For basketball fans, “The Last Dance” has been a welcome reprieve from a total lack of hoops action over the last two months. The Michael Jordan-centric Chicago Bulls docuseries has been a rating bonanza for ESPN.
But there is no real like-for-like equivalent for soccer fans to dive into during this pandemic.
Sure, there are approximations available. HBO’s “Diego Maradona” movie is a must-watch, but it’s just one movie. Shows like “Sunderland ‘Til I Die” and “All Or Nothing: Manchester City” are great, but focus on recent events we haven’t forgotten. We’re still waiting on “First Team: Atomic Pineapples” and we’ve already watched these soccer-adjacent shows a million times.
Instead of ordering dozens more episodes of “The Last Dance,” ESPN should turn its focus to soccer.
We’ve put together a list of 10 teams we’d love to see covered by a docuseries similar to “The Last Dance,” including both success stories and abject failures. We’ve focused on teams within the last 30 years or so to ensure footage would be good enough for binge watching, because as much as we’d love to see more Pelé coverage, no one wants to watch grainy video from 50+ years ago for 10 hours.
10 Soccer Documentaries We Want Like “The Last Dance”
1999 USWNT Women’s World Cup Squad
Few teams have changed a sporting landscape more than the 1999 USWNT.
Playing the Women’s World Cup on home soil, the American women took the country by storm, setting the stage for women’s soccer’s rise not just in the U.S., but around the world.
While this team has been covered in much detail, a full docuseries would be thrilling to not only relive the glory, but peek behind the curtain to see what it took for this team to triumph.
2016 Leicester City Premier League Squad
There has been no greater underdog story in the last 30 years of sports than the Foxes of 2015-16. Claudio Ranieri’s squad stunned the world by claiming the Premier League title despite having been listed at 5,000-to-1 odds to win it all.
And this team had characters too.
For every Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman on the Bulls, Leicester had Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez.
While recent, this team definitely deserves the “The Last Dance” treatment.
2010 France World Cup Squad
This team had a lot to live up to.
Four years prior, Les Bleus reached the final before Zinedine Zidane lost his head and they lost on penalties to Italy. That 2006 squad was legendary, with the likes of Zidane, Vieira, Gallas, Makelele, Henry, Wiltord, Thuram, Barthez, Trezeguet and Ribery.
The 2010 squad wasn’t nearly as loaded and soon imploded in South Africa, exiting in the group stage.
We’d love to see behind-the-scenes footage of the training-ground boycott, Nicolas Anelka’s expulsion from the team and interviews with all the key figures. And let’s not forget the team only reached the World Cup via a controversial hand ball against Ireland.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Manchester United Years
Alex Ferguson and a young Cristiano Ronaldo. Photo: Getty Images
Sure, you could do a documentary on any one of Ronaldo’s Champions League-winning seasons at Real Madrid, but who wouldn’t want to go behind the scenes when he first became a star?
Ronaldo joined Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United in 2003 and immediately took over the club’s vaunted No. 7 jersey. By the time he left in 2009, he was the world’s most expensive player, having completely redefined the winger position.
And back then, Ronaldo was far fierier than he is today, clashing with fans, opponents and even teammates in what would make for an enthralling docuseries.
1994 Argentina World Cup Squad
The documentary “Diego Maradona” mostly focuses on the Argentine’s Napoli days. We’d love to see more about what he was up to in the 1990s, especially at the 1994 World Cup in the U.S.
Maradona was famously expelled from the tournament for failing a drug test after playing in La Albiceleste’s first two matches, a shocking fall from grace for one of football’s biggest-ever stars, and one from which he never fully recovered.
Guardiola-Era Barcelona
No club in recent memory has been as breathtaking to watch as Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona squads from the 2008-2012 seasons. With Xavi, Andres Iniesta and, of course, Lionel Messi, this team sucked the life out of opponents with precision passing, clinical finishing and smothering defensive effort.
With some of the most legendary figures in the game over the last two decades, we’d love to see more from players and coaches, especially Messi, who rarely lets us into his personal life.
1998 USMNT World Cup Squad
The Americans went to France in 1998 with some expectations that they might not actually suck, having navigated through a tough group in 1994 and only bowed out to eventual-champion Brazil in a hard-fought match.
Alas, the USMNT finished dead last in the 32-team field four years later.
Head coach Steve Sampson cut captain John Harkes from the squad just before the tournament with rumors of infidelity between him and Eric Wynalda’s wife swirling. What we wouldn’t give to see in-depth coverage of this team behind the scenes.
The Invincibles
Arsenal’s Invincibles of 2003-04 went through the entire Premier League campaign without a defeat. While other clubs have accumulated more points or won more trophies in a single season, Arsene Wenger’s side stands alone in being unbeatable in England.
We want to see all the details from Wenger’s preparations and tactics all throughout the season — and you can’t end it until the Pizzagate the following season.
Real Madrid’s Galacticos (2000-06)
There was something equal parts awe-inspiring and a train wreck waiting to happen at Real Madrid at the turn of the millennium.
Club president Florentino Pérez spent insane amounts of cash to bring in the world’s biggest stars, from Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo to David Beckham and Fabio Cannavaro. While initially successful, winning two Champions League trophies in three years, the club eventually fell into a dramatic rut, going three years without a trophy, not fully recovering until Cristiano Ronaldo joined the squad in 2009.
Zlatan
No specific team, no specific era, just Zlatan Ibrahimovic for at least 30 episodes.
Do it now, ESPN.
