Okay. Let’s get the awkward bit out the way first. It’s not coming home — not this year at least, despite Thomas Tuchel and his Three Lions’ best efforts. But while England may have stumbled at the last hurdle, the World Cup Final — pitting Lionel Messi’s Argentina against Lamine Yamal’s Spain — is almost upon us. And even though the prospect of a Jude Bellingham-free final still smarts a little, we’ve checked in with the docs at Empire HQ and football fever still has a hold on us all.
And so, before the big game kicks off at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium this Sunday evening (8pm, don’t forget!), we thought we’d round up a hat-trick of essential football movies to get you in the mood for the big game. Now obviously the world’s game has a long, storied, and colourful cinematic history — and as such you’ll have to forgive us if we missed your faves (let the record state that strong cases were made in office for Mike Bassett: England Manager, The Damned United, Next Goal Wins, and the modern classic that is Goal!) But still, we reckon the golden trio we’ve landed on are all cup-worthy bangers.
Without further ado then, rip into a bag of queso-flavoured crisps, crack open a Quilmes, and get ready to triple-bill these three essential football movies. As the great Alan Partridge would say, “Back of the net!”
Escape To Victory (1981)
Director: John Huston | Runtime: 1hr 56m | Buy/Rent on: Amazon, Apple TV, Sky Store
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine, Max von Sydow, Pelé, Bobby Moore, Osvaldo Ardiles
The first thing that comes to mind when you think of John Huston’s loosely true story inspired 1981 classic Escape To Victory — which pits a squad of allied POWs in WWII against the dirtiest German XI imaginable with freedom on the line — is its insane ensemble. Here is a movie in which the likes of Sly Stallone and Michael Caine share a callsheet with some of the greatest players to have ever graced a pitch — from Pelé to Bobby Moore to Osvaldo Ardiles. But look past the star players, the bicycle kicks, and what surely remains some of the best cinematic football ever committed to film, and you’ll find a rousing testament to the indomitability of the human spirit that exemplifies the very best that the beautiful game represents. It’s still a mad shout to have had Sly between the sticks, mind, but that’s football for you! JK
Diego Maradona (2019)
Diego Maradona ©TMDB
Director: Asif Kapadia | Runtime: 2hrs 10m | Buy/Rent on: Amazon, Apple TV, Sky Store
‘Rebel. Hero. Hustler. God.’ So reads the tagline for acclaimed Senna and Amy documentarian Asif Kapadia’s Diego Maradona. And while that may sound to the uninitiated like a little bit much for a footballer, it’s pretty much bang on the money for this footballer — for Diego Armando Maradona. Pieced together from over 500 hours of never-before-seen footage, Kapadia’s doc charts Maradona’s rise from the slums of Villa Fiorito to World Cup winning glory at Mexico ‘86 and a borderline messianic spell at Italian outfit Napoli. But this isn’t just another rags-to-riches tale. Maradona’s is a story of gangsters, glory, goal-scoring and addiction, of on-pitch heroism and off-pitch hubris that’s equal parts inspirational and cautionary, brilliant and tragic — and Kapadia somehow manages to capture both man and myth, allowing us to draw our own conclusions. If you love football, this is unmissable. And if you don’t? Honestly, still pretty unmissable, actually. JK
Bend It Like Beckham (2002)
Director: Gurinder Chadha | Runtime: 1hr 52m | Streaming on: Netflix
Starring: Keira Knightley, Parminder Nagra, Jonathan Rhys Meyers
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Finished watching these footie films? Why not check out The 59 Best Movies Streaming On Netflix UK? Or our guide to what to watch on Disney+? Or why not start working through Empire’s 100 Greatest Movies Of All Time, a list studded with more stars than Argentina and Spain combined? Just because the World Cup’s coming to an end, it doesn’t mean your summer of top-notch, blockbuster viewing has to be.
