England Manager Puts Americans to Shame With First Pitch at Royals Game

Baseball is an American pastime, and soccer (a.k.a. football) is a British pastime.

Thomas Tuchel is German and trying to become the first foreign-born England men’s national team manager to win a World Cup, so he has no time for antiquated designations.

But Tuchel did put all Americans to shame by throwing a strike as the ceremonial first pitch ahead of the Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals‘ game at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City on Thursday night.

England captain Harry Kane and other players attended the game, too. The Royals - appropriately boasting “the baseball team, not the British family” in their Twitter bio - put on a show, beating their interstate rivals 14-6.

England will call Kansas City, Missouri, home for the duration of their 2026 FIFA men’s World Cup run. Based on how the Three Lions looked in their opening 4-2 win over Croatia on Wednesday, they may be Kansas City residents until July 19 - the date of the World Cup final.

England’s lone World Cup title came all the way back in 1966, and Three Lions faithful have believed “it’s coming home” for 11 World Cup appearances since then. Most recently, England fell to Croatia in the semifinal at the 2018 World Cup in Russia and lost to France in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

“For sure it’s one of the best opportunities we will have as a team to win it,” Kane said earlier this week.

Next up for the Three Lions will be a Group L matchup with Ghana at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on Tuesday, June 23.

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This story was originally published June 18, 2026 at 11:00 PM.