Atlanta Braves outfielder Michael Harris has found himself in the middle of one of the weirdest crossover moments of this World Cup. A group of England fans showed up to a Braves game recently, latched onto Harris for no apparent reason, and declared him their guy. He rolled with it. Then he predicted England would beat Mexico in the Round of 16 — and called the exact score.
They won 3-1. So now Harris is officially adopted.
After the match, Harris showed up to the Braves’ game against the Mets wearing an England jersey. He told Ken Sugiura of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he watched the game start to finish, getting fully locked in. That’s the kind of energy England fans love, and the mutual appreciation is real.
How the Harris-England connection started
It all began when British fans attending a Braves game spotted Harris and decided he was their new favorite baseball player. No deep scouting report. No three-year contract. Just vibes. Harris went along with it, predicting England would get past Mexico — a team that hadn’t conceded a single goal all tournament before that match.
Mexico had the home crowd behind them, and they were rolling. But two early goals from Jude Bellingham flipped the script after Julian Quiñones put Mexico ahead. Harry Kane added one in the second half, and even though Raúl Jiménez converted a penalty to make it close, England held on.
Harris was right, and England moved on to the quarterfinals.
Harris is having a hell of a season, too
In case you forgot, the guy doing all this jersey-wearing is also hitting .302 for the year — a career high. He’s got 16 homers, 51 RBIs, five steals and an .840 OPS. He’s playing the best baseball of his career while moonlighting as an international soccer celebrity.
The Braves, meanwhile, are chasing another World Series run five years after their last title. At the time of writing, they were trailing the Mets 7-5. But if Harris keeps channeling whatever luck the England fans have sent his way, Atlanta might be just fine.
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