Based on a true story, Next Goal Wins, the story of the world’s worst soccer team
Directed by Academy Award® Winner Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit, Thor: Ragnarok) and based on a true story, Next Goal Wins follows the American Samoa soccer team, infamously known for their brutal 31-0 loss in 2001. With the World Cup Qualifiers approaching, the team hires down-on-his-luck, maverick coach Thomas Rongen (Michael Fassbender) hoping he will turn the world’s worst soccer team around in this heartfelt underdog comedy.
Searchlight Pictures presents, in association with TSG Entertainment, Next Goal Wins starring Michael Fassbender, Oscar Kightley, Kaimana, David Fane, Rachel House, Beulah Koale, Uli Latukefu, Chris Alosio, Semu Filipo, Ioane Goodhue, Lehi Falepapalangi, Hio Pelesasa, with Will Arnett, and Elisabeth Moss.
Directed by Taika Waititi, and penned by Waititi and Iain Morris, the film is produced by Jonathan Cavendish p.g.a., Garrett Basch p.g.a., Taika Waititi p.g.a., Mike Brett, and Steve Jamison. Executive Producers are Andy Serkis, Will Tennant, Phil Robertson, Kathryn Dean, and Josh McLaglen. Rounding out the team are director of photography Lachlan Milne, ACS, production designer Ra Vincent, editors Nicholas Monsour, Yana Gorskaya, ACE, Tom Eagles, ACE, and Nat Sanders, ACE, costume designer Miyako Bellizzi, composer Michael Giacchino, and with casting by Mary Vernieu, CSA, and Michelle Wade Byrd, CSA.
Scene: April 11, 2001… The International Sports Stadium in Coffs Harbour, Australia. Australia sets the world record for the largest victory in an international football match in a 31-0 thrashing, and the American Samoa football team becomes the laughingstock of the sports world following this defeat in the World Cup – setting the stage for Academy Award® winning Māori filmmaker Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit, Thor: Ragnarok)’s Next Goal Wins.
The calamitous loss became the worst defeat in international football history, a humiliation that hung over the small Pacific Island of American Samoa like an unforgiving cloud. The American Samoa team remained the lowest ranking in the FIFA world standings until November 2011, when things finally changed and the tiny island achieved its first-ever international victory in a 2-1 win over Tonga during the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) World Cup Qualification.
This is where the story begins. When Waititi learned about the epic failure and the story of an underdog team whose dreams finally come true, he knew he had to make this film.
“You’re always looking for inspiration, but with this one, it was all already there,” he says.
Inspired by the tale of loss, redemption, and joy, producer Jonathan Cavendish and executive producer Andy Serkis, under their production banner of Imaginarium Productions, secured the rights to adapt the 2014 documentary Next Goal Wins, which previously captured the story. The documentary directors Mike Brett and Steve Jamison also serve as producers on the film, along with Waititi’s frequent collaborator, Garrett Basch.
They knew that Waititi was the perfect person to lead this re-imagining.
“There was no other filmmaker in the world who could or should make this film with this cast and crew that he assembled,” states Brett.
In 2015, Waititi joined the project as director, recruiting his longtime friend, BAFTA nominee Iain Morris (The Inbetweeners), to co-write the screenplay.
Four years would pass before Waititi would have a very short window of availability and the producers took the film to Searchlight Pictures for a Fall 2019 shoot in Oahu, Hawaii. Throughout that time, Waititi remained passionate and committed to the project. As he explains,
“It always felt very special to me. It’s the ultimate feel-good underdog story.”
Cavendish adds,
“It was such a classic story, and we thought it had all the right ingredients. We didn’t want to make to remake the more dramatic documentary, we wanted to re-imagine it.”
Producer Basch, says:
“Throughout the process, Taika’s top priority was authenticity, particularly in depicting Polynesian culture. We paid close attention to every aspect of the production, including casting, wardrobe, and production design, to ensure a genuine portrayal of the American Samoan people and their environment.”
Waititi and his producers assembled an impressive cast of familiar faces and newcomers, drawing upon a large and diverse group of actors representing the Polynesian Triangle – the region of the Pacific Ocean with the three islands of Hawaii, Easter Island and New Zealand at its corners.
Next Goal Wins releases in cinemas 22 December 2023.
