Best football documentaries & movies to watch during corona isolation

The virus can lead to severe respiratory diseases and may involve symptoms such as fever, cough, or difficulties in breathing. It should be noted that the symptoms of the new coronavirus may appear several days after exposure.

Now after all these days, we all know that the main problem with the disease is that it spreads from one person to another so quickly and easily. That is why COVID-19 has infected several hundred humans and has caused many fatal cases.

Many cities and countries have implemented mass quarantines to slow the spread of the coronavirus, from national quarantines to school closures. The list includes China, Denmark, El Salvador, France, Ireland, Italy, Iran, New Zealand, Poland, Spain, and many more.

The situation is not better in sports world as we know that many tournaments and competitions have been suspended around the world, including UEFA Euro 2020, which has been postponed to 2021.

With more and more reported deaths, it is necessary for all of us to stay at home and prevent the disease to spread more, even though we are doing everything right, like washing our hands and practicing social distancing.

Restricting our activities outside home, brings us to a lot of spare time. Minutes and hours you can either waste away and make a dull day or use this time to your advantage. You can read your favorite author books, watch your favorite movies or play with you kids with no worry.

Now in this matter, if you are interested in football we have another interesting suggestion for you. What do you think about football documentaries? They are awesome, will give you lots of information and will help you not to be bored and enjoy your time at the same time. So if you are interested in them, join us in this article as we are going to introduce you a number of there marvelous documentaries. Ready? Let’s go then.

Best soccer documentaries & films

Here we go with the best soccer documentaries and movies ever.

1- Sunderland ‘Til I Die (Netflix)

One of the breakout football docuseries in recent time has been Sunderland ‘Til I Die on Netflix.

The documentary series released on Netflix on 14 December 2018. The series is produced by Fulwell 73, and documents the events around English football club Sunderland A.F.C. during their 2017–18 season which saw them relegated from the EFL Championship to League One.

The first series documented the Black Cats’ disastrous 2017/18 campaign where everything seemed to go wrong, including their relegation from the Championship, which was their second relegation in successive seasons.

Series two has come out recently which looked at how they performed in League One last term.

2- All or Nothing: Manchester City (Amazon Prime)

All or Nothing: Manchester City is the 8-part fly-on-the-wall Amazon Prime series that allowed fans to witness the inner workings of Pep Guardiola’s regime at Man City.

In the series, English Premier League side Manchester City's progress was charted through their 2017–18 season, in which they won two of four contested trophies and broke a series of Premier League performance-related records. It was announced when news of the story leaked that Amazon had paid Manchester City the sum of £10m for the behind-the-scenes video access.

It also has to be mentioned that the series is narrated by renowned actor Sir Ben Kingsley.

Watch how Man City won the 2017-18 Premier League and became the first club to score more than 100-points in a season.

3- Inside Borussia Dortmund (Amazon Prime)

I you are a Dortmund fan and you wonder how the team dressing room looks like, this is the documentary you must definitely watch. This way you will feel closer than ever to your favorite team.

In 2018-19, Borussia Dortmund allowed Amazon Prime record their attempt to beat Bayern Munich to the Bundesliga title and this is what the 4-part mini-series documentary is all about.

The documentary was directed by Aljoscha Pause and he has been given unrivalled insight into the club, both in terms of the dressing room, training ground and even the players’ private lives.

The filming took place during the 2018-19 season, during which Lucien Favre’s side pushed Bayern Munich all the way as they challenged for the Bundesliga title, coming up just two points short as the title finally went to FCB on the final day of the campaign.

4- I.D. (Amazon Prime)

I.D. is a classic football hooligan movie from the 1990s where undercover cops try to foil a gang at the fictitious Shadwell Town football club.

I.D. is a British-German film made by BBC Films in 1995.  As we mentioned the film is about football hooliganism and is directed by Philip Davis, written by Vincent O'Connell, and starring Reece Dinsdale, Sean Pertwee and Warren Clarke. It is set in the 1980s, in England, mainly London, and also shot at Millmoor and Valley Parade football grounds in Rotherham and Bradford respectively. The true events that inspired the movie are chronicled in the 2013 book Running with the Firm written by former undercover detective James Bannon.

5- There’s Only One Barry Fry (YouTube)

Another classic from the football archives following a troubled 1996-97 season for enigmatic manager Barry Fry at Peterborough United.

The movie is a fly on the wall documentary, with Sean Bean as voice over, that follows Barry Fry through the 1996-97 season at Peterborough Utd (Posh) after becoming the new manager of the team and also the new owner.

6- Chester City: An American Dream (YouTube)

If you love football documentaries, then this is one not to miss.

Watch the craziness unfold as American Terry Smith went from working in the NFL to trying his hand at running Chester City.

An underrated classic of the genre in this writer’s opinion, Chester City: An American Dream follows the northwest outfit during the 1999/2000 season after former NFL player Terry Smith buys the club just as it’s on the brink of going out of business.

7- The Damned United (Amazon Prime)

The Damned United is a 2009 British sports drama film directed by Tom Hooper and adapted by Peter Morgan from David Peace's bestselling novel The Damned Utd, a largely fictional book based on the author's interpretation of Brian Clough's ill-fated tenure as football manager of Leeds United in 1974.

Starring Michael Sheen, the film takes place during Brian Clough ill-fated managerial spell at Leeds United which lasted for just 44 days.

8- Kaiser! The greatest footballer never to play football (Amazon Prime)

Kaiser! The Greatest Footballer Never to Play Football is about the Brazilian football player, Kaiser. Carlos Kaiser was one of the most famous footballers in Brazil, even though he had zero intention of ever kicking a ball. The story of his stunning fraud has now been told in the film Kaiser!

Meet the Brazilian fraud footballer who managed to enjoy a 26-year career without ever playing a game.

9- First Team: Juventus (Netflix)

To see behind the scenes of Juventus’ 2017-18 Scudetto campaign you can watch the 6-part mini-series of First Team: Juventus.

The documentary is an American and Italian six-part series about the Italian association football club Juventus F.C., which was originally released through Netflix on February 16, 2018.

Don’t miss it if you are a football fan.

10- Don’t Take Me Home (Amazon Prime)

Don't Take Me Home is a 2017 Welsh documentary film, directed by Jonny Owen.

After decades of disappointment, Welsh football fans had the ride of their life in 2016.

The film recounts the saga of Wales national football team to qualify for their first major tournament in 58 years, the UEFA Euro 2016. To get there they had to overcome huge obstacles including the suicide of their young and talented coach, Gary Speed.

11- Take Us Home: Leeds United (Amazon Prime)

Take Us Home' is a sports documentary which follows the fortunes of English Championship team Leeds United during the 2018-19 season.

To know what it is really like to work under Marcelo Bielsa, in 2018-19, Leeds United allowed Amazon exclusive access. The cameras were rolling during Spygate, Bielsa’s Powerpoint presentation and the playoffs and that is how the documentary is made.

12- Class of ‘92 (Amazon Prime)

Class of ‘92 is one of the most famous football documentaries in the world. So if you haven’t watched it yet, don’t miss the time and enjoy the amazing documentary. With no doubt it is one of the undisputed all-time great football documentaries.

The likes of David Beckham, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs tell their stories from Sir Alex Ferguson’s greatest ever team.

The British documentary film was released on 1 December 2013 and centers on the rise of the six young Manchester United footballers, David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Phil Neville and Paul Scholes, and details their careers for Manchester United starting in 1992.

13- Fever Pitch (Amazon Prime)

A must-watch for all Arsenal fans who want to remember the glory days when they used to win trophies.

The film is a 1992 autobiographical essay by British author Nick Hornby and is the basis for two films: Fever Pitch (1997, UK) and Fever Pitch (2005, U.S.). The first edition was subtitled "A Fan's Life", but later paperback editions were not.

14- An Impossible Job (YouTube)

Back in 1993, the England national team were terrible. However, manager Graham Taylor thought it was a good idea to allow TV cameras exclusive access and that is how the film is made.

The movie is a 1994 British fly-on-the-wall documentary directed and produced by Ken McGill, written by Patrick Collins, and made by Chrysalis for Cutting Edge. The documentary follows the England football team through the 18 months before their failure to qualify for the 1994 FIFA World Cup Finals and showed the pressure manager Graham Taylor was under before his resignation. It was originally broadcast by Channel 4 on 24 January 1994.

15- Bobby Robson: More Than a Manager (Netflix)

Bobby Robson was not only one of the nicest men in football, he was also a brilliant manager.

Bobby Robson: More Than A Manager, is a 2018 British feature-length film about the life of the amazing manager, directed by Gabriel Clarke and Torquil Jones. Don’t miss the movie. It is a MUST WATCH one!

16- Escape to Victory (Amazon Prime)

Another classic football movie from the early 1990s which is also known as Victory. The movie is about Sly Stallone teams up with Michael Caine and Pele to break out of a Nazi camp by playing the Beautiful Game.

Victory is a 1981 American sports war film directed by John Huston and as we have mentioned Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine, Max von Sydow and Pelé star in it. The film is about Allied prisoners of war who are interned in a German prison camp during the Second World War who play an exhibition match of football against a German team.

It has to be mentioned that the film received great attention upon its theatrical release, as it also starred professional footballers Bobby Moore, Osvaldo Ardiles, Kazimierz Deyna, Paul Van Himst, Mike Summerbee, Hallvar Thoresen, Werner Roth and Pelé. Numerous Ipswich Town players were also in the film, including John Wark, Russell Osman, Laurie Sivell, Robin Turner and Kevin O'Callaghan.

17- Diego Maradona (Amazon Prime)

The movie is one of the newest football documentaries as it was made in 2019.

The 2019 British documentary film is directed by Asif Kapadia and is about the Argentine footballer Diego Maradona with never before seen archival footage. “Diego Maradona” documents and centers around the time Maradona transferred from FC Barcelona to S.S.C. Napoli in 1984, eventually winning Serie A and the 1988–89 UEFA Cup with the Italian team.

18- Next Goal Wins (Amazon Prime)      

This uplifting documentary follows the American Samoa soccer team, deemed "worst in the world," as they try to qualify for the 2014 World Cup.

In 2001, the tiny Pacific island of American Samoa suffered a world record 31-0 defeat at the hands of Australia, garnering headlines across the world as the worst soccer team on the planet. However, they wanted to qualify for the 2014 World Cup and so they hired  coach Thomas Rongen to whip them into shape. This is what the documentary is all about and how the man who played alongside George Best and Johann Cruyff deal with footballers of a very different level as the qualifying campaign for the 2014 World Cup approached.

19- Take The Ball, Pass The Ball (Amazon Prime)

“Take The Ball Pass The Ball” is a 2018 Spanish documentary film, which was released on 9 November 2018 and directed by Duncan McMath. The film mainly focuses on FC Barcelona's success under manager Pep Guardiola from 2008 to 2012 where the team won a total of 14 trophies.

The players themselves reveal the tension of the bitter Guardiola-Mourinho rivalry, the emotion of Abidal's fight back from cancer to lift the European Cup and how Messi, the best footballer the world's ever seen, was almost rejected by Barça as a 13-year-old.

20- The Four Year Plan (YouTube- Amazon Prime- iTunes)

In 2007 Queens Park Rangers Football Club, facing relegation and bankruptcy, was rescued as they were bought by four billionaire businessmen. That is how they were promoted to the Premier League.

The movie will give you access and remarkable insight into the worlds of sport, business, finance, power and ego. It has to be mentioned that the movie is filmed over 4 years.