THE GAME OF THEIR LIVES
An uplifting underdog soccer story with discernment needed.
Should You Watch It?
If you enjoy underdog sports movies, this one gives you the familiar pleasures: rough-edged players learning to work together, national pride, and an unlikely team facing a formidable opponent. Its most meaningful moments come from men setting aside background, pride, and disagreement for the sake of the team.
The film is positive overall, but it does not avoid spiritual confusion. One player openly practices voodoo, and conversations with a Catholic teammate lead the film to treat Christianity and voodoo as equally valid beliefs. There is also coarse language, smoking, and drinking.
The movie is not as polished or emotionally powerful as Hoosiers or Rudy, but it remains worthwhile and uplifting. For most families, the practical answer is to watch it with middle schoolers and older children, using discernment with younger viewers.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESIn 1950, a hastily assembled United States soccer team travels to Brazil for the World Cup, where it will face England’s favored squad. Recruited from an Italian community in St. Louis and from the East Coast, the American players are a divided mix of “regular” guys and privileged recruits.
Before they have any real chance against England, they must first learn to trust one another and become a team.
Is It Any Good?
Three stars means this is a good, entertaining film that falls short of the very best sports dramas. Its greatest strength is the relationships among the players as they work through their differences, put aside pride, and pursue a common goal.
The movie also looks authentic. Scenes were filmed on location in St. Louis with local extras and in Rio de Janeiro, giving the tournament a convincing Brazilian setting. Patrick Stewart narrates the story in retrospect as an older sportswriter.
The film was made on a short schedule and tight budget, and it lacks the polish and emotion of Hoosiers and Rudy. Still, its underdog formula delivers.
The Worldview
The film presents a strong moral worldview built around unity, compassion, brotherhood, patriotism, and honoring veterans. Its central achievement is showing men from different backgrounds learning to support one another and work toward a shared goal. It also emphasizes Catholicism and the Christian faith of some team members.
The major worldview problem is the treatment of voodoo. One Haitian player practices it openly and discusses it with a Catholic teammate. The film allows the argument that sincere belief makes Christianity and voodoo equally valid. That conflicts with Christian teaching, which allows freedom to worship but does not treat voodoo and other non-Christian faiths as equally true.
The film’s central longing is for people with differences to become one in a common purpose. Scripture calls believers to pursue that kind of unity: “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” (Psalm 133:1).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Strong moral worldview with themes of unity, compassion and brotherhood among team members, emphasis on Catholicism and Christian faith of some team members, strong theme of patriotism as team represents country and honors veterans, and occult theme of one team member who practices voodoo and debates it with Christian team member, with false theology arising from debate that both Christianity and voodoo are “equally valid” faiths, whereas true Christianity teaches freedom to worship as one pleases but voodoo and other Non-Christian faiths are not equally valid; 12 light obscenities (including damn, hell, crap) among team members; no violence, sex or nudity; drinking, including one team member must drink to be able to board a plane without fear; and, cigarette use.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
The players must set aside their differences to become a team. What helps people pursue unity without pretending their differences do not exist?
Psalm 133:1 · Ephesians 4:1–3The film treats voodoo and Christianity as equally valid beliefs. How can we respect a person while still testing ideas against the truth?
Acts 17:11 · 1 Thessalonians 5:21The team represents its country and honors veterans. What does healthy patriotism look like, and how can love of country remain rightly ordered?
Romans 13:7 · Philippians 3:20The players support one another when success requires sacrifice. Who has helped you persevere, and how can you encourage someone else?
Galatians 6:2 · Hebrews 10:24–25The Final Word
This is a sincere, uplifting underdog story about brotherhood, unity, and patriotism. Its coarse language, substance use, and confused treatment of voodoo call for discernment, but the film’s positive themes still make it worthwhile for the right audience. Our answer is WORTH THE TRIP — MIDDLE SCHOOL AND UP.
