Great Britain concludes its '26 Classic run with win over Brazil

HOUSTON -- Great Britain and Brazil had both been eliminated from contention at the 2026 World Baseball Classic before they took the field on Monday afternoon at Daikin Park. But this game still carried a lot of weight for baseball in both countries.

Great Britain's 8-1 win in its Pool B finale wasn't just about ending its WBC run on a high note. It was about keeping the momentum of British baseball going -- and clinching an invitation to the next World Baseball Classic.

"This tournament is fantastic," said Gary Anderson, head of the British baseball delegation. "It's on a par for me with the UEFA Championships, the World Cup in football. It's on par with that."

Team GB made its WBC debut in 2023 and got its first Classic win against Colombia. To return in 2026 and not win even one game would have been a step backwards.

But even more importantly, winning this last game against Brazil mattered for a reason beyond just pride: With the victory, Great Britain is now automatically entered into the next World Baseball Classic.

"You prepare for this tournament for a long time," Great Britain manager Brad Marcelino said. "It's pretty crazy to think about how long you prepare for the tournament for four games."

On Monday, Ian Lewis Jr., Matt Koperniak and Team GB co-captains Harry Ford and Jazz Chisholm Jr. delivered the biggest hits of the day -- and really, of the tournament -- for Great Britain.

"This World Baseball Classic was really amazing. We made so many strides from last time to this time," said Ford, who also starred for the team in the last World Baseball Classic … and promised he'd be back for the next one, too. "We had a hunger from last time carrying in. I thought we did such a great job competing and just staying in the games that we played and being relentless."

Lewis struck first with a game-tying home run off Brazil's Tiago Da Silva in the fifth inning. A few batters later, Ford knocked the go-ahead opposite-field single. In the seventh, Koperniak flared a clutch two-out, two-run single to give the Brits insurance runs.

And Yankees All-Star Chisholm, Great Britain's marquee player, put the bow on the country's win with a bases-loaded, two-run single in the eighth.

By finishing as one of the top four teams in Pool B, Great Britain can return in the next WBC, hopefully with continued growth of the country's baseball program, and look to make even more progress. Their sights are also set on 2028, when baseball will return to the Olympics in Los Angeles.

"This game today was absolutely huge for our program," said Anderson, who's also in charge of Britain's Olympic baseball program. "To repeat what we achieved last time, it was a huge achievement. … Brad and I had a conversation about how other teams are taking us that much more seriously now.

"We've got to be the best in Europe. That's our aim now for the Olympic Games."

For Brazil, on the other hand, this was a tough loss. Thirteen years after the country's World Baseball Classic debut, it is still looking for its first WBC win.

In a pool with the United States, Mexico and Italy, the game against Great Britain was its last, and probably best, chance at getting that win in 2026. And now the path forward won't be so easy.

Because it finished in last place in Pool B at 0-4, Brazil has to go through the qualifier rounds to make it back to the next World Baseball Classic.

"Honestly, I don't know much about our future," Brazil manager Daniel Yuichi Matsumoto said. "But I just hope that for Brazil, in general, the level of our players grows up and improves. Because even if we qualify, once we get here, the level of play, the baseball here is so much higher than what we are used to."

If there's something to be encouraged about, it's that Brazil successfully did exactly that to gain entry into both of the Classics the team has played in, advancing to both the 2013 and 2026 tournaments via the qualifiers.

But nothing is guaranteed. In the qualifiers for both the 2017 and 2023 Classics -- the two in between Brazil's WBC appearances -- Brazil was knocked out without making the main draw.

Matsumoto said he wished Team Brazil could have gotten a win for the fans who were rooting for them in this World Baseball Classic.

"We are aware that, through social media and streaming, a lot of people have been watching our games," Matsumoto said. "And I just want to apologize to them that we could not answer in the way we expected. But I think if we keep trying, good results will come."