On April 17th Jesuit High School Sacramento finished its week of cultural celebration with the beginning of the World Cup intramural.With the Native American Student Association (NASA) taking down the Persian Student Union in an exciting final that ended in a 6-4 victory.

The Native American Student Association started off the tournament strong, defeating the French club in a 3-1 win to secure a spot in the top 4 teams of the tournament.

Andres Reyes ’26,who led the team with a decisive goal to beat the Jewish Student Union, who were the defending champs , in overtime, winning the semifinal game 1-0. They then played the Persian Student Union in the final and many believed that NASA had no chance of winning coming into the tournament as a first year club.

“My mindset was positive going into the finals game despite many people telling me we have no chance of winning,” Andres Reyes ‘26 said. “I told them they don’t know what they are talking about and that we will surprise them. I told them to have faith in me and in NASA because I believe our team was the most unified out of all the teams in the World Cup.” 

NASA had a rough start to the game, as they found themselves in a 3-1 deficit by the end of the first half and needed a way to get around the Persian defense. However, NASA’s strategy allowed them to bring the lead back to 4-4 in the second half. 

“[Our] strategy was to keep a structure the whole game and press the back line in order to catch them off guard,” Andres Reyes ‘26 said. “We knew it would be hard to dribble in the long grass, especially since we were barefoot, and that it would be better to pass the ball.” 

Finishing the game with a final score of 6-4, NASA left victorious, having believed from the start that they were going to win. 

“From the moment Wyatt Mattes ’26 told me that NASA would have a World Cup team, I knew we would win the whole thing,” Andres Reyes ‘26 said. “Despite what people told me,  ‘The other teams are way bigger than you and will body you’, I knew soccer isn’t just a game where you can body everyone and somehow win [...] it is a game of strategy: it doesn’t matter your size. Shout out to Messi for helping me understand this at a young age.”