Captains of the World

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.

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!!!

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.

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.

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.