The Netflix film tells a fictional story inspired by the Homeless World Cup.

By Patrick Cremona

Published: Thursday, 29 February 2024 at 17:13 PM


The first trailer has been released for Netflix’s upcoming football drama The Beautiful Game, which tells a fictional story about England’s homeless football team taking on the Homeless World Cup in Rome.

Inspired by the real Homeless World Cup – and made with the support of the organisation – the film stars Bill Nighy and Michael Ward and will be released in select UK cinemas on Thursday 21st March before arriving on Netflix eight days later.

The trailer introduces us to striker Vinny (Ward) and manager Mal (Nighy) with an early scene showing the latter observing the former take a flamboyant penalty kick and remarking that it “had swagger”.

We then hear Vinny say in voiceover: “I was a player… Vinny Walker, legend in the making”, before Mal explains that he was a pro but has now been living in his car for months.