Relive Brazil’s 1994 World Cup Triumph With Netflix’s USA 94 — Cast, Plot, Release Date, and More

Netflix is back in the football time machine. With the 2026 World Cup headed to North America, they just dropped a feature doc that rewinds to the last time the tournament was on U.S. soil and Brazil clawed their way back to the top. It is called 'USA 94: Brazil's Return to Glory,' and yes, it goes way deeper than the highlight reels you have sitting in your memory.

What this doc is actually doing

This one revisits Brazil's 1994 World Cup win — the title that ended a 24-year drought and put a fourth star on the shirt. If you remember late-night Pasadena broadcasts and Romario carving through defenders like a ghost, this is basically opening a vault. The film promises to put you in the locker room, on the buses, and in all the spots TV never reached.

How it is told (and why that matters)

Director- writer-producer Luis Ara builds the story around fresh interviews and rare footage shot by the players themselves in 1994 — not just match clips. Editor Pablo Riera threads it together, and the big hook is more than six hours of never-before-seen material recorded by Jorginho and goalkeeper Gilmar Rinaldi. That player-shot perspective is the secret sauce here; you are not just reliving games, you are living inside the pressure cooker.

The arc: from doubt to penalties

The film starts with the hangover from the 1990 World Cup disappointment and a rocky qualifying run that had fans genuinely wondering if Brazil would ever feel like Brazil again. Under captain Dunga (and with Carlos Alberto Parreira managing from the touchline), the team hardened up. Up front, Romario and Bebeto did what you wanted Romario and Bebeto to do. The climb ends at the Rose Bowl in California, where Brazil and Italy play a nervy final that goes all the way to penalties — the kind of finale that ages you a decade even if you are just watching on a couch.

Who shows up on camera

• From Brazil: Romario, Bebeto, Dunga, Jorginho, Gilmar Rinaldi, Branco, Rai, Zinho, Marcio Santos, Viola
• From the opposition: Gianluca Pagliuca, Demetrio Albertini

Release timing (and why Netflix is doing this now)

'USA 94: Brazil's Return to Glory' premiered globally on Netflix on May 7, 2026. It slots neatly into Netflix's growing stack of football docs (they have already done 'Pele' and more), and the timing is no accident with the World Cup coming back to North America this year. Also worth flagging: Netflix has been developing 'Brazil 70,' a separate project circling Pele's 1970 triumph — so consider this part of a bigger push into classic Selecao history.

Short version: if you think you know the 1994 story, this adds layers — the nerves, the second-guessing, the goofy downtime — all the stuff you never saw, shot by the guys living it.

What do you remember from Brazil 94? Drop your favorite (or most traumatic) memory below.