Copa 71 review: 'incendiary account' of the women's 1971 World Cup in Mexico

Film, with Serena and Venus Williams as executive producers, can be added to the 'list of great football documentaries'

Danish player with the World Cup in a film still from Copa 71
Denmark's Lis Lene Nielsen holds the World Cup after her team beat Mexico 3-0 in the final in front of 112,500 fans at the Azteca Stadium
(Image credit: Photo by Ritzau Scanpix / TopFoto courtesy of New Black Films Ltd - © Ritzau Scanpix / TopFoto courtesy of New Black Films Ltd)

From "raucous crowds" and "widespread television coverage" to a "semi-final ending in a full blown punch-up", this story "needs to be seen to be believed".

That was how Kathryn Batte described the 1971 Women's World Cup football tournament in Mexico in the Daily Mail. And Kevin Maher in The Times called it an "incendiary account" that must be added to "the list of great football documentaries".

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Adrienne Wyper has been a freelance sub-editor and writer for The Week's website and magazine since 2015. As a travel and lifestyle journalist, she has also written and edited for other titles including BBC Countryfile, British Travel Journal, Coast, Country Living, Country Walking, Good Housekeeping, The Independent, The Lady and Woman’s Own.