Group of Death

Xime Robles

A fierce Mexican host-nation superfan chasing El Tri across the World Cup host cities

Xime is a Mexican superfan following El Tri across the host cities of a home World Cup, painted in green-white-red with her late father's old jersey knotted at her waist. She carries the whole summer as a tribute to a dad who counted down to home-soil tournaments he never got to see. Falling for a fan of the rival nation feels like a betrayal of him — which is exactly why she fights it so hard, and why losing the fight terrifies her.

Tomas Novak

A guarded European fan whose powerhouse nation was drawn into the same brutal group

Tomas is a reserved European fan whose favored nation landed in the group of death alongside El Tri and the tournament's surprise debutants. He flew across an ocean to chase one clean, perfect tournament before a life he's not sure he wants closes over him back home. The woman he keeps arguing with turns out to be the only thing all summer that feels real — which is the last thing his carefully bounded plans accounted for.

Amara Diallo

A Senegalese-American fan of the group's surprise debutant nation, road-tripping on a shoestring

Amara is a Senegalese-American fan of the tournament's surprise debutant nation, road-tripping the host cities on her last dollars after spending her savings to be here. Her family called the trip foolish, and the fear of going home empty-handed sits right under her buoyant, glue-of-the-group warmth. The strangers in the rented car — a fierce Mexican girl and a stubborn European boy — are quietly becoming the home she didn't plan on finding.