In 2001, the
American Samoa national football team suffers a
0–31 defeat against
Australia. Since then, the team goes through a long period without any notable victories. After yet another humiliating defeat at the
2011 Pacific Games, Tavita Taumua, head of the nation's football federation, announces that he will hire a new coach. Meanwhile in the United States, football coach
Thomas Rongen has just been sacked by the
American Soccer Federation. He is then offered to become the new coach for American Samoa. Because he doesn't want to live without a job, Rongen reluctantly accepts the offer. When Rongen begins his new job, he is frustrated by the players' lack of football skill and the islands' limited facilities. He also dislikes Jaiyah — a transgender (
fa'afafine) defender — because he thinks Jaiyah lacks discipline and focus. Eventually, the two are involved in a minor brawl after Rongen taunts Jaiyah by
calling her by her legal birth name. Jaiyah later visits Rongen's house to apologize and the two agree to forgive each other. With Jaiyah's help, Rongen travels around the islands to recruit new faces for the squad. Rongen changes his training approach and begins to show more respect toward the American Samoan players and staff. Although they lack football skill and have to work at multiple jobs, they are still passionate enough to do everything to support the national team. Four weeks after Rongen's first arrival in American Samoa, the team are finally ready to play their first competitive match under Rongen against Tonga in a FIFA World Cup qualification match. Rongen chooses Jaiyah as the captain for this match. American Samoa start the match well. However, the pressure begins to affect the American Samoa players after Rongen repeatedly yells, and throws a tantrum in front of his players. Eventually, Tonga are able to score first after intercepting a misplaced American Samoan pass. The first half ends with Tonga leading 1–0. During the half-time break in the dressing room, Rongen angrily calls the players useless and accuses them of not trying to play seriously. Rongen later announces his resignation from the head coach position and plans to leave the stadium immediately. Before Rongen is able to leave the stadium, Taumua convinces Rongen to rethink his decision. Eventually, Rongen changes his mind and returns to the dressing room. Rongen apologizes to his players and tells his players to play as they want without needing to worry about the result. Rongen also admits that two years prior, he lost his daughter in an accident. That event affected Rongen so deeply that he continues to feel guilty and often shows emotional outbursts throughout his managerial career. Feeling touched and motivated by Rongen's speech, the American Samoa players play a lot better in the second half. Eventually, they are able to score the equalizing goal. However, when the players and staffs are celebrating the goal, Taumua suddenly faints due to heatstroke. Taumua later wakes up when the match has ended. His son, Daru, who also played that match, later explains that when his father was still unconscious, American Samoa were able to score another goal and ended the match in 2–1 victory. During a gathering with American Samoan players and staffs, Rongen announces that he will leave his position as American Samoa head coach because he wants to take an extended break from football. Although initially shocked, Taumua accepts Rongen's decision and wishes him well for the future. The epilogue covers what happened after the events of the film. After defeating Tonga 2–1 in 2011, American Samoa has never again been at the bottom of the world rankings. Rongen went on to be the Chief Scout for the United States national team, before working as commentator at
CBS Sports. Jaiyah was the first openly transgender athlete to compete in a World Cup Qualifier, and later became FIFA ambassador for equality. ==Cast==