20 best soccer movies with their posters and trailers

9. The Cup (1999)

A Tibetan refugee’s quest to watch the 1998 World Cup

The Cup is not about the great football legends or legendary clubs, it is a tale of two football fans who are also Tibetan refugees who land up in an Indian monastery. Displaced from Tibet, the two friends, who were novice monks, now begin a desperate search for a place to watch the 1998 World Cup final.

Set in the serene environment of the Tibetan refugee village Bir, in Himachal Pradesh, India, the movie rather captures the mood of the changing world and how the Lama has to face the challenge of imparting the teachings of Buddha to his students with so many distractions around them.

The director Khyentse Norbu was a Tibetan monk who later attended the New York City Film School. This movie received critical acclaim at a number of international film festivals. Soccer enthusiast Orgyen disrupts the mood of serene contemplation at the monastery in Bir, where he is desperate to catch a glimpse of the 1998 World Cup.

While a politically charged atmosphere prevails thanks to China’s invasion of Tibet, little Orgyen is immersed in his world with his own trials, about how to catch his favourite footballers in action in the remote hamlet in India.