Mike Bassett: England Manager is a 2001 British satirical mockumentary comedy film directed by Steve Barron and starring Ricky Tomlinson, Amanda Redman, Bradley Walsh, Dean Lennox Kelly and Geoff Bell. The film follows Mike Bassett, who is appointed manager of the England national football team having only previous experience of managing in the English lower leagues, he is tasked with guiding the team to qualification for the upcoming World Cup in Brazil. Journalist Martin Bashir provides voice-over, and the film features satirical cameo appearances from prominent figures in sport and entertainment such as Pelé, Ronaldo, Gabby Logan and Atomic Kitten. Minimal use of on-field action is employed, with the focus centred on behind-the-scenes events in boardrooms and the locker room.

The film initially received mixed reviews, but since its release has gained popularity as a cult film among English football fans. The film was followed by a television series, Mike Bassett: Manager in 2005. In 2014, there were plans to bring Mike Bassett back to the big screen in a movie titled Mike Bassett: Interim Manager. However, the kickstarter project that was essential for raising funds for the film did not meet its target.

With the film narrated by Martin Bashir in a documentary form, we are told that Norwich City manager Mike Bassett (Ricky Tomlinson) is victorious in the Mr Clutch Cup final at Wembley Stadium. The Canaries later take part in an open-top bus parade but their driver accidentally takes a wrong turn and they end up going down a windswept motorway before returning to the city centre to finish the parade. Away from Norwich, it is reported in the papers that England manager Phil Cope has suffered a heart attack during qualification for the World Cup, which started out well but has since gone badly wrong.

Executives of the Football Association meet to decide who should be the new England manager. After phoning around Italy, France and Spain, they conclude that nobody wants the job and are forced to look for a new coach in England but cannot decide on who should take the role. The most successful Premier League manager is Scottish (based on Alex Ferguson), while the second-most successful is a former England captain who is interested in the job, but the FA decide that he is too much of a "loudmouth" and refuse to consider him (a reference to the numerous times Brian Clough was passed over for the England job). None of the other English managers in the Premier League are interested, forcing the FA to look to Division One for a new manager, with the press speculating that Mike Bassett may be the new man for the job. Mike lives at home with his wife Karine and son Jason. He is described as a former professional footballer with a journeyman career, playing for fourteen clubs including Doncaster Rovers, Plymouth Argyle, Hull City, Grimsby Town and Darlington across nine different positions.

When the press turn up at Mike's house to question him about the job, he initially denies the speculation until his son Jason appears with a phone to tell him he got the job. Bassett takes over the England team and moves to appoint his coaching staff, namely assistant manager turned car salesman Lonnie Urquart (Philip Jackson) who is not interested unless Mike buys a car from him (later revealed to be a Daewoo Nexia), and coach Dave Dodds (Bradley Walsh), a sycophantic yes man who once managed with Mike at Colchester United (a reference to Phil Neal under the Graham Taylor era). The team need one win from three World Cup qualifiers to get to the World Cup finals in Brazil. Bassett heads towards Sunderland to meet Kevin Tonkinson (Dean Lennox Kelly), the man he believes can win England the World Cup who has since retired, but on arrival at the pub, he finds Tonkinson laying drunk on a pool table with people pouring beer into his mouth. Once calmed down, Bassett tells him to clean up his act and if he can promise to do it, then he will recall him to the squad.

Bassett takes his first training session at Bisham Abbey ahead of his first game at Wembley against Poland. He selects a traditional 4–4–2 formation and writes his team sheets on the back of an old cigarette packet. During the game, Tonkinson opens the scoring with a dink shot over the goalkeeper, but Poland soon put more pressure and eventually equalise before going on to win the game 2–1. Bassett is criticised by the media for the formation he played and the tactics used, while, some of his players anonymously state to an interviewer that they have doubts about Bassett's credibility to lead the team. Bassett sits his coaching staff down to review the game but Doddsy's wife has taped Ground Force over the recording. In an attempt to improve the team's mental and psychological wellbeing, they visit a sports science institute but half the team are injured in the process, leaving Bassett with selection issues over his next game against Belgium. In a mix-up, his secretary accidentally calls up to the squad two players called Ron Benson and Tony Hedges, aging players who are playing in the Third Division. When querying who they are, Mike realises she has mistaken the brand of cigarettes Benson and Hedges as the names of players. Bassett is mocked in a press conference but claims he called them up intentionally. England lose the game 3–0, leading to pressure being placed on his family by angry supporters.

For the last qualification game, England need to beat Slovenia in order to qualify and with Tonkinson missing due to a drunken car crash, they struggle to a 0–0 draw in which captain Gary Wackett (Geoff Bell) is sent off and Rufus Smalls (Robbie Gee) misses a penalty. After the game, they learn that Luxembourg have beaten Turkey 2–0, which sees them go through on goal difference. The team head off to record the official England World Cup song with girl group Atomic Kitten and "hellraiser" Keith Allen.

England travel to Brazil for the finals but on arriving at the airport they start brawling with the Scottish and Irish teams. A difficult group stage sees them on the verge of heading home after they can only manage a goalless draw with unfancied Egypt before losing 4–0 to Mexico. To make matters worse, Bassett receives a phone call from Karine at home in England informing him that Jason was bullied at school for the Egypt draw, resulting in his eyebrows being shaved off. One of England's training sessions is ruined after Urquart locks the footballs in his Opel and goes shopping. Wackett is then sent home for taking part in hooliganism and Tonkinson accidentally gets involved in a drunken tryst with a transgender person and is also booted from the team. During a team meeting the next morning, Urquart begins to praise the Mexicans by getting the English players to cheer "three cheers for Ramirez"; this angers Mike, who proclaims "We're England", saying that the country hates him and that his wife is about to leave him. Urquart, unhappy with Mike's tone, asks him to get more off his chest, which leads to Mike calling him a small-minded bigot and criticising the car he bought from him. Urquart reacts by punching him in the nose and is effectively sacked from the team instantly. Later that night, Tonkinson is reconciled with Bassett and the two share a drink, which leads to them dancing drunkenly on a bar top. When Lightfoot gets on the bar to coerce Mike down, the pair both fall off in full view of the local press.