Baseball has plenty of strange pockets of absurdity over the course of a 162-game season, but the 2026 World Cup has added a new one: international soccer supporters wandering into MLB parks and immediately deciding that America’s pastime could use more songs, more flags, and, frankly, more coordinated yelling.
World Cup Fans Are Bringing Football Energy to MLB
It has become one of the better accidental subplots of the summer. With World Cup matches spread across North America, MLB ballparks have become convenient side quests for traveling fans. Some are learning the sport. Some are pretending to learn the sport. Most appear to be having the time of their lives either way.
Norway fans turned Citi Field into a temporary Viking longship during a Mets-Cubs doubleheader, filling the outfield with red flags, chants, and the now-famous “Viking Row.” The baseball comprehension was not always airtight, but the enthusiasm was impossible to miss, which is probably a better trade-off than half the league gets from a sleepy Wednesday matinee.
The Norwegian fans at Citi Field are making their presence known 🗣️ 🇳🇴 pic.twitter.com/4Jlo6er3Zk
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) June 24, 2026
Scotland’s Tartan Army has been busy, too, showing up at Fenway Park, Yankee Stadium, and loanDepot Park with the kind of noise usually reserved for cup ties, not June baseball. The Marlins, in particular, should probably investigate whether importing several thousand Scottish fans is a viable long-term attendance strategy. There are worse business plans.
Scotland fans have made their way to Yankee Stadium 🏴 pic.twitter.com/PtuNcGzBR0
— MLB (@MLB) June 17, 2026
The Royals even got in on the cross-sport fun, hosting England manager Thomas Tuchel and captain Harry Kane at Kauffman Stadium earlier in the tournament. But the best England-MLB crossover may have come in Atlanta, where a group of England supporters found a new favorite Brave almost entirely by accident.
That was the scene at Truist Park on July 1, when a group of England national football team supporters wandered over from Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, where England had just dispatched DR Congo in the team’s Round of 32 match, and somehow turned a Braves-Cardinals game into a center-field pub session under the night sky of Atlanta.
.@wileyballard_ 🤝#ThreeLions Supporters pic.twitter.com/1tvvVJe7wV
— BravesVision (@BravesVisionTV) July 2, 2026
The traveling supporters made their way to Truist Park and did what English fans do best: they found a target, built a songbook, and committed to the bit with impressive emotional investment. Their chosen hero was Michael Harris II, who, as far as anyone can tell, has no meaningful connection to England beyond being stationed close enough in center field to become famous for one night. That was apparently enough.
England Supporters Give Michael Harris II the Full Football Treatment
The chants started rolling from the outfield seats, with Harris getting the full football treatment. There was “Harris, give us a wave,” then “There’s only one Michael Harris,” and my personal favorite: “Walking in a Harris Wonderland.” There was even the inevitable “It’s coming home” chant, because English supporters could be watching a man change a tire and still find a way to make it sound like a World Cup semifinal.
England fans are taking over the Braves game 😂 pic.twitter.com/bVOrpjE7OQ
— Everything Georgia (@GAFollowers) July 2, 2026
Likely All-Star Harris, to his credit, understood the assignment. He waved. He tossed baseballs into the crowd. He leaned into the absurdity of being adopted by a traveling fan base that may or may not have understood every single rule unfolding in front of them (to be fair, there are some rather arcane ones) That almost made it better. Baseball can get a little precious about its rhythms and traditions, but sometimes the sport is at its best when a group of outsiders walks in and reminds everyone that, yes, this is supposed to be fun.
The Braves could use more of that feeling, too. After a tough West Coast road trip that underscored the recent struggles of Bryce Elder and Austin Riley‘s woes, Atlanta handled St. Louis 5-1, and Harris gave his new fan club something real to celebrate with an eighth-inning RBI single. It was not a franchise-altering moment, but it was memorable in the way baseball’s best midseason weirdness often is: unscripted, oddly charming, and impossible to fabricate.
By the end of the night, Harris had chants, England had a new favorite Brave, and Truist Park briefly sounded less like Cobb County and more like a lower-tier FA Cup upset waiting to happen.
Honestly, the Braves should consider flying them in for the next homestand. At minimum, Harris has earned a few more overseas fans, as well as some new chants for Braves fans.
Beyond that, now we know that England is Braves Country, too.
Hey @MoneyyyMikeee – you now have chants! https://t.co/GQxD0QwULQ
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) July 2, 2026
Baseball Could Use More of This Beautiful Nonsense
And that might be the real lesson from this weird little World Cup-meets-MLB summer. Baseball does not need to become soccer, and MLB fans do not need to start singing for nine straight innings like they are trapped in a relegation battle. But a little more noise, a little more nonsense, and a few more visiting supporters treating a random regular-season game like a national event? The sport could take notes from footie fans the world over.
Main Image Credit: Peter Aiken-Imagn Images
