The Game of Their Lives (2005) on Netflix
In 1950, a hastily assembled United States soccer team travels to Brazil for the World Cup. Frank Borghi and his teammates are matched against England, the highest-ranked team in the competition.
- Netflix3.4/5
- IMDb6.1/103,761 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes26%
Trailer
Plot summary
Teammates on the United States squad come from two places: The Hill in St. Louis, Missouri, and Corky Row in Fall River, Massachusetts. A trial game is the first time the two groups take the field together. The squad is assembled quickly for the 1950 World Cup, and Bill Jeffrey is the coach. Frank Borghi, from St. Louis, keeps goal; Walter Bahr comes from Philadelphia; Joe Gaetjens is from Haiti. Frank Wallace, Charlie Colombo, Gino Pariani and Harry Keough are also St. Louis players. In Belo Horizonte, Brazil, the Americans are matched against England, the highest-ranked team in the competition, whose side includes Stanley Mortensen.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Game of Their Lives (2005)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Scotsman Ed McIlvenny was edited out of the captaincy he held in the match against England, as the producers of the film decided to give the position of captain to American-born Walter Bahr.
- Joe Gaetjens was of mixed German-Haitian descent and had a lighter skin complexion than the actor portraying him. He also did not practice voodoo but, like most Haitians, was Catholic.
- The attendance of the England-U.S. game was just over 10,000, not 30,000, and several of the U.S. players, namely Bahr, Borghi, Colombo, Keough, John Souza and Wallace, had played in front of crowds up to 60,000 spectators during the 1949 NAFC Championship in Mexico.
- An older Dent McSkimming is seen at the beginning of the film at the 2004 MLS All-Star Game, when in reality McSkimming had died in 1976.
