The Other Final
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| Event | Friendly | ||||||
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| Date | 30 June 2002 | ||||||
| Venue | Changlimithang Stadium, Thimphu | ||||||
| Referee | Steve Bennett | ||||||
| Attendance | 15,000 | ||||||
The Other Final is a 2003 documentary film, directed by Johan Kramer of Dutch communications agency Kessels Kramer, about a football match between Bhutan and Montserrat, the then-lowest ranked teams in the FIFA World Rankings. The game was played in the Changlimithang Stadium, Thimphu, Bhutan. Bhutan won the game 4–0, their first ever victory and the first time they had kept a clean sheet. The friendly match, officially sanctioned by FIFA, saw Bhutan rise out of the bottom two of the world rankings and kept Montserrat in last place. The referee was Englishman Steve Bennett.
Held on the same day as the World Cup Final, this alternative final featured the world’s lowest ranking teams of Bhutan and Montserrat. The project was conceived and filmed by KesselsKramer, with the intention of communicating that football needn’t be so focused on competition. Instead, this sport that crossed all national boundaries could be viewed as a means of bringing people together in fellowship.
In 2002, Montserrat were ranked last in the world FIFA rankings with Bhutan second last. Prior to their meeting, Bhutan, who first competed in 1982, had never won a competitive match (bar a friendly victory over Tibet, though this was not an officially sanctioned match), whilst Montserrat, who made their debut in 1950 had only managed two victories, both against Anguilla in the 1995 Caribbean Cup, in their entire history. Additionally, financial constraints and a slump in the popularity of the game in the 1980s and 1990s had impacted the development of the national team in Bhutan, as well as the fact that the low level of facilities in the country had prevented the team attempting to qualify for the FIFA World Cup.
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