Everyone loves a good underdog story and Hollywood history is filled with them. Surprisingly, the underdog doesn't always win in sports movies, despite the trope. Of course, there are plenty of great movies where the underdog does win, like the wonderful sports movies on this list.
Hoosiers
There is no way to make this list without including possibly the most classic underdog story in film history, and one of the best sports movies ever, Hoosiers. The Gene Hackman-led movie about a small-town high school that takes home the Indiana state championship is an all-time great, and, of course, based on a true story.
Miracle
The 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team was never supposed to have a chance, especially against the big, bad Soviet Union, whose team was made up entirely of what amounted to professional players. The rag-tag group of college kids shocked the world when, led by the legendary coach Herb Brooks, beat the Soviets and eventually captured the gold medal. Miracle tells the story in amazing detail, with Kurt Russell as Brooks.
Invictus
Invictus, starring Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela and Matt Damon as legendary South African rugby captain Francois Pienaar tells the incredible story of the underdog Springboks (South African's national team) in its amazing journey to winning the 1995 World Cup in their home country. What makes it an underdog story is that the whole tournament is played as the country is coming out of the apartheid era and bringing the country together seemed an impossible task, but it's something the Springboks helped do.
The Replacements
When the players of a pro football team go on strike, the league replaces them with "scabs" including a washed-up quarterback played by Keanu Reeves. Despite the odds, the team scrambles to win enough of their remaining games to qualify for the playoffs just as the strike ends and they go back to their previous lives.
Dodgeball
Okay, it's not the most serious sport in the world, but in the movie Dodgeball, it's taken very seriously. With Peter (Vince Vaughn) on the verge of losing his gym to the bank, he must bring together the misfit group of gym members to try and win the championship and enough money to save the gym, and of course, they do.
Breaking Away
There aren't enough movies about professional bicycling, are there? Breaking Away is a classic example of one. In it, a group of "townies" in a college town come together to compete against some of the best college cyclists in the country in the "Little 500" at the University of Indiana. The race is, frankly, ridiculously unrealistic, but that doesn't matter, as our hero, Dave, overcomes injury and fatigue to win the whole thing.
Rocky II
You knew there was no way we were going to leave off the most famous underdog movie of all time, right? Well, we couldn't include the original Rocky, because the underdog actually loses. However, Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) does return and triumph in Rocky II!
Slap Shot
There is one movie that every hockey fan would put at the top of the list for underdog stories, not to mention probably the best movie about the sport of all time. Of course, we're talking about Slap Shot starring Paul Newman. The hilarious movie about a team of complete screw-ups and misfits is among the best sports movies ever made.
Wildcats
One of Goldie Hawn's more underrated movies is a classic underdog story. In Wildcats, Hawn plays a football coach who isn't taken seriously because she's a woman. When she is offered the job at an underfunded inner-city school, she jumps at it. Even though everyone expects her and the ragtag team to fail, she and they beat all the odds and take down the rich kids from the suburbs.
The Boys In The Boat
2023's The Boys In The Boat wasn't a hit with critics or moviegoers, but it's actually a pretty decent movie about the true story of the University of Washington's rowing team who shocked everyone in the rowing world when they qualified for - and won - the Olympics in 1936.
The Game of Their Lives
The United States has never been a powerhouse in the world of international soccer (or football). Still, in the 1950 World Cup, a group of amateur players, mostly from "The Hill" neighborhood of St. Louis, managed an upset of one of the great soccer nations, England, 1-0. The Game of Their Lives is all about those players and that team.
The Mighty Ducks
Of course we have to have The Mighty Ducks on this list! Not only is a great example of the underdog winning in so many ways, it's just a stone-cold classic for anyone who grew up watching over and over. It launched a mini-franchise, but none of the movies every really lived up to the original.
Remember The Titans
Remember the Titans tells the incredible true story about the integration of a high school football team in 1971. Denzel Washington plays the newly-named coach and immediately faces a backlash due to his race. The white players clash with the Black players, but through his hard work and persistence, Washington's team overcomes it all to win.
Tha Karate Kid
Everyone knows the story of The Karate Kid, especially now with the huge success of Cobra Kai. At the heart of the story is a true underdog, Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), who moves across the country with his mother only to get bullied at his new high school. With the help of a mysterious handyman (Pat Morita), he learns how to fight back and despite an entire squad of goons trying to sweep his leg and injure him at the big karate tournament, he overcomes it all with one great crane kick.
Necessary Roughness
Necessary Roughness is a mostly forgotten movie from the early '90s about a college team on a rough slide who are brought together by a tough-but-fair coach (Héctor Elizondo) who brings back an aging quarterback (Scott Bakula) and a female kicker (Kathy Ireland). Of course, they win the last game on a last-second trick play.
We Are Marshall
The tragedy of the Marshall football team plane crash inspired We Are Marshall about the coaches and players who are left to pick up the pieces of a shattered community and football program. Matthew McConaughey plays Jack Lengyel, the coach brought in to lead the impossible task. Together with his players, they bring the team back and succeed by just competing the very next season.
The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh
The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh is to basketball what Slap Shot is to hockey. It's a ridiculously over-the-top send-up of the sport featuring a hapless professional team from Pittsburgh doing everything it can, on the court and off, to win. Of course, they do, in the end.
McFarland, USA
In the spirit of many Disney movies, McFarland, USA is an underdog tale that is based on a true story. Football coach Jim White (Kevin Costner) loses his job as a football coach and is forced to take a job at an underprivileged mostly Latino school. He soon learns that the kids are talented runners and under his coaching, they go all the way to the state championship.
Cinderella Man
Cinderella Man is one of the great - and somewhat underappreciated - boxing movies. Russell Crowe plays James J. Braddock, a pro boxer who shocked the world when he defeated Max Baer for the heavyweight championship in 1935. For the rest of his career, he was known by the nickname "Cinderella Man" due to the unlikely victory.
The Longest Yard
There are a couple of versions of The Longest Yard, but we recommend the first starring Burt Reynolds, of course. If you haven't seen either movie, they are essentially the same plot where a group of prisoners take on a group of guards in the dirtiest football game you'll ever see.
Happy Gilmore
Happy Gilmore might not know proper golf etiquette, as he shows over and over in the movie with the same title, but he does know how to win. This Adam Sandler classic is one of the all-time great golf and sports movies and a movie where the underdog - Happy - wins the tournament and the girl.
Teen Wolf
With "The Wolf," the Beavers are definitely not the underdogs. Without the wolf with Scott (Michael J. Fox) playing as just himself, they are the underdogs. It's that simple. And in the final game, the championship game, the Beavers answer the call as a team, and without the wolf.
The Natural
Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford) wasn't an underdog at first, he was a monster of a pitcher. Then it all came crashing down after he was mysteriously shot. After that, he was never the same. Until he gets a second chance as a power hitter and he helps the New York Knights win the pennant.
Major League
In a case of art imitating real life, the Cleveland Indians, who hadn't been a playoff team for decades when Major League was released in 1989. The group of misfits in the movie was brought together by the team's "showgirl" owner with the intent purpose of losing so she could move them to Miami. Of course, the team thwarts her plans in the end and they make it to the playoffs. In the sequel, we find out they didn't win, but for the purpose of this list (and everything else), we're ignoring that.
Seabiscuit
At a time when horse racing was one of the most popular sports in the United States, an underdog horse named Seabiscuit captured the attention of sports fans all over the country. The movie tells the incredible story of the amazing horse and it grabbed the attention of movie fans across the world.
Escape To Victory
Escape To Victory, like The Longest Yard is a story of prisoners assembling to try to beat a more powerful opponent. The big difference is that the prisoners were Allied POWs in World War II and the more powerful opponent was a professional team from Germany. In one of the best examples of a pro athlete doing some acting, even the great Pele had a role in the film. Not only do the prisoners win the match, but they also use the opportunity to escape.
Next Goal Wins
It's fair to say that Next Goal Wins is not the best movie on this list, but it is a super fun, feel-good story about an underdog soccer team from American Samoa who are finally able to come together to win a game—just one game. But they were so bad that one victory made all the difference.
The Hunger Games
Argue all you want over whether The Hunger Games is a sports movie, but it takes a lot of athletic ability to win them, so yeah, they are. Period. Obviously, anyone from District 12 is going to be an underdog, it's incredibly rare for anyone from that far from the Capitol to win. When Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) both win, it's the ultimate underdog win.
Air Bud
Let's just get this out of the way right away, Air Bud is a dumb movie with a dumb plot. BUT - there is a whole generation of movie fans who grew up loving it and any time a team needs a beloved family pet to join the team to win a basketball game counts as an underdog story. The dog leads them to victory, of course.
Rollerball
1975's Rollerball starring James Caan is one of the best cult flicks from its era and one of the best of Caan's career. There is a lot more to it than a simple underdog story, as the social commentary is hardly subtle. At its heart though, it's a team (and a man) overcoming the odds to win.
Invincible
2006's Invincible, starring Mark Wahlberg as the real-life Vince Papale. It's not about a team of underdogs like most examples on this list, but it's about how one man can work hard to achieve a dream well after most people have written him off. It's easily one of Wahlberg's best movies, even if it's not one that most people think of right away.
Angels In The Outfield
Angels In The Outfield is a movie that you definitely had to grow up to love. It's a silly movie about a kid who wishes for his favorite MLB team to finally win something. They finally do so with some heavenly help. So it still counts as an underdog story, right?
