NEXT GOALS WINS is the story of a coach coaching a ‘team of losers’. In 2001, American Samoa’s football team suffers a humiliating defeat after they lose 31–0 to Australia. 10 years later, in 2011, a hot-headed Thomas Rongen (Michael Fassbender), is asked to join as the coach of American Samoa by the American Soccer Association. With no other option, he takes up the job reluctantly; or else, he would have got fired. His aim is to get American Samoa to perform well at the 2014 World Cup qualification, scheduled to be held three weeks later. But the American Samoa is at the bottom in the world rankings. Since its inception, it hasn’t scored a single goal ever. Thomas is frustrated as he realizes that the team lacks discipline and techniques to play the game. What happens next forms the rest of the film.
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