Captains of the World (2023) User Reviews

MUST WATCH for any sports fan

[lovemichaeljordan · 9/10 · 30 December 2023]

How often do you see Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo get interviewed in the same documentary? This is Netflix's biggest sport-documentary ever. This is the most star-strudded documentary ever.

If you are a fan of football, you can absolutely not miss this. Fans of sports should not miss this. It's one of the best-made documentaries out there and it gives incredible insight into what's going on in the players' heads during the biggest sports event.

The biggest event in the whole world - FIFA world cup - means much more than just a game. It's life and death for some people. This documentary lets us follow the all-time greats and the underdogs through epic low and highs. The fact that they actually got all the captains and the biggest stars in the same documentary makes all the difference. Do not miss if you are a sports fan.

Nice to re-experience the World Cup in a different manner

[thijsbroekhuizen · 8/10 · 31 December 2023]

This documentary shows the road to the final of the captains. The makers had the opportunity to speak to coaches and top players, and their relatives. The matches are combined with "older footage" to set the scene such that the viewer gets to better understand the story (pressure, backlashes, challenges) of the players. At times, I had the feeling that they overdid the scene-setting, but the long wait to see the World Cup matches makes the live footage also more interesting. Especially, the footage in the locker room and when players are talking to each other in the player tunnel are interesting. It is a great tribute to football, and to the top players.

Amazing, even for non football fans

[marcell-karafa · 9/10 · 2 January 2024]

Wow, being a football fan, was afraid of how it will turn out, but holy moses it was phenomenal. The narrative was perfectly written as being one of the best WCs ever won by the greatest player ever. So really appreciated that there were no useless forced hollywoodish action added, just elaborated the actual happenings that were let's say, epic enough. Mentioned the nuanced stories for the relevant teams, solid experts and really nice icons interviewed, amazing achievement.

Netflix nails the sports docus that are about the relevant sports' GOATs, as Last dance too was immaculate.

The only reason I got 9, as I could have imagined longer or more episodes with more matches/countries elaborated, though probably woulda been too much info for a non football fan so overall, amazing docu.

genius series--reality, better than fiction in stakes and tension. The close-ups on the footballers when they cannot deliver!

[TheMara61 · 10/10 · 1 January 2024]

This documentary is amazing--was a binge. A breathless watch. The behind the scenes footage is so tensioned. MIghty football stars become ordinary, hurt individuals and you can witness how deep their struggle and how hard it is for them to get their wins. It's what I liked the most: the series' focus on the struggle. On dissapointment when they lose. On how hard the work to win and nothing coming as easy as it may seem. You see them rejoice when they score (on your television screen) but in this documentary, on the table is the struggle, and the desolation when they fail. There are so many snippets from behind the scene that make this documentary fascinating--I appreciated those the most. It's not about star footballers here, it's about struggle, tension, dissapointment, team work, excruciating efforts, both physical and mental, to reach a goal.

The close-ups on the players faces!

Goosebumps guaranteed for football fans

[sindeesh · 10/10 · 31 December 2023]

Usually I don't watch documentaries, but this came an exception. This is one of the best documentaries ever produced. Editing was perfect. This is very engaging keeps you thrilled. It was not always ups, there was ups and downs for every team and persons involved in the world Cup. This is all around the 2023 fifa World Cup. This covers mainly the captians as the title is. Every match was covered with some excitements. No matter the team is small or big, everyone tried hard to win the cup. This covers interviews with the captains of every team who qualified to the fifa World Cup. Once every four years the celebration begins. Legendary.

Cultural Appreciation

[ztheman80 · 10/10 · 31 December 2023]

I absolutely love how they have the players speak in their native languages and they're not overwritten with some lame English speaker. I personally speak 3 of the languages used in this series, and it is so special to hear them in their true voice.

Very well made documentary, it helps you see the players as actual people, not just chess players on a board. I really appreciate the effort put in to this documentary to show the hidden side of these players. It brings to light that they aren't without fault, and they have problems and worries, just like us 'regular' people. Everyone should give this slow a try, whether you're a football (soccer) fan or not.

Excellent mini series on World Cup

[williamkimnyc · 9/10 · 3 January 2024]

2022 World Cup finals was the greatest soccer match I've ever seen and this series nailed the narratives. It also didn't hurt that Messi finally won the World Cup. Even knowing the results, this series didn't great job of reliving the tournament and building up the suspense to the final game.

One of my favorite aspects was interviewing all the captains and showcasing the aging the leaders who are at their final World Cup tournament. The show does a really good job of capturing the emotions (the good and the sad).

Very easy watch, I finished the whole series in 2 days and was left wanting more. Guess I have to wait till 2026/2027 for another potential series. Great docuseries overall. Solid 9/10 for me.

Don't listen to Ronaldo fans

[bilook · 10/10 · 6 January 2024]

Amazing documentary covering the greatest world cup at least of my lifetime, watching since 1998. Qatar hosted it magnificently (people complaining about Qatar are okay with the next hosts) and obviously the documentary has a lot of Messi, he was man of the match in 5 out of 7 matches and was the best player of the tournament.

They could have covered more of 2014 world cup final, and copa america final losses to chile in back to back years, how close Argentina got but didn't win but 2021-2022 they finally won 3 trophies including the World Cup

All in all a great representation of the best world cup ever, won by the greatest player ever.

Simply Amazing

[lfalday · 10/10 · 3 January 2024]

Simply amazing. Must watch for anyone who likes football, and even if you don't, the stories behind are super interesting. One falls in love with all the featured teams, all the stories, and somehow wants everyone to win :).. As a spaniard, I would have loved my team to be featured more, but of course, with only six episodes, there is only so much that can be covered. The documentary gives also a much better perspective on the Netherlands-Argentina match, showing all the Dutch provocations the week prior to the match. Apart from the final match, It has very interesting back stories on the Japanesse Captain, and I personally loved the story of Thiago Silva (which I didn't know). The perfect documentary to relive the world-cup. 10/10.

Inside view of the World Cup 2022

[AvionPrince16 · 7/10 · 5 January 2024]

So yeah it was a pleasure to revive the competition trough the POV of the players , coaches. It have some interesting images to show us like the problems in Iran. We have also some interview that i didnt saw after the competition . So it was great to see

But i need to say also that they waste a little bit time with too much history of some national teams . A little disappointed that we didnt saw more images of the preparation of French national team but it was ok i guess and let us revive this with the emotions of the players and their thoughts on some events or actions . So yeah i didnt regret to watch it and it was a pleasure to see . And that final was the greatest final that i ever saw in my life . Nice documentary even if sometimes it waste a little bit time with the history but it was ok . Overall i enjoyed to see and revive the big moments of the competition!

An amazing journey through what's impossible to show of a football match

[jmanuelhoyos · 10/10 · 31 December 2023]

I write this review not as a sports fan but as a fan of great stories, this was just amazing from every point of view, and made me fall in love with football in a way I thought wouldn't be possible.

This docuseries is a very well told story about the world cup, explores the different feelings and perspectives of the captains in the teams competing, this, makes it so distinct from the overview sports shows usually rely on, and gives an opportunity to the players to show their values to the world, while we as an audience embrace their struggles as they fight tooth and nail for making it to the definitive instances of the championship. It made possible to look at this sportsmen in their common ground, not only as players, but as human beings, Thiago Silva's and Simon Kjaer's plots were captivating, I was able to experience what's not told and not seen in the pitch, it made me perceive football players very differently from what I thought they were.

The editing in this was flawless, every scene was selected meticulously to fit with the mood and flow of the story, every commentary was on point, and the fact that they used a lot of different narrators from all over the world made it even better. There is a lot of unseen footage and interviews, it is what gives the docuseries it's added value since there are some other productions about this same event.

Would have been interesting to see the perspective of all of the captains and teams, but I know that it was more a technical than a will choice to not show them.

Incoherent story, bad camera angles

[bzktftrzb · 4/10 · 6 January 2024]

Very incoherent story telling. Just making it about Messi and argentina would have been a better story. Instead story goes through all the teams, interviews with people who you don't care hearing from.

All highlights are from low quality side cameras, you can't really appreciate the plays.

Very pointless.

Why can't they use footage from professional FIFA cameras from the game?

Back and forth between game footage and interview footage really annoys you. Show the highlights then the interviews, we all don't have ADHD.

You don't have to do quick switches between scenes to keep our attention.

Excitement, glory, heartbreak

[arash-hadji · 10/10 · 10 January 2024]

Of all the documentaries that get made around a single event, this is by far the best one I've seen. Many players and teams are covered, the Welsh national team with that epic pre-tournament speech was amazing; the story of the Iranian national team and how they had to represent a country whose government is tyrannical against their people was heartbreaking. And what can I say about Messi that hasn't been said before? The unequivocal GOAT. People suspect that the tournament was biased but this is because almost everyone outside of France and Portugal was rooting for him to win the cup; this tournament was always going to be about him. He had just come out of a 36 win streak with the national team and won the Continental tournament Copa America the year before. It was an absolute joy to watch him deal with the problem of losing to Saudi Arabia and recovering so amazingly and conquering every peak to win his well deserved World Cup. 10/10.

Incredible Incredible Incredible!!

[bearsndbulls · 10/10 · 11 January 2024]

Well this series is just an icing on the cake for the greatest script ever written in the sporting history. 10/10.

From the very first episode, so many amazing shots of the World Cup hooked me to this. I don't often review titles on IMDB but I am rating this within minutes of watching this series. Netflix has done an ever so great job at compiling such an eventful series.

Go and binge watch this if you are a sports fan. Cried, laughed and felt goosebumps throughout the series. Messi is no doubt the greatest sportsperson that ever lived, will forever be grateful to witness the Messi magic over and over again!!!

Cool take on the world cup but..

[joeyjanssen-30937 · 8/10 · 2 January 2024]

I'm a bit football fan and I watched almost every match at the World Cup. I understand that they want to make the documentary around Messi because he won the world cup, but they missed out a lot of other important moments in the cup.

We saw two of the best strikers saying goodbye, Lewandowski and Suarez, and there was no mention of them at all.

Especially since Lewandowski scored his first and only goal at a world cup ever, which was a great highlight for him.

They focus a lot on Wales, but left out some other underdog teams. And where was Germany? One of the biggest football nations, and they barely mentioned a word about them.

Also I didn't like how they portrait the Netherlands team. The FIFA made a big mistake by appointing Lahoz as the referee, who missed two hand balls of Messi. But they only focus on Messi being the greatest, while he should have got a red card, and the whole Netherlands team as some kind of bad guy.

I did like how they portrait the story around the Brazil, Denmark and Morocco team.

It was fun to watch as a football fan, but maybe they could have done a little interview with the captain of every country.

A classic

[sabbir-59480 · 10/10 · 21 January 2024]

Simply amazing! Feels like it is just happening now. Background is awesome and ofcourse there is someone who is above all- Mr Peter Drury. He is a poet who narrates the game in the most beautiful way.

From the group stage to the knockout stage,Netflix was able to visualize the motion in a constant pace.

My most favourite part was the match against Holland against Argentina. It was brutal and epic. Spain vs Japan was another one.

And obviously the final was one of the greatest football matches of all time. I have watching football for a long long time and this one had everything.

Overall liked this one as a football fan. Thank you Netflix for keeping the memory.

Not a sports documentary, but a story...

[okweoo · 10/10 · 5 February 2024]

It is a documentary meant to remind its viewers of the reasons why we love this sport. It shows the joy and the pain, the triumph and the despair. And it shows all this through the eyes of the players, coaches, and fans (journalists), showing what the World Cup means to each of them and why they give so much for this piece of silverware.

This is a gold mine for football fans, but more importantly, it is an eye-opener for non-fans. It helps them understand why we love this game by showing them the comprehensive backstory of the teams and players beyond just the 90 minutes on the pitch.

It is not just another sports documentary by any means, but a well-crafted and well-told story. A must-watch for all.

Don't listen to PenalDog fans

[shashikaaman · 10/10 · 5 May 2024]

They say everything is rigged when Messi wins. Everything is valid when penaldo wins. What a logic. They are a selfish and egotistical fan base just like his idol.

Of course this series is more focused on Messi and Argentina, because they won the world cup. Of course this is focused on Messi because he is the greatest ever to play football. There was no one, there is no one and there will be no one compared to Messi. He is the greatest, he is a legend.

His statistics prove it, his awards prove it, his talent on the pitch prove it. There will be no one to reach to his level ever.

Also, this is focused on other national teams and their great players as well. Obviously Netflix has to get the permission and check availability of the players and teams as well. So it makes sense that some teams and players are not included here. Everyone is working in a busy schedule, so it makes sense they couldn't be included due to unavailability.

This is a great documentary for all football fans.

Highly Romanticised and Selective

[RZNL-30514 · 6/10 · 4 January 2024]

While this series offers some interesting behind the scenes footage, its main story is highly selective. It also lacks any journalistic impartiality. It is highly biased towards Argentina, and Messi in particular. The most glaring examples are the complete omission of mentioning the fact Maradona scored with his hand (in the final episode) and the way they depict the aftermath of the Arg-Ned quarter final (episode 5) and the complete misrepresentation of what was said by the Dutch coach before the match and by Messi and Weghorst after.

Truly made by loving fans, no doubt. But it isn't a journalistic documentary. It's Netflix and Messi fans spinning a story.

Also, no mention at all of the fact this was held in Qutar and at what cost.

Messi and Thiago Silva-show

[tommy-donker · 7/10 · 16 January 2024]

You could have better named it: Documentaire of Brazil and Argentina's captains.

Nevertheless, quite nice insights of the World Cup. Of course I've followed it back then, but it's nice to have a great recap od this. Insights for certain teams. Unfortunately it's really focused on Brazil and Argentina. I am Dutch myself, but I saw them only when they were Argentina's opponent.

Same for other greater countries (Germany, Belgium).

The personal part of the wife's and families is a nice feature you've never seen before. I hope they will make more series like this in the future, but hopefully more diverse.

So average .. Nothing New

[salimsaoun · 5/10 · 1 January 2024]

Okay they showed us some scenes behind the scene , but nothing special ... I thought that they will show something new unseen before ,all scenes behind the scenes were average and seen before on many platform rigged ,we have watched the world cup already , just one scene I love it is when Gareth bale spoke and wales watch it was good, no scenes in the locker room of argentina? Either for Portugal .

.My expectations were a little bit higher , I thought it will be something new ,like no messi speech no ronaldo speech no neymar , nothing ... scenes in the locker room of usa and iran, wales... I UNDERSTAND that it's not easy to let teams accept BUT the thing is we've seen nothing new on this series LITERALLY . The ratings is now 8.7 on the site, it's way overrated .

Unbelievable, horrible representation of the World Cup

[nvhpzggcx · 1/10 · 3 January 2024]

The FIFA World Cup in Qatar was the last for so many legends of the sport such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Thiago Silva, Suarez, Lewandowski and so many more. Netflix was able to do very well in terms of their cinematography, music and a lot more on the technical side, but I have given this a 1/10 for a reason.

This show was supposed to give us an inside view of the world cup, but failed to show the sides of Luis Suarez and Robert Lewandowski as this was too, probably their last world cups. This, among not showing other nations made the show very poor, only placing emphasis on Lionel Messi and his campaign. The entire show was Messi, followed by Messi and more Messi. They should have named it Messi World Cup. Every episode contained at the very least 10 minutes of Messi. Not even Argentina, just Messi.

The World Cup in Qatar was controversial from the very start, with directors of the tournament expressing how much it meant to them if Messi won the world cup. This show did not display any of that, even though it was clear to both players and fans, the bias in place for Lionel Messi during this World Cup. From all Argentinian officials in a world cup quarter final as well as the views of Bruno Fernandes and Pepe as well as Messi's disrespect towards Wout Weghorst were not shown at all during the show as Netflix attempted to glorify Lionel Messi. This actually made the show unbearable because once again it was called "Captains of the World" for all the captains not just Messi.

The match against the Netherlands brings up its own point in this review. Everyone who spoke about it from journalists to players and coaches all spoke in the most protective way to Leo Messi. "If he gets angry it will be worse" and more along those lines. The only person who displayed disrespect during this match was not Louis Van Gaal or Wout Weghorst, however, it was only Lionel Messi, from his gestures against the Dutch coach as well as his foul language towards Wout Weghorst.

Apart from all that, the media they brought in to show the side of the nation, for example, Sofia, I think her name was from Argentina, was shown so much too push the image of Messi being the best and everyone else inferior to him. In the final episode, they bring in world footballing legends such as Andrea Pirlo, Paolo Rossi, Ronaldo (Brazil) and class them as "(Country) World Cup Winner" Even though we all know they were legends not only for country but for club too. Then on top of all that, The England woman who spoke multiple times during the show was classed as "England Legend" I can't even remember her name for gods sake, let alone knowing who she is or was in the first place.

Overall, Netflix was able to display great cinematography and musical choice during the show, however failed to truly display that of their title, "Captains of the World" by only placing the spotlight on not even Argentina, but Lionel Messi alone. This soured the series for me as I wanted a deeper, behind the scenes experience of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, not a biography and transcendence of Lionel Messi's career.

Rigged World Cup

[dandon999 · 1/10 · 9 January 2024]

Why not name this Messi Cup as the bias screams from minute 1 ?

It was brain damaging to watch the worshipping of one fraud nation, that once won with a hand ball by a junkie called Maradona and today they won with serving penalties to this voiceless little cheat. So many big players left out, its a f shame and disrespect. The camera shows only scenes of Pessi being tackled, and where sre the scenes where he would catch players by their neck ? Where he insults and swears at Weghorst ? Where he handballs and doesnt get a red card for it, as every other player would have ?

Every objective person knows and will tell on that everything was done in this little cheater's favour.

Coaches and players are afraid to speak out cause they would get bashed by Fifa and the rubbish media that holds his back.

It's a disgrace, an absolute unseen disgrace.