Two very exciting things are starting this June: the Summer Reading Challenge and the World Cup! Summer Reading started June 4, and the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia starts on June 14, with the opening match between Russia and Saudi Arabia. Why not let reading take you everywhere by checking out fiction from the countries playing in the World Cup?

In 2014, we did a Literary World Cup, and we paired off celebrated authors from the countries of teams playing in individual matches. This year, we’re presenting you a list of fiction from all of the countries right now! The first stage of the World Cup is the Group Stage, and teams were assigned to their groups in December 2017. The top two teams from each group will advance to the next knockout round. Our list below is organized by groups. This selection is by no means exhaustive; these chosen books are but a sampling of books available from the given countries.

Are you interested in finding more international fiction? Take a look at the Literature Resource Center, where you can find authors of specific nationalities. You can also use the advanced search in Novelist to get ideas. We don’t only have books, though: if you want to read a newspaper from around the world, check out PressReader and Proquest Newsstand International. For foreign films, see Kanopy and Digitalia Film. Of course, if you need help, you can always stop by a library and ask a librarian for advice!

We hope you enjoy this jumping-off point for literature from 2018 World Cup Countries. May the best team win, and may this list help us all finish our 2018 Summer Reading Challenge!

Group A: Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Uruguay

Group A begins play on June 14 and 15 and includes Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Uruguay. Both Russia and Uruguay played in 2014, but this is Egypt’s first World Cup since 1990 and Saudi Arabia’s since 2006.

Russia

• The Big Green Tent - Ulitskaia, Liudmila
• White Walls - Tolstaia, Tat'iana
• Metro 2033 - Glukhovskiĭ, Dmitriĭ
• The Year of the Comet - Lebedev, Sergei

Saudi Arabia

• The Dove's Necklace - Alim, Raja
• Hend and the Soldiers - Albesher, Badriah
• Girls of Riyadh - Ṣāniʻ, Rajāʼ ʻAbd Allāh
• Where Pigeons Don’t Fly - Muḥaymīd, Yūsuf

Egypt

• The Queue - Abd Al-ʻAzīz, Basmah
• The Cairo Trilogy - Maḥfūẓ, Najīb
• Vertigo (e-book only) - Murad, Ahmed
• The Map of Love - Soueif, Ahdaf
• Utopia (e-book) - Tawfīq, Aḥmad Khālid
• Home Coming: 60 Years of Egyptian Short Stories

Uruguay

• The Future is Not Ours: New Latin American Fiction
• The Invisible Mountain - DeRobertis, Carolina
• I Remember Nightfall (Poetry) Di Giorgio, Marosa (Poetry)

Group B: Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Iran

In Group B, Portugal, Spain, and Iran all played in the World Cup in 2014 in Brazil. Morocco is playing for the first time since 1998. Group B starts play June 15.

Portugal

• The Illustrious House of Ramires - Queirós, Eça de
• The True Actor (e-book) - Pires, Jacinto Lucas
• The Einstein Enigma - Santos, José Rodrigues dos

Both Ines Pedrosa and Pedro Chagas Freitas have books in the catalog available in Portuguese; look out for English translations later in 2018.

Spain

• The Supernatural Enhancements - Cantero, Edgar
• Out in the Open - Carrasco, Jesus
• Love in Lowercase - Miralles, Francesc
• A Working Woman - Navarro, Elvira

Morocco

• The Moor's Account - Lalami, Laila (Moroccan - American author)
• The Curious Case of Dassoukine's Trousers - Laroui, Fouad
• Another Morocco: Selected Stories - Taïa, Abdellah
• Whitefly - Hamdouchi, Abdelilah

Iran

• The Gardens of Consolation - Reza, Parisa
• Tehran Noir - Abdoh, Salar
• Things We Left Unsaid - Pirzad, Zoya
• The Colonel - Dowlatabadi, Mahmoud
• Moon Brow - Mandanipour, Shahriar

In addition to these authors, there are a wealth of Iranian-American authors writing today, including Dalia Sofer, Porochista Khakpour, Jasmin Darznik, Abdi Nazemian, Sara Saedi, and Alexandra Monir.

Group C: France, Australia, Peru, Denmark

Peru is returning to the World Cup for the first time since 1982. Of the other teams, both France and Australia played in 2014, and Denmark returns after a one-tournament absence. Group C starts play June 16.

France

• Compass - Enard, Matthias
• Vernon Subutex 1 (ebook only) - Despentes, Virginie
• The Perfect Nanny ­- Slimani, Leila
• Based on a True Story - Vigan, Delphine de
• The End of Eddy - Louis, Édouard

Australia

• The Dry - Harper, Jane
• Picnic at Hanging Rock - Lindsay, Joan Weigall
• The Lines We Cross - Abdel-Fattah, Randa
• Foreign Soil and Other Stories - Clarke, Maxine Beneba

Peru

• Red April - Roncagliolo, Santiago
• A World for Julius - Bryce Echenique, Alfredo
• The Neighborhood - Llosa, Mario Vargas
• Blood of the Dawn - Salazar, Claudia

Other Peruvian authors include Renato Cisneros and Peruvian-American authors Daniel Alarcon and Isaac Goldemberg.

Denmark

• Often I am Happy - Grondahl, Jens Christian
• Of Darkness - Klougart, Josefine
• Rock, Paper, Scissors - Aidt, Naja Marie
• Smilla's Sense of Snow - Hoeg, Peter

Group D: Argentina, Iceland, Croatia, Nigeria

Group D is a special group, as Iceland is one of the two teams in the tournament playing for the first time in history. Argentina, Croatia, and Nigeria all played in 2014. Group D begins play on June 16.

Argentina

• Gesell Dome - Saccomanno, Guillermo
• Betty Boo - Pineiro, Claudia
• The Invented Part - Fresan, Rodrigo
• August - Paula, Romina
• Fever Dream - Schweblin, Samanta

Iceland

• The Legacy - Yrsa Sigurðardóttir
• Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller - Guðbergur Bergsson
• Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was - Sjon
• Hotel Silence - Auður A. Ólafsdóttir

Croatia

• Belladonna - Drndic, Dasa
• Fox - Ugrešić, Dubravka
• The Hotel Tito - Simić Bodrožić, Ivana
• Our Man in Iraq - Perišić, Robert

Nigeria

• Freshwater - Emezi, Akwaeke
• Welcome to Lagos - Onuzo, Chibundu
• The Fishermen - Obioma, Chigozi
• Season of Crimson Blossoms - Ibrahim, Abubakar Adam
• Easy Motion Tourist - Adenle, Leya

This year has also been a huge year for Nigerian-American authors, so we also wanted to mention Nnedi Okorafor, Tomi Adeyemi, Tochi Onyebuchi, and Uzodinma Iweala.

Group E: Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Serbia

In Group E, all of the teams played in 2014 except Serbia, who last played in 2010. They begin play June 17.

Brazil

• Chronicle of the Murdered House - Cardoso, Lucio
• The Head of the Saint - Acioli, Socorro
• Rio Noir - Bellotto, Tony
• The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmao - Batalha, Martha
• The Shape of Bones - Galera, Daniel

Switzerland

• The Country Road - Ullman, Regina
• To the Back of Beyond - Stamm, Peter
• Lea - Mercier, Patrick
• The Spirits of the Earth - Colomb, Catherine

Costa Rica

• Costa Rica: A Traveler's Literary Companion
• Contemporary Short Stories from Central America
• Colonel Lágrimas - Fonseca, Carlos (Suarez)
• Assault on Paradise: A Novel - Lobo, Tatiana

Serbia

• Cyclist Conspiracy - Basara, Svetislav
• The Prince of Fire: An Anthology of Contemporary Serbian Short Stories
• Dictionary of the Khazars - Pavić, Milorad
• Steps Through the Mist: A Mosaic Novel - Živković, Zoran

Group F: Germany, Mexico, Sweden, South Korea

Group F starts play on June 17 and 18, and all but Sweden played in 2014. Sweden last played in 2006.

Germany

• The Forgotten Book - Glaser, Mechthild
• You Should Have Left - Kehlmann, Daniel
• The Neverending Story - Ende, Michael
• Go, Went, Gone - Erpenbeck, Jenny
• Memoirs of a Polar Bear - Tawada, Yoko

Mexico

• The Iliac Crest - Rivera Garza, Cristina
• The Story of My Teeth - Luiselli, Valeria
• The Mongolian Conspiracy - Bernal, Rafael
• Sudden Death - Enrique, Alvaro

Sweden

• Wonderful Feels Like This - Lovestam, Sara (YA)
• Roseanna - Sjowall, Maj & Per Wahloo (Martin Beck Series)
• Faceless Killers - Mankell, Henning
• A Man Called Ove - Backman, Fredrik

South Korea

• The Vegetarian - Kang, Han
• North Station - Su-a, Pae
• The Investigation - Yi, Chŏng-myŏng
• Vaseline Buddha - Chŏng, Yŏng-mun

In addition to these authors, Korean-American author Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko came out in 2017, and watch for Crystal Hana Kim’s If You Leave Me in August.

Group G: Belgium, Panama, Tunisia, England

Group G also includes a team that has never played in the World Cup before: Panama. They will be joined by veterans Belgium, Tunisia, and England, although Tunisia has not played since 2006. They start on June 18.

Belgium

• Petronille - Amélie Nothomb
• Back Up - Colize, Paul
• Brussels Noir
• Styx - Dhooge, Bavo

Panama

• When New Flowers Bloomed: Short Stories by Women Writers from Costa Rica and Panama
• The Shadow: Thirteen Stories in Opposition - Jaramillo Levi, Enrique
• Varamo - Aira, César
• Sudden Fiction Latino: Short Stories From the United States and Latin America

Tunisia

• A Tunisian Tale - Miṣbāḥī, Ḥassūnah
• The Anchor Book of Modern Arabic Fiction
• Talismano - Meddeb, Abdelwahab
• Pillar of Salt - Memmi, Albert
• Lion Mountain - Tlili, Mustapha

England

• Swing Time - Smith, Zadie
• Fever Pitch - Nick Hornby
• Naughts and Crosses - Blackman, Malorie
• Tin Man - Winman, Sarah

Group H: Poland, Senegal, Colombia, Japan

Of Group H, Colombia and Japan played in 2014, and Senegal last played in 2002. Poland last played in 2006. They start their World Cup on June 19.

Poland

• Chasing the King of Hearts - Krall, Hanna
• Swallowing Mercury - Grzegorzewska, Wioletta
• Solaris - Lem, Stanislaw
• The Mountains of Parnassus - Miłosz, Czesław

In addition to these, the book Flights by Olga Tokarczuk just won the Man Booker International Prize, and the English translation will be out in August.

Senegal

• So Long a Letter - Ba, Mariama
• Ambiguous Adventure - Kane, Hamidou
• The Night and His Shadow - Diop, Boubacar Boris
• Three Strong Women - NDiaye, Marie

Colombia

• Return to the Dark Valley - Gamboa, Santiago
• The Second Time We Met - Cobo, Leila
• A Thousand Forests in One Acorn: An Anthology of Spanish-language Fiction
• Fruit of the Drunken Tree - Rojas Contreras, Ingrid
• Feast of the Innocents - Rosero Diago, Evelio
• In the Beginning Was the Sea - González, Tomás

Japan

• The Guest Cat - Hiraide, Takashi
• Convenience Store Woman - Murata, Sayaka
• Six Four - Yokoyama, Hideo
• Cult X - Nakamura, Fuminori
• The Devotion of Suspect X - Higashino, Keigo
• Woman on the Other Shore - Kakuto, Mitsuya