Watch These Soccer Movies to Relive World Cup History

In our second newsletter, this time written by me, I take you through five must-watch soccer movies just in time for the World Cup’s opening ceremonies on Thursday. In between games, pop on one of these films to take a journey back in time and keep the soccer celebration going. It’s our special World Cup edition. ⚽️

Happy Watching,

— Vanessa

For many decades, the government prohibited women from playing organized sports in Brazil. In 1983, the ban was lifted, allowing them to form soccer teams. That same year, “Onda Nova" told the story of a new women's club team called the Gayvotas Futebol Clube. Fighting against government repression, gender norms, and discrimination, the women play soccer and live their lives in a sex-positive, queer-friendly, gender-bending atmosphere punctuated by plenty of sex, drugs, and rock n roll. Their big teased hairstyles and flashy '80s outfits don't disappoint either. Banned in Brazil after its original release, this raunchy, subversive soccer comedy is a cult classic, and features cameos from singer Caetano Veloso and futebol icon Casagrande.

The 4K restoration is playing in theaters in Los Angeles, Seattle, and New York.

Soccer (like most professional sports) offers impoverished athletes an opportunity to lift themselves out of precarious living situations. For the young athletes in "Nos llaman guerreras," their situation is even more dire. The Venezuelan U-17 women's national team, led by their captain Deyna Castellanos, prepares for their appearance in the 2016 U-17 World Cup in Jordan. They not only contend with gender discrimination and a lack of structural support in sport, but many of them go hungry and cannot afford basic necessities like deodorant or toothpaste during Venezuela's extended financial crisis. This glossy documentary delves into the players' intimate day-to-day realities in rural communities that endure natural disasters and chronic poverty, yet still manage to send their teen daughters to compete on the world's biggest stage.

Streaming on YouTube.

Broadcast, streamed, and likely pirated to more than 5 billion screens across the planet, the World Cup is easily the most-watched sporting event in human history. But simply calling it a sporting event diminishes the outsized emotional impact of such a global behemoth. For better or worse, the players are stand-ins for their countries, their governments, and the hopes and dreams of their fans. Watching a game at home, in a bar, or live at a jam-packed, uproarious stadium is more than a pastime; it creates a repository of memories of time spent with loved ones and bittersweet nostalgia for bygone eras.

For eight years (that's two World Cups if you measure time like a soccer fan) after my dad's passing, most of my World Cup memories were bound up with grief. I couldn't watch a game without crying. I can't nail down exactly how or when it happened, but the fog lifted before the 2022 Cup just in time to watch Argentina become the campeon mundial in nail-biting penalty kicks. Watching the beautiful game still floods me with memories of my father, some hilarious, some mind-boggling, but I can now remember him with smiles instead of tears. As a tribute to my soccer-loving dad and the world's favorite tournament, here's a cinematic journey through World Cup history.

The national teams of Mexico and El Salvador played a pair of friendly games back in 1979. It was December, and 14,000 rowdy fans packed the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City for the second game while my dad watched from our family room couch in California, cradling me, only a few months old, in his arms. El Salvador scored early, only 14 minutes into the game. My Salvadoran dad yelled in delight and threw his arms in the air. My Mexican mom shouted, exasperated, "¡Amor, la niña!" He had just enough time to catch me since he had inadvertently launched me into the air during his goal celebration. These games were a lead-up to El Salvador's tough qualification for the 1982 World Cup. They beat Mexico in 1981, eliminating their bitter rival from a chance at the Cup and ensuring their place in the FIFA tournament for only the second time in the team's history. Achieved amid a punishing civil war at home, the 2010 documentary "Uno, la historia de un gol" directed by Carlos Moreno and Gerardo Muyshondt recounts this milestone.

Through archival footage and talking-head interviews with players, coaches, and journalists, we learn that football was the one thing that gave people a reprieve from the war. Despite curfews and transit stoppages, with bullets flying and bridges getting blown up, fans still filled the stands at Cuzcatlán Stadium to watch their national team play. The world seemed to stand still, and Salvadorans were able to forget the brutal fighting during those magical 90 minutes. The tiny country, with only a couple of million in population, had to fundraise so its players, who hadn't received paychecks for months, could travel to Spain to compete against the world's top teams. The climax of the film comes when El Salvador, dubbed the "Cinderella of football" by Spanish newspapers, suffers the worst defeat in World Cup history. The humiliating loss came at the hands of Hungary, which scored 10 goals to their 1. The Salvadoran national team, unfortunately, has not qualified for a World Cup since. Next stop on our tour is the 1986 World Cup, widely regarded as having one of the best and most controversial finals of all time. (Does the "hand of God" ring a bell?)