Landon Donovan is featured in the Prime Video Sports docseries, Good Rivals. (AndyMead/YCJPhoto.com)

Prime Video Sports on Thursday announced a Nov.24 premiere date and released the trailer for Good Rivals (previously titled Good Neighbors), a three-part docuseries about one of the most unique and intense competitions in international sports: The rivalry between the Mexican and U.S. men’s national soccer teams.

The trailer will air in its entirety during the Thursday Night Football broadcast.

Good Rivals will look at the political, social and sporting layers of a rivalry that has become must-see TV over the past three decades. Good Rivals also spotlights the personal and professional arcs of stars from each nation, such as Landon Donovan (United States) and Rafa Marquez (Mexico), who became symbols of their country’s cultures during their respective careers in the early and mid 2000s.

The documentary also will examine the passionate, international battle for on-field talent and fan support that has made the U.S.-Mexico border one of the most fascinating soccer frontiers in the world, with players — and families — from both countries becoming the focus of recruiting battles between these two nations.

Both teams qualified for the World Cup in Qatar, which kicks off later this month.

Here is the trailer:

 

Episode 101

The U.S. became a global superpower during the 20th century, but Mexico took pride in dominating the Americans in one realm where it had clear superiority: soccer. It was the national sport of Mexico, which hosted World Cups in 1970 and 1986, and the U.S. failed to beat Mexico in 24 consecutive games from 1937 to 1980. But the tide turned in the 1990s, as the U.S. hosted the 1994 World Cup 1994. Under the guidance of head coach Bora Milutinovic, who had guided Mexico in the 1986 World Cup — started winning big games against its southern neighbor. A rivalry was born. Marquez, whose grandfather abandoned the family to move to the U.S., and American Landon Donovan, a working-class, talented striker from Southern California, helped define the rivalry at the start of the new century.

Episode 102

The most important game in the history of the U.S.-Mexico soccer rivalry took place at World Cup 2002, where the U.S. won 2-0 to eliminate Mexico and reach the quarterfinals. It was one of several dos a cero results that went in the Americans’ favor over the years. Over the next decade, both teams held serve in their mystique-filled fortresses of Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca and Columbus, Ohio’s Crew Stadium, with Landon Donovan and Rafa Márquez leading their respective countries’ national teams. They had low moments, too. Marquez, who became one of his country’s greatest soccer exports in Europe’s top leagues, was red carded in the 2002 World Cup match for a vicious foul, while Donovan took a sabbatical for mental-health reasons that resulted in him being dropped from the 2014 World Cup roster by U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann. In 2016, three days after Donald Trump won the U.S. presidency amid a wave of anti-Mexico sentiment, the teams met in Ohio in a dramatic World Cup qualifying game – as El Tri and broke the “Curse of Columbus” behind a late goal from Marquez.

Episode 103

As Donovan connected more with Mexico, playing for Club Leon and cheering for Mexico in a controversial ad campaign, he also faced criticism for supporting his nation’s biggest soccer rival. After Donovan’s retirement, the USMNT regressed, failing to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, while Mexico’s soccer federation intensified efforts to recruit Mexican-Americans for its national team. Current “dual-national” players such as Americans Obed Vargas, Efraín Alvarez, and Ricardo Pepi, and their families, had to make difficult decisions about which country they will represent in international soccer. Across the Atlantic, Marquez begins a new chapter coaching in Spain, and the U.S.-Mexico rivalry has remained as dramatic as ever, with a new generation of players facing off in key qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup. In 2026, as the U.S., Mexico and Canada will co-host World Cup 2026.

Good Rivals is executive produced by Skydance Sports’ David Ellison, Jesse Sisgold, and Jon Weinbach; Meadowlark Media’s John Skipper and Deirdre Fenton; and Ocellated Media’s Dante Möller. Good Rivals is a co-production from Prime Video Sports and Skydance Sports, with Meadowlark Media and Ocellated producing. The series is directed by Academy Award-nominated Nicaraguan filmmaker Gabriel Serra, and will feature a wide variety of American and Mexican perspectives, with episodes accessible for English- and Spanish-speaking audiences.

 

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.