“Next Goal Wins” is a scruffy, formulaic sports comedy that offers a Taiki Waititi take on a 2014 documentary about “the worst” soccer team “in the world” and the ill-tempered coach brought in to change that status.

Even the titles are the same. What does the director of “Jo Jo Rabbit” bring to the table that’s novel and fresh? Not bloody much, to be honest. A lot of movie references, including the ones he tries to base this generic “inspiring” sports story on — “The Karate Kid”– and the ones he tries to pretend he isn’t cribbing from (“Cool Runnings,”:”The Air Up There”).

But when it’s going for lightly amusing and living off the spectacle of the great Michael Fassbender trying his dramatic, international star hand at comedy, it’s a pleasant sit.

If nothing else, the Kiwi Waititi teaches America about its sleepy, South Pacific possession, American Samoa, the culture and the Christian Polynesian rituals among its tiny populace. Getting a handle on how to pronounce it — “SAH-moa” — will be news to most of us.

American Samoa had a reputation for humiliating itself on the pitch, most infamously surrendering 31 goals in a match against Australia at one point. Years after that debacle — Australia has just as many World Cop titles as the U.S. — they’re no better. But they lure a troubled, tantrum-tossing tippler named Thomas Rongen in to try and lessen the humiliation.

“Just one goal” is the mantra of the multi-job head of Samoan soccer (the amusing Oscar Kightley). All he wants is for the Dutch-American hothead to coach them into scoring “just one goal.”

Waititi of course beats that phrase to death, with sometimes amusing results. The writer-director and sometimes actor dons a ridiculous mustache to play our narrator, an American Samoan preacher, and reminds us that “this actually happened, with a couple of minor embellishments.”

This Rongen portrait folds in a soccer-connected ex-wife (Elisabeth Moss) who’s taken up with an American soccer federation chief (Will Arnett, who replaced Armie Hammer in reshoots), and other tragic and semi-tragic elements to this intense “European” trying to learn the “chill” ways of the simple happy natives.

Yeah, that phrase is a little offensive these days. But that’s what this culture clash comedy inelegantly and often clumsily goes for. Mocking clueless “white people” and this “white savior” the players consider as much of a “loser” as them is funny, but only takes you so far.

The team is a collection of “types,” who actually line-up with the “real” team Rongen found himself training. There’s a transgender star (Kaimana), and the not-too-tolerant Rongen has to learn the Samoan word Fa’afafine, which is their name for a long-accepted “third gender” among their populace, their version of the Filipino word “bakla.”

The Westerner has some things to learn about tolerance as well as “island time” and life priorities from the Samoans.

The story is otherwise strictly “Big Game Comedy” formula, with the added treat of focusing on “conditioning,” what screenwriters do when their grasp of the “game” they’re writing about is slim.

But it’s amusing seeing Fassbender try to exasperate, deadpan and impersonate Liam Neeson (his big speech from “Taken”) or Al Pacino (“Any Given Sunday”) as Rongen copes with the culture shock of a place that’s forever making the Westerner wonder “What IS this s–t?”

“It’s safe to say, ‘You’re useless‘” he mutters to his tattooed, often roly poly Polynesian charges.

The life coaching Rongen gets is worth a laugh, because of its self-aware lack of subtlety.

“You’re sitting alone because you ARE alone.”

The movie is Waititi’s clumsiest and laziest outing ever, with abrupt, under-motivated changes in tone, heavy-handed insertions of “Matrix” and “Karate Kid” references and shameless mugging when our writer-director trots out his mustache and tries to goose his picture just at the point it might finally flatline.

“Laziest?” It’s obvious that the soccer teams and the movie about them spent more time writing and rehearsing their “haka” pre match trash talk chants than practicing the sport.

All that said, “Next Goal Wins” never lapses into unlikeable. And Fassbender, about as convincing as a former athlete as he is as a comedian, gives it the old college try.

Rating: PG-13, alcohol abuse, profanity, rude images

Cast: Michael Fassbender, Oscar Kightley, Kaimana, David Fane, Rachel House, Will Arnett and Elisabeth Moss.

Credits: Directed by Taika Waititi, scripted by Taika Waititi and Iain Morris, based on the documentary “Next Goal Wins.” A Searchlight release.

Running time: 1:43