Copa 71 review: Hot pants, tracksuits and cigarette smoke – The irresistible story of the Women’s World Cup of 1971

You get all schools of sexism in this terrific documentary on the hitherto underdiscussed – indeed, entirely unknown to this writer – Women’s World Cup of 1971. An English reporter asks a justifiably simmering player why she couldn’t just play hockey. One news story reassures potential viewers that the players will be wearing something like hot pants (“shorts” to you and me). But the standout snippet is surely the none-more-French remark from a contemporaneous commentator on his nation’s télé. It is a “curiosity both erotic and comedic” he remarks through gathering clouds of Gauloises smoke.

Well, they showed him. The final at the Azteca Stadium, in Mexico City, remains the best-attended women’s sporting event in history. Those unaware who ended up at that match will greatly enjoy the vigorous detailing of the tournament here. No quarter is given in matches much at home to creative refereeing. Like Once in a Lifetime, the fine 2006 documentary about the US soccer boom in the 1970s, Copa 71, working TV coverage in with cine footage, profits greatly from the styles and flavours of its era. Feathery haircuts. Not-yet-retro tracksuits. Managers puffing on cigarettes. Sponsorship from Martini & Rossi. Opening with a voiceover from Serena Williams, who is also an executive producer, the film really should trigger a run on T-shirts featuring the tournament’s mascot, Xochitl.

But there are also proper sorrow and anger here. Brandi Chastain, the American player who shone at the 1991 World Cup, the first recognised by Fifa, explains she knew next to nothing about the exploits of the women she now acknowledges as pioneers. David Goldblatt, the prominent sportswriter, is here to explain how the male-dominated soccer establishment closed ranks after the event and sought to edge the teams into the sidelines. We hear that they did what “all wounded men” do: they got “violent and aggressive”.

The England team members interviewed tell a sad story. Many were so disappointed by the aftermath that they never talked about it again. It is cheering to see them watching the recently triumphant England team at a packed Wembley, but a sense of lost opportunities hangs about the project.

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Copa 71 is conventionally told: talking heads interspersed with footage of the era’s pop music. But the rhythms are captivating and the story is irresistible. Highly recommended.

Copa 71 opens in cinemas on Friday, March 8th