Cody and the Lions are playing great soccer, even if their team has only eleven players. But the arrival of an international company to build a factory on a nearby lake splits the team in two: Cody and his teammates who are worried the factory will pollute the lake vs. the players whose families will benefit from the jobs and opportunities the company will bring. Cody and his friends decide to organize a marathon soccer game to bring attention to the environmental impact of the factory in the hopes people will put pressure on the town council to vote against it being built.

The marathon soccer game tests Cody to the limits of his strength. But it also tests his friendship, teamwork, courage, and faith that he can deal with the emotional effects as well as the physical effects of surviving cancer.

Very much a book that can be read on its own, The Beautiful Game is a sequel to David Skuy's highly successful 2013 novel Striker.