The match has finished, the group chat is still conducting a calm judicial review of the referee, and nobody is ready for bed. These six football movies and shows to stream in New Zealand keep the World Cup mood going with Mexico 86, Ted Lasso, Welcome to Wrexham, Sunderland 'Til I Die, Bend It Like Beckham and Next Goal Wins. None can reverse the result. Several are better for your blood pressure.
What football movies and shows can you stream during the World Cup?
FIFA's official 2026 World Cup schedule runs from 11 June to the final on 19 July 2026. As of 12 July, the tournament is still live, and all six picks were listed on the named New Zealand services. The football will move faster than the rights, ideally.
Choose by how much football you want after the football. A documentary keeps the stakes real. A comedy lets the sport sit underneath character and jokes. A movie can get the whole thing done before the next early kick-off ruins your claim that you were going to have a sensible week.
For the tournament still in your head
Mexico 86
Start with the 1986 tournament when you want the event itself rather than a fictional dressing room. The archive setting changes the pace and texture, but the nerves around knockout football remain familiar. It is the neatest bridge from today's match to the longer history of the competition, without asking you to pretend a motivational speech fixed everything.
Ted Lasso
The premise begins with an American coach who knows little about football, then wisely turns into a show about people trying to become less terrible to themselves and each other. It is warm without being completely soft. Choose it when a tense match has left the lounge needing something kinder than another panel replaying the same offside frame.
Welcome to Wrexham
The famous owners bring the initial curiosity, but the town and club supply the staying power. Promotion pressure, money and supporter loyalty all matter because the people living with the result are allowed into the story. It works for a football household and for the person who mainly wants to know why everyone is suddenly crying in a stand.
Sunderland 'Til I Die
This is the less soothing documentary choice. Sunderland's season unfolds through supporters, staff and a club carrying expectations that do not shrink when the results do. The series understands that football can be communal joy and prolonged administrative weather. Put it on if your own team has hurt you and you would like company, not advice.
Bend It Like Beckham
Jess wants to play football while family expectations pull hard in another direction. The movie stays lively because sport is not decoration: it is the place where friendship, ambition and identity collide. It also finishes in one sitting, useful when the next alarm is set for a kick-off time that seemed perfectly reasonable yesterday.
Next Goal Wins
Honourable mention
Taika Waititi turns American Samoa's attempt to recover from a famous defeat into a warm underdog comedy about a team rebuilding its nerve. The football matters, but the local cast and community keep the film from becoming one long dressing-room speech. Put it on when the group wants sport, a complete movie and a little less suffering than the live tournament supplied.
Match the extra watch to the match you just saw
After a brilliant game, choose Mexico 86 or Welcome to Wrexham and keep the football brain switched on. After a painful loss, Ted Lasso is the humane option and Sunderland 'Til I Die is the option for sitting with it. Bend It Like Beckham works when half the flat wants football and the other half wants an actual movie with relationships and a conclusion.
For a broader change of pace, the best action movies streaming in New Zealand keeps the momentum without another league table. The New Zealand weekly picks page carries the rotating shortlist. These football picks belong to the 2026 tournament, right down to the poor sleep and increasingly ambitious opinions about midfield shape.
One more match is enough
Treat these football movies and shows to stream in New Zealand as the post-match wind-down, not compulsory research. Pick one episode or one movie. If the Palmy fog has settled over the driveway and tomorrow has become negotiable, perhaps allow a second. We are not managing your minutes, which is fortunate given what happened to ours during extra time. Available in New Zealand, Australia, the UK, and the United States.