Limited Series
3 episodes Apr 16, 2026 3.7
Overview
This series follows the life and career of Brazilian soccer star Ronaldinho, tracing his journey from young prodigy to global sports icon.
Seasons
1 listed- Status
- Ended
- Seasons
- 1 season
- Episodes
- 3 episodes
- First aired
- Apr 16, 2026
- Last aired
- Apr 16, 2026
- Episode length
- 55m
- Network
- Netflix
Latest episode: S1 E3 Who Said I Was Finished? (Apr 16, 2026)
Cast
9 people
Reviews
4 min readThe Smile That Bent the Game
I’ve watched Ronaldinho: The One and Only three times now, and each time I’m struck by the same thing: the way his grin doesn’t just light up the screen—it warps it. There’s a moment in the first episode where grainy VHS footage of a teenage Ronaldinho juggling a ball on a dirt pitch cuts to a Barcelona training session years later. The camera lingers on his face as he nutmegs a defender, then pauses, mid-dribble, to flash that impossibly wide smile at the lens.
It’s not just joy. It’s a challenge. Watch this, it says. And try not to love it.
That smile is the series’ greatest asset and its most frustrating limitation. Because for all its archival riches and star-studded testimonials, The One and Only is ultimately a story told by believers—for believers. And believers, as any good football fan knows, are terrible historians.
The documentary’s three episodes trace Ronaldinho’s rise from the favelas of Porto Alegre to global superstardom, with detours through Barcelona’s golden era, the 2002 World Cup triumph, and the slow, sad unraveling of his later years. Director Luis Ara structures it like a magic trick: first, the setup (the prodigy), then the flourish (the legend), and finally, the slight of hand (the decline, barely acknowledged). The problem isn’t that it skips over the dark parts—every great sports story has shadows—but that it treats them like a magician’s misdirection, something to glance at before hurrying back to the spectacle.
Take the episode on Barcelona. It’s a masterclass in nostalgia, stitching together match footage, locker-room banter, and interviews with Messi, Puyol, and Xavi to recreate the electric atmosphere of the early 2000s. The camera lingers on Ronaldinho’s feet as he weaves through defenders, the ball seemingly glued to his toes.
Audience Opinions
Audience 7.1/10
"A moving but uneven tribute that captures Ronaldinho’s magic on the pitch while skimming over the tougher parts of his story."
Match footage and nostalgic recollections of the Barcelona era and other peak moments land strongly, reminding viewers how unique Ronaldinho’s style, joy, and influence on players like Messi and Neymar really were. At the same time, the structure feels rushed, the later stages of his career are handled superficially, and a soft, promotional tone leaves career controversies and downturns largely unexplored, latestnetflix.com maintains, with some viewers also turned off by awkward narration.
What viewers praise
- Joyful football nostalgia Revisits iconic games and teams from the 2000s, with standout sequences like the Flamengo vs Santos thriller delivering a powerful hit of nostalgia.
- Ronaldinho’s charisma intact Conveys his smile, flair, and unique style of play, reinforcing why he is remembered as one of the most entertaining players ever.
- Insightful testimonials Contributions from major stars and those influenced by Ronaldinho underline his impact on a whole generation of footballers.
Common complaints
- Superficial storytelling Skips quickly over key phases such as his post-Barcelona years and legal or lifestyle issues, avoiding uncomfortable questions and deeper analysis.
- Rushed three-episode structure The short runtime for such a big career creates a hurried feel, compressing arcs that could have used more context and reflection.
- Promotional tone Comes across more like controlled image management for his camp than a candid documentary, with several viewers explicitly calling it a puff piece or catalog filler.
- Off-putting voiceover Narration style and delivery feel mismatched to the emotion of the subject, with some viewers finding it so poor they stopped watching.
Recommended for
Ronaldinho devotees Barcelona 2000s nostalgists Casual football biography watchers Highlight-reel documentary fans
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsHe says he made friends in the Paraguayan prison
Ronaldinho walked into Netflix's three-part series ready to talk about the nights, the trophies, and the 32 days he spent in Asuncion's Agrupacion Especializada. Sport quoted him on the cell block first. "I made friends there! Everybody played football, everybody did sport. It was a way to forget what I was living. To do what I love most. There I also won." ABC Color, covering the same cut, logged a colder line from episode three. "Being in prison in Paraguay was my worst moment, no doubt." He and his brother Roberto entered the country in March 2020 on falsified Paraguayan passports. He marked his 40th birthday inside. After 32 days they moved to hotel house arrest. Full release came in August. latestnetflix.com's read is that the series puts that chapter around the 40-minute mark of Who Said I Was Finished?
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Luis Ara directed and wrote the miniseries for Canal Azul and Trailer Films. Netflix Brazil announced it on March 12, 2026, under the original title Ronaldinho Gaucho, English title Ronaldinho: The One and Only, dropping April 16. Tudum sold exclusive access to his private life plus unused archive, and a guest list that reads like a Ballon d'Or afterparty. Lionel Messi, Neymar Jr., Roberto Carlos, Carles Puyol, Galvao Bueno, Ronaldo Nazario, Luiz Felipe Scolari, Gilberto Silva. Three episodes. Everything Was Part of a Plan. The Best in the World. Who Said I Was Finished? Tudum also repeats the unique medal stack. He is the only player to win a World Cup, a Copa America, a Confederations Cup, a Champions League, a Copa Libertadores, and a Ballon d'Or. , ,
The parties were not a rumor. His old PSG coach said them on camera.
Luis Fernandez, who had him at Paris Saint-Germain after the 2002 World Cup, told the series it kept getting worse. He went out the night before matches and came home at 6 or 7 in the morning, then slept at dawn. Ronaldinho's on-camera reply, per Sport, was a smile and "I have nothing to say." Joan Laporta is warmer. "Barcelona's revival started with him." Messi goes further. "He was the leader of the dressing room. The way he treated me from day one made things easier. He occupies a special place in my heart." Ronaldinho calls the day he lost his mother the worst of his life, harder than the jail. The series is not shy about either. ,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BJc-L19h0E
Sports Business Journal later put the doc at 13.8 million views in the first half of 2026, Netflix's biggest soccer documentary around the World Cup window, in the same range as Mr. McMahon. That is a lot of people watching a man explain how he won a prison tournament after the world already knew the smile. ,
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.