Best Soccer Documentaries, Ranked

There's nothing quite like a football documentary to remind us why it is irrefutably the most popular (and arguably the best) sports game on earth….

In just under three weeks’ time as of writing, Qatar will play host to Ecuador in the eagerly-anticipated curtain-raiser of the FIFA 2022 World Cup. While the mouths of supporters across the world collectively water at the prospect of the on-the-field action, the happenings off it have been shrouded in controversy. Globally dubbed "The Beautiful Game," football's integrity has been frequently brought into question in recent years, with the 2015 FIFA corruption scandal, before Russia and then Qatar was awarded the prestigious tournament, contentiously throwing the game into disrepute.

The issue of slave-like conditions, forced labor, and the outlawing of homosexuality among men are just some pressing issues at hand going into the competition in Qatar. Consequently, football, and in particular, FIFA's reputation is in tatters, and confidence in a fair and just process of selecting future World Cup host nations that don't violate human rights, or persecute people based on their sexuality, is at an all-time low.

Documentaries often highlight the power of sport in unifying, and giving people common ground. With all the background noise going on behind the scenes in the build-up to the Qatar World Cup, here are some of the best football documentaries that restore the beauty in the beautiful game, and remind us why, for much of the world's population, it is irrefutably the best and most powerful game on earth….

In the Amazon-backed Six Dreams, we follow the lives of six people involved in football with the Spanish first division, La Liga, in some capacity or another. From players to managers and owners, Six Dreams provides a multidimensional angle of how each cog in the professional football machine works individually to create a collective.

From Prime Video's flagship behind-the-scenes series All or Nothing, we are brought the story of Manchester City's 2017-2018 season, and their hunt to win all major honors on offer to them. Guided by perfectionist head coach, Pep Guardiola, we are given fly-on-the-wall access to the goings-on inside the Man City squad's training sessions, dressing room, and with the players at home.

Related: The Best Sports Documentaries on Prime Video

Football is a notoriously unforgiving sport. The managerial turnover rate is unmatched throughout the world. When a team's performance rests almost entirely on the manager's shoulders, a period of bad results can spell an inevitable sacking. In Sir Alex Ferguson's case, the most successful manager in English football history oversaw the most dominant team to grace the British Isles between 1986 and 2013, Manchester United.

Winning an unparalleled 38 honors in a 26-year tenure, making him one of the most celebrated figures in global football. Last year, Sir Alex Ferguson: Never Give In(directed by his son, Jason Ferguson) provides a never-seen-before insight into the life and mind of Ferguson, taking us on his journey from a tough Glaswegian upbringing, to becoming a 13-time champion of England, three-time champion of Europe, and a near-fatal dance with death after suffering from a cerebral hemorrhage.

Sports and drugs have this forbidden, often hidden relationship. In the case of Diego Maradona, plausibly the best football player of all time, his celebrity life was a concoction of football, celebrity, alcohol, and drug abuse, namely cocaine. From filmmaker, and documentarian Asif Kapadia, the man behind both Amy and Senna, we are brought to the fraught life of Argentina's sweetheart, Diego Armando Maradona.

Related: Best Sports Biopics of All Time, Ranked

Diego Maradona ventures into the hidden depths of the former footballer's life, and his taxing lifestyle that would ultimately lead to a host of personal issues. The film reveals the man behind the legend, how his god-like status in Naples and at home in Argentina took its toll on him and his family, and how his off-the-field antics which included drinking to excess, his partiality to ladies of the night, and his ties to the Italian mafia affected his ability as one of the world's greatest athletes.

It was announced by the production company Fulwell 73 in August that the massively popular Sunderland ‘Til I Die was set to return for a third season. The docuseries, one of the best about sports on Netflix, provides unprecedented access and an unconventional narrative twist. As with Amazon's All Or Nothing series, these documentaries are usually employed to depict a sports team on the up, on their journey to success and triumph.

However, Sunderland ‘Til I Die provides a different perspective, a view of a team and a sporting institution suffering the biggest demise of its 143-year history. Following their relegation from English football's top flight, the Premier League, Sunderland finds themselves in a perpetual downward spiral, with the series focusing on problematic members of the squad, the shambolic running of the team behind the scenes, the increasingly despondent fan base, and their consecutive relegations. It is perhaps the closest a football documentary has come to reality television, but it certainly makes for undeniably fascinating viewing.