Generation VICTORY: A Tribute to the Greatest Holiday Soccer Film Ever Made

We’re back! Sort of. Season Two of AN AMERICAN GAME will be coming your way in February 2026, and we’ve got so many new stories to share about US soccer history that we’re burning one now. Hahaha that can’t possibly come back to bite us, right?

Anyway, think of this as a holiday gift, because it’s about one of our favorite holiday films: the movie that influenced some of our greatest players, coaches...and podcasters. We’re talking, of course, about the Stallone/Caine/Pelé classic, VICTORY, a.k.a. ESCAPE TO VICTORY. 

Give a listen to find out how it was made–and why we’re still talking about a movie that was, in 1981, less popular than Ringo Starr’s CAVEMAN.