With the 2026 World Cup upon us, here at Entertainment Swindon, we thought we would start getting you in the mood with some football movies.
A World Cup summer changes how football is watched. The tournament starts on 11th June, and ends with the final on 19th July, which gives supporters time to fill the waiting days with something better than old highlight clips and tired studio arguments.
The right football film does more than pass the time. Its gets you hopeful, patriotic, and also lightens the mood from the stress of will we get through to the next round and release from the real world.
So here is our list of football movies that will keep you going between matches.
Victory:
Quite probably the greatest football movie for of all time!…
Victory from 1981 is still the G.O.A.T. of football movies! Even if it wears it’s sentiment openly. The plot is absurd in the way football stories sometimes need to be: Allied prisoners of war prepare for a propaganda match against a German side in occupied Paris, with Michael Caine, Sylvester Stallone, and Pelé along with a who’s who of movie legends and a who’s who of the world of football at the time! The football scenes are not modern, but they still know where to look; one touch, one feint, one pass into traffic can tell the story faster than the dialogue. It is not subtle, but it doesn’t need to be.
Watch Victory on NOW (Subscription Required) – Sky Store (From £3.99) – Amazon (From £3.49) – Channel 5 (Free to View)
Green Street
The 2005 cult classic film Green Street (also known as Green Street Hooligans) was produced by Deborah Del Prete, Gigi Pritzker, and Donald Zuckerman. The movie focuses on the subculture of firms supporting West Ham United in East London, following expelled Harvard student who gets drawn into the violent, adrenaline-fueled world of football hooliganism in London.
Watch Green Street on Sky Store (From £3.49)
Mean Machine
This British-adaptation is a remake of the 1974 American film The Longest Yard (which actually starred NFL players and was released in the UK under the name The Mean Machine). While the 1974 film was a product of its time—featuring gridiron football and echoing the anti-establishment, watergate-era politics of the 1970s, the 2001 version simply translates that premise into the world of British association soccer, leaning into the roughhouse, dark-comedy style typical of Guy Ritchie films, starring Vinnie Jones.
Watch Mean Machine on Paramount+
The Football Factory
The Football Factory is a highly realistic work of fiction adapted from the 1996 novel of the same name by author John King. The movie provides a gritty, highly authentic look into London’s working-class male culture and the subculture of football hooliganism, specifically focusing on a fictionalised group of Chelsea FC supporters.
While the characters and specific plotlines are invented, the setting, violent rivalries, and cultural references reflect the very real “English Disease” of football terrace violence that plagued the UK in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.
Because the movie resonated so deeply with real-world terrace culture, its lead actor, Danny Dyer, went on to host a television documentary series exploring actual football gangs in the UK and internationally.
Watch The Football Factory on Amazon
Shaolin Soccer
Starring Stephen Chow and Wei Zhao, Shaolin Soccer follows Sing, a skilled Shaolin kung fu devotee whose amazing “leg of steel” catches the eye of a soccer coach. Together they assemble a squad of Sing’s former Shaolin brothers inspired by the big-money prize in a national soccer competition. Using an unlikely mix of martial arts and newfound soccer skills, it seems an unbeatable combination … until they must face the dreaded Team Evil in the ultimate battle for the title.
Starring, in alphabetical order: Danny Kowk Kwan Chan, Stephen Chow, Lam Chi Chung, Tin Kai-Man, Hui Li, Ng Man Tat, Patrick Tse Yin, Wei Zhao
Watch Shaolin Soccer on Amazon (From £3.49)
She’s The Man
Teenager Viola tries to convince the students at her twin brother’s school that she’s actually him in this twist on Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night.” This quirky fun movie starring Amanda Bynes, Channing Tatum, Laura Ramsey, Vinnie Jones, Jonathan Sadowski, Robert Hoffman, Robert Torti, James Snyder, Alexandra Breckenridge and Amanda Crew is a complicated romantic comedy with non-stop laughs and twisted love triangles.
Watch She’s The Man on Amazon
Bend it Like Beckham
An ambitious teenage Londoner goes against her parents’ will to join a football team and pursue her dream of becoming a professional player.
Jess Bhamra, is the daughter of a strict Indian couple in London, and forbidden from playing organised football, even though she is 18. When Jess is playing for fun one day, her impressive skills are seen by Jules Paxton, who then convinces Jess to play for her semi-pro team. Jess uses elaborate excuses to hide her matches from her family while also dealing with her romantic feelings for her coach, Joe.
Watch Bend it Like Beckham on Netflix – Amazon (From £3.49)
Next Goal Wins
Next Goal Wins follows the true story of the infamously terrible American Samoa soccer team known for their historic 31-0 loss to Australia in 2001. To prepare for the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, the team hires a volatile, down-on-his-luck coach, Thomas Rongen (Michael Fassbender), who is tasked with achieving an impossible goal, scoring just one international goal!
Watch Next Goal Wins on Amazon (From £3.49)
The Beautiful Game
In The Beautiful Game, Mal, the manager of England’s homeless soccer team, leads them to the Homeless World Cup in Rome. He takes a gamble by adding talented but troubled striker Vinny, who must overcome his past to become a team player. Inspired by the real Homeless World Cup, this is a story of second chances, where homeless individuals from across the globe find hope and competition on the field.
Watch The Beautiful Game on Netflix.
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