Having a Ball

Total Film joins Taika Waititi and Michael Fassbender for a kickabout on the set of feel-good sports movie Next Goal Wins to find out how one of the worst teams in international football inspired a true underdog story.

- ADAM TANSWELL AND MATT MAYTUM

It’s a bright and sunny day on the picture-perfect island of Oahu, Hawaii, where Taika Waititi is wandering around a football pitch in shorts, flip-flops and a fluorescent orange baseball cap. The Jojo Rabbit director sports a huge smile on his face as he weaves his way through players and movie cameras. He’s clearly in his element. It’s December 2019 and Total Film is on the set of Next Goal

Wins, a low-key comedy about the American Samoa football team and their attempt to qualify for the 2014 World Cup. This comes after the squad’s embarrassment of a notorious 31-0 defeat to Australia years prior in what’s described as the ‘worst loss in international football history’.

Inspired by a British documentary of the same name, Waititi is very open about the fact that the story has been changed to maximise its Hollywood potential. ‘As the great quote goes, never let the truth stand in the way of a good story,’ the director chuckles, sipping a tequila on the rocks in a hotel conference room the night before we’re on set. ‘I’ve definitely taken liberties, but it’s better to adjust certain things for a more cinematic experience. Essentially, it is the same story.’

Waititi is a hands-on director who seems to revel in being spontaneous on the sun-kissed set. After each section of the script has been recorded, he lets the actors improvise before suggesting new ideas and jokes – much to the delight of the cackling crew members crouched behind the cameras.