In this course we will study the representation of Soccer National Teams (Uruguay, Brazil,  Argentina, and Spain), as well as World Cup's Global Heroes (Pele, Maradona, Messi, Vini Jr., and others) in sport documentary films available in Netflix. We will examine how the quest of the heroes of these films relates to national and global dilemmas, such as class, race, gender dynamics, politics, social challenges, economic development, mental health, migration, etc. 

CALENDAR SPRING 2026

UNIT 1: SOCCER, NATION(ALISM), AND GLOBALIZATION

Week 1

1/13 (T) Introduction to class

1/15 (TH) Origins of Fútbol in Latin America: The First World Cup in Uruguay

• Movie: Becoming Champions (Episode 1) Uruguay: Half David, Half Goliath. 50 mins. (Netflix, 2019)
• Reading: “Sport, film, and national culture” by Sean Crosson
• Reading: “The Uruguayan Football Museum” by Scott Crawford

Week 2

1/20 (T) Origins of Fútbol in Latin America: The First World Cup in Uruguay

• Reading: selections from Soccer in Sun and Shadow by Eduardo Galeano
• Class discussion: How has soccer become an important part of Uruguay’s national culture? How do sport films help us explore the links between soccer and nation in Latin America? 

1/22 (TH) Brazil: King of Football

• Movie: Becoming Champions (Episode 4) Brazil: King of Football. 49 mins. (Netflix, 2019)
• Reading: Selections from The Sport Film by Bruce Babington

Week 3

1/27 (T) Brazil: King of Football

• Reading: selections from Soccer in Sun and Shadow by Eduardo Galeano
• Class discussion: How does soccer produce meaning in Brazilian national culture? How do sport films represent victory and defeat and the sport spectacle? 

1/29 (TH) Argentina and the Political History of a Football Nation 

• Movie: Becoming Champions (Episode 6) Argentina: The Hand of Faith? 62 mins. (Netflix, 2019)
• Reading: “Why Win a World Cup? Thirty-six Years of Football and Nation(alisms) in Argentina” by Pablo Alabarces, Juan Branz, and José Garriga Zucal

Week 4

2/3 (T) Argentina and the Political History of a Football Nation

• Reading: selections from Soccer in Sun and Shadow by Eduardo Galeano
• Class discussion: How can the political history of a country influence the meanings of the Football Nation? How do sport films explore political history and its meanings inside and outside the soccer field?

2/5 (TH) FIFA’s Power and Corruption: Havelange and the Globalization of Football

• Movie: FIFA Uncovered (Episode 1). 56 mins. (Netflix, 2022)
• Reading: “Joao Havelange: A Businessman for World Soccer” by Philippe Vonnard and Nicola Sbetti
• Reading: “The ‘invention’ of FIFA’s history: Joao Havelange’s election to FIFA’s presidency as a historic event” by Luiz Guilherme Burlamaqui

Week 5

2/10 (T) FIFA’s Power and Corruption: Havelange and the Globalization of Football

• Reading: selections from Soccer in Sun and Shadow by Eduardo Galeano
• Class discussion: Who was Havelange, a hero or a villain in the history of FIFA? What was the influence of Havelange in the Globalization of Football? What strategies do sport history documentaries use to represent complex and intertwined processes such as the commercialization and globalization of football? How do sport history documentaries generate drama by exploring stories of power and corruption? 

2/12 (TH) The Two Escobars in Medellín: the Local, National and Global Dimensions of Narco-soccer

• Movie: The Two Escobars. (ESPN/Netflix 2010)
• Reading: Selection of news about Pablo Escobar’s links to soccer
• Reading: “The Rise and Fall of Narco-Soccer” by Sarah Krupp
• Reading: “Escobar’s Global Branding” by Aldona Pobutsky
• Reading: “Knowing Sports: The Logic of Contemporary Sport Documentary” by Joshua Malitsky

Week 6

2/17 (T) The Two Escobars in Medellín: the Local, National and Global Dimensions of Narco-soccer

• Reading: selections from Soccer in Sun and Shadow by Eduardo Galeano
• Class discussion: Who was Pablo Escobar? What does he symbolize in Colombian Soccer? Who was Andrés Escobar? What does he symbolize in Colombian Soccer?  How can you describe the networks of Narco-Soccer? What was the impact of the Medellín narco-wars in Colombian soccer locally, nationally and globally? 

2/19 (TH) Complete and Submit Essay 1

 

UNIT 2: NATIONAL AND TRANSNATIONAL SOCCER HEROES

Week 7

2/24 (T) Presenting the Final Project: Writing a pitch for a show based on the World Cup 2026 in Atlanta

• Reading: “The StationSoccer Social Innovation” by Alberto Fuentes and Linda Duong

2/26 (TH) Pelé and the Dilemmas of a National Icon

• Movie: Pelé. 108 mins. (Netflix 2021)
• Reading: “Chap 2: When it Was Good to Be Brazilian: Tropical Modernity Affirmed, 1958-1970,” from The Country of Football: Soccer and the Making of Modern Brazil by Roger Kittleson
• Reading: “Playing the Hard Line: Football Under the Dictatorship, 1964-1986” from Futebol Nation: The Story of Brazil Through Soccer by David Goldblatt
• Reading; Selections from Pelé (reviews of film)

Week 8

3/3 (T) Pelé and the Dilemmas of a National Icon

• Reading: selections from Soccer in Sun and Shadow by Eduardo Galeano

3/5 (TH) Maradona: Rise, Fall, and Redemption

• Movie: Diego Maradona. 130 mins. (HBO 2019)
• Reading: “Introduction: The Cultural Significance of Maradona” by Pablo Brecia and Mariano Paz
• Reading: “Maradona and Cinema: Biopic, Documentary, Art Film” by Mariano Paz
• Reading: “Asif Kapadia” by Kathy A. McDonald

Week 9

3/10 (T) Maradona: Rise, Fall, and Redemption

• Reading: selections from Soccer in Sun and Shadow by Eduardo Galeano

3/12 (TH) Vini Jr. and the Persistence of Racism in Sports and Society

• Movie: Vini Jr. 106 mins. (Netflix, 2025)
• Reading: “An Overview of Human Rights Violations Against Racial Discrimination: Case Study of Racism Against Vinicius Jr.” by Yordan Gunawan, Kevin Syahru, Ichwan Rizki
• Reading: “Vini Jr. Law” by CN Noticias Financieras

Week 10

3/17 (T) Vini Jr. and the Persistence of Racism

• Reading: selections from Soccer in Sun and Shadow by Eduardo Galeano

3/19 (TH) Complete and Submit Essay 2

Week 11

3/24: Spring Break

3/26: Spring Break

UNIT 3: SOCCER CHAMPS AND THE TEAM AS COLLECTIVE HERO

Week 12

3/3 (T) Working on Final Project: The Pitch

4/2 (TH) World Cup 2022: Masculinity and National Identity 

• Movie: Captains of the World (Episode 2): Where is Messi? (44 mins.), (Episode 5) Mindgames (56 mins.) and (Episode 6) The Greatest (42 mins.) (Netflix, 2023)
• Reading: “Figurations of South American Masculinities in the Global North: Diego Armando Maradona and Lionel Messi” by Alejandro Gasel
• Reading: “Lionel Messi as a Global Icon” by Nahuel Iván Faedo and Montse Corrius

Week 13

4/7 (T) Men Soccer World Cup 2022: Masculinity and National Identity 

4/9 (TH) Women Soccer World Cup 2023: Gender Discrimination, Sexual Harassment and National Identity

• Movie: It’s All Over: The Kiss That Changed Spanish Football. 95 mins. (Netflix, 2024)
• Reading: “#SeAcabó: how a mass-mediated ‘social drama’ made visible and confronted (subjective and objective) violence in women’s football in Spain” by Itoiz Rodrigo-Jusue et. al.
• Reading: Select any reading from below
  • “Introduction” by Catherine Fowler and Sabrina Moro
  • “Women’s football sexism and media representation” Eleanor Crabill
  • “Productive rage in the viralization of #SeAcabó” by Diana Fernandez Romero and Sonia Nuñez Puente
  • “Feminist Digital Activism in Spain” by Sonia Nuñez Puente
  • “The problem is the system” by Barbara Zecchi
  • “Understanding the non-consensual kiss as abusive” by Catherine Fowler

Week 14

4/14 (T) Women Soccer World Cup 2023: Gender Discrimination, Sexual Harassment and National Identity

4/18 (TH) Students complete and submit video comment on Soccer and Gender. Students visit StationSoccer and work on final pitches

Week 15

4/21 (T) Teams work on final pitches with the professor

4/23 (TH) Teams revise final pitches independently

Week 16

4/28 (T): Final review of pitches with the professor