The film begins with the narrator, telling his son a story before going to sleep. In this story, Amadeo, the best foosball player in his town, is challenged by a boy called Grosso to a foosball game. Although Grosso initially wins, Amadeo ends up victorious, earning himself the wrath of Grosso, who swears he will get revenge for this defeat.
Years later, just after Laura (the girl Amadeo likes) tells him she is planning to go to Europe and study there, Grosso returns, having become the best football player in the world, and announces he has bought the entire town and plans to destroy it to build a gigantic football stadium in there, but his actual interest is to take the foosball table where he suffered his only defeat, to destroy the bar where the table is and to gain Laura's affection.
With his entire life destroyed in one night, Amadeo discovers that his tears have awakened the foosball players, and after Amadeo manages to rescue them, he challenges El Grosso to a rematch, but El Grosso changes it to a football game, and Laura raises the bet: if Amadeo's team wins, Grosso will give the town back to its people.
But, sometimes, football is no place for miracles...
In 2015, Discovery Kids Latin America announced that the movie will be getting a TV series that will air on their channel, tentatively titled as simply Underdogs. While it would retain the movie's 3D animation, it'll be aimed at a younger audience, and would include new characters, a new setting (a hidden world located underneath a foosball table, located in a modern-day arcade), and new adventures for the trio and their new friends to set out on. Outside from a few promotional images and teaser trailers, not much was said about the series after that point; however in 2020, it was announced that the series would be re-entering production, this time being animated in 2D. The series premiered as Underdogs United in 2022.
Metegol has examples of:
- Accidental Public Confession: When Amadeo gets into El Grosso's house to free Laura, he impulsively reveals his feelings for her.
- Alternative Foreign Theme Song: The original Spanish version has Me Vieron Cruzar by Calle 13
, the UK English dub has Ole Ole Ole Ole by Tika-Taka, and the US English dub has I Need You by Gary Barlow. - And Starring: The US English dub has an "And Introducing" credit for, of all actors, Mel Brooks as the manager.
- …And That Little Girl Was Me: Amadeo is implied to be narrating the movie's story to his son. His face is never shown until the end, acknowledging that indeed he was the young man in the story.
- Babies Ever After: Strongly implied when the movie opens up with Amadeo and Laura's son.
- The Big Damn Kiss: Amadeo and Laura both kiss after the football game ends.
- Bittersweet Ending: Amadeo's team loses the game, but not only does the crowd still cheer for our underdogs: even Laura emphatically lamp shades "It doesn't matter". Yes, this means they will lose the town, but it's later revealed in the ending they built a new town, meaning El Grosso's revenge ultimately doesn't stick, as he also lost the love of his fans after winning the game. Amadeo and Laura even married, started a new life and had a son there. Also, Amadeo's foosball players are on good terms with each other.
- Bland-Name Product: While the Deportivo Absoluto players are introduced before the game, the sponsors of the team are shown, clearly being parodies of famous companies (some obvious examples are Werner Sisters and Noentendo).
- Boob-Based Gag: Hormone Dominguez has a massive pair that practically hit her in the face at one point during the football match. And thank God the opposing team was quick to cover her up after she took her shirt off (which was cut from the US/UK releases).
- Bowdlerise: The Weinstein dub cuts out the scenes where Hormone celebrates her team's "victory" by taking off her shirt, to which Grosso's team responds by telling her to stop. Several scenes of her bouncing her breasts during the match is also cut in the dub.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Some of the characters that Amadeo summons for the final match previously had appeared as mere extras in some scenes.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: The game's first half is this, with "Los Absolutos" scoring twice in the first few minutes. The rest of the first half, and part of the second, they take to humilliate their opponents by "dancing" around the field.
- Darkest Hour: Happens twice. The first time after the bar and the foosball table are destroyed, and the second time when Amadeo (and later, Laura) realizes that there is little to no chance of his Ragtag Bunch of Misfits team winning against "Los Absolutos".
- Disproportionate Retribution: El Grosso loses a foosball game and holds it as a motive to not only destroy the foosball table and the bar where the game took place but also his home town. Let's look at the scope of it all: it's one thing for El Grosso to narrow in on personally retaliating Amadeo by destroying all he held dear; it's another thing when he takes away the homes and livelihoods of many innocent strangers who had nothing to do with the foosball game.
- Down to the Last Play: Amadeo nearly scores a winning goal in the last minute, but it hits the crossbar and El Grosso manages to score in the last second.
- Dub Name Change:
- Everyone has their names changed in both the US and UK dubs, though the latter leaves out some the original names. Notable examples include:
- Amadeo (original and UK) to Jake Hoffer (US)
- Ezekial "El Grosso" Remancho to Ace (US) and Flash (UK)
- Laura (original and US) to Lara (UK)
- Capi to Captain Skip (US and UK)
- Loco (original and UK) to Ziggy (US)
- Beto to Rico (US and UK)
- Capitán Liso to Rip (US) and Gregor (UK).
- In the Brazilian dub, Ezekial Remancho El Grosso to Ezequiel Ribeiro o Colosso.
- Everyone has their names changed in both the US and UK dubs, though the latter leaves out some the original names. Notable examples include:
- Enemy Mine: The two foosball teams, once enemies on the table, join forces to save their partners and then help the townspeople to get their town back.
- Gag Dub: Like most of Weinstein's dubs, the film is heavily cut and is 20 minutes shorter, and Americanises the script.
- Groin Attack: Happens twice. The first one is when Amadeo kicks El Grosso in the rods during his rescue of Laura. The second one is when El Grosso kicks the ball, during the big match, and it lands right between Dual Axis's legs, resulting in wince-worthy reactions from Capi, Beto, Loco, and Liso.
- Hate at First Sight: Downplayed as "Dislike at first sight". There's a lingering shot of young Laura glaring at young El Grosso, as though establishing she doesn't like him.
- In Love with Your Carnage: The Emo cracks a smile when Doble Eje skies a ball that causes a dirigible to explode.
- It's All About Me:
- El Grosso, who buys an entire town and destroys it to put a large football stadium there, just because it was the scenario of his only defeat. During the game, he insults his team mates when they fail to act at their best. When the spectators begin to applaud Amadeo's team at the end of the game, he only wonders why they are not applauding him.
- Beto, one of the primary foosball players, is highly confident about his looks (especially his hair) and displays a somewhat condescending attitude when addressing himself as the best player of his team. After reuniting with Capi and Loco, he gloats to the former about how he's 'the star' of the Stripes, even though Capi insists that he's the leader. Despite this attitude, he truly cares for his allies and would put his pride aside when the situation calls for it.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Some of the foosball players are shown to be ultimately good people underneath their rough exteriors. Examples include Beto (who is full of himself to the point of being a nuisance, but is also a loyal companion such as when he searches for the remaining teammates in the dumpster), Liso (who is rough around the edges, prioritizes brute force over careful intellect, and gets into quarrels with the other players, but is allegiant to both his and his rival team), and Capi himself (whose competitiveness sometimes gets over his head, but cares deeply for Amadeo).
- Karma Houdini: The Manager, as one of the driving forces behind El Grosso's actions, never faces any punishment for his actions.
- Laser-Guided Karma: El Grosso's egocentrism and inability to accept defeat end up costing him his fans and his manager.
- Market-Based Title: The film is named Underdogs in the US, The Unbeatables in the UK, and Futbolín in Spain.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Is the manager just an ordinary man, or could he perhaps be the Devil? It may explain why he sadistically derides El Grosso about why the crowd isn't cheering for him.
- Not Allowed to Grow Old: Except for Amadeo, Laura, Grosso and Carminio, no other character aged after the jump in time of several years at the beginning of the film.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: El Grosso's real name (Ezekial Remancho) is only mentioned once.
- Opposing Sports Team: El Grosso's team, "Los Absolutos", are a group of tall, imposing man with muscular figures, who easily dwarf Amadeo's team during the final match.
- Our Founder: The new town has a statue that honors the full team, with Amadeo taking point. The old town had a statue to honor its founder before El Grosso destroyed it. The "Gratias Fundator" sign that used to be near the old statue was changed to "Gratias Fundatores", with the additional letters shaped in a way that makes it clear to anyone they weren't originally there, and placed next to the new statue.
- Pyrrhic Victory: El Grosso manages to take revenge years after being defeated at foosball, but he loses the respect of his fans, his manager drops him like a hot potato and his revenge doesn't even stick, as the townspeople simply rebuild their town elsewhere.
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The townspeople's team. Formed by two old men, the town's priest, an Emo Kid, a thief, a policeman, the destroyed bar's owner, a hermit, a fat guy, an old woman and Amadeo.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: The Manager at El Grosso after the game, saying that stars fade away and that why everyone didn’t cheer for him despite winning was because he showed everyone his true colors. before giving him a sadistic Slasher Smile before leaving him, much to El Grosso’s shock and defeat.
- Recursive Translation: The film was originally written in Spanish, and then dubbed to American English courtesy of The Weinstein Company. The American English dub was then translated back to Spanish and redubbed in Los Angeles for the US DVD release.
- Related in the Adaptation: The narration in the UK dub implies that Dual Axis and Amadeo are father and son.
- Revenge Before Reason: El Grosso is more concerned about his revenge over a foosball game he lost back when he was a kid than his career as a soccer player.
- Rich Suitor, Poor Suitor: El Grosso is a rich and famous soccer player, Amadeo isn't rich, and both love Laura.
- The Rival: El Grosso, who comes to the town to get revenge for his only defeat.
- Slasher Smile: The Manager tends to make an sadistic grin occasionally throughout some parts of the film.
- Sore Loser: El Grosso never got over the fact he lost a foosball game back when he was a kid.
- Start My Own: Unable to prevent El Grosso from destroying their town, the townspeople merely start another town elsewhere.
- Stunned Silence: The entire stadium after El Grosso scores a goal in the last second.
- Swiss-Army Tears: After the foosball table and the bar are destroyed, Amadeo's tears fall on Capi (the only foosball player he managed to save from being taken), giving him and his companions life.
- Thinly-Veiled Dub Country Change: The Weinstein dub changes the setting from Argentina to the United States, while the footage displayed retains the former setting.
- Third-Person Person: Whenever Beto speaks, he refers to himself as "The Beto" (or "El Beto"), solidifying his It's All About Me personality.
- Underdogs Never Lose: Subverted. After letting in two goals, the townspeople (with a little aid from the foosball players) manage to tie the game and nearly win, but El Grosso manages to score the victory goal in the last second. However, the spectators applaud the townspeople for their spirit and unwillingness to give up, and "Los Absolutos" exchange T-shirts with them, considering them Worthy Opponents. Even more ironic in the US, where the team and film are literally called Underdogs.
- Unsportsmanlike Gloating: El Grosso, after scoring the victory goal. Unfortunately for him, the stadium has fallen into total silence and everyone hears him.
- V-Formation Team Shot: from the point of view of Amadeo and Capi. It is the moment from which the townspeople begin to play well enough to put "Los Absolutos" in a vice.
- Victorious Loser: Amadeo and his team barely lose the soccer game against Los Absolutos, but it's due to El Grosso's dirty playing and abusiveness towards his own teammates that cause him, the winner, to lose his popularity and to be dropped by his manager, while Amadeo and his team are celebrated and cheered for by the crowd, and even the respect of the rest of the opposing team. Amadeo's town got lost to El Grosso as were the stakes of the game, but the townspeople simply relocate and Amadeo happily lives in his new home and starts a family with Laura.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Capi and Beto spend the first half of the film arguing with each other, but it's clear that the two deeply care for one another. When Beto is seemingly taken away by the dumpsters rats, Capi is the only one who is devastated by his supposed loss, even evoking that Beto was his team's top scorer. And while it was later revealed that Beto wasn't really in danger after all, much to Capi's chagrin, Beto is at least happy to be back with his teammates. Later on, Capi comforts a weeping Beto when his afro is reduced to ashes.
- When All You Have Is a Hammer…: Amadeo has put all of his free time into his foosball games and being the greatest foosball player in his hometown. But when Laura comes along and talks about her future enrolling in schools and traveling abroad, Amadeo finds himself with awkwardly little to talk of his future except maintaining the bar and playing foosball.
- When He Smiles: A rather... morbid example: the Emo Kid, who has been a Perpetual Frowner throughout the entire film, smiles for the first time... after seeing Doble Eje kick a ball so high that it causes the dirigible to catch on fire.
- You Need a Breath Mint: El Roña manages to win a header by blowing his bad breath on his opponent.
