietly radical move is making Jaiyah Saelua, the first openly transgender player in FIFA competition, the team's central character. A documentary about losing that finds something larger to win.

• American Samoa lost 31-0 to Australia in 2001.
• Coach Thomas Rongen previously coached US U-20.
• Features Jaiyah Saelua, FIFA's first openly trans international.
• Directed by Mike Brett and Steve Jamison.
• Inspired Taika Waititi's 2023 narrative remake.

• We've lost every game. We haven't lost everything.
• Football is our second religion. Sometimes our first.
• I am a girl playing as a man.
• If we score one goal, that is our World Cup.
• The score is not the victory. The pitch is the victory.