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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Jessica Knibbs

World Cup 2022: ‘Psychic’ alpaca predicts England and Wales results

Football fans hoping for sound predictions for this year’s Qatar World Cup could be in for disappointment if they believe Alfie the alpaca.

The Oxfordshire-based animal appeared on This Morning on Monday to predict the results of today’s games, but got it horribly wrong when it came to England.

Despite predicting that the Three Lions would qualify for the knockout stages, Alfie said Iran would beat Gareth Southgate’s men 3-0. England actually thrashed the Iranians 6-2 to begin their Group B campaign with a bang.

For Alfie’s predictions, he was faced with two feeding stations — each with a different flag. He went to the Iranian feeding station three times, supposedly hinting at a 3-0 win.

Could Alfie be right about the Wales game, though?

What was Alfie’s Wales v USA prediction?

Alfie chose the USA to beat Wales in Group B’s second game on Monday.

This Morning presenters Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby both winced at the furry fortune teller’s prediction of defeats for the two home nations.

Schofield covered his eyes in dismay, while Willoughby said: “Alfie, no.”

Wales will take on the USA at 7pm tonight. Coverage of the match will start at 6.05pm on ITV.

Who is Alfie the alpaca?

Alfie resides at the Alfie & Friends animal area at Fairytale Farm in Southcombe, Oxfordshire.

Staff at the farm have described the 10-year-old as one of the “smarter” and more “responsive alpacas”.

Nick Laister, who looks after Alfie, said he had “an abundance of common sense, so if I was pushed to pick an animal to make the right decision, it’d be him”.

Alfie’s controversial predictions didn’t go down too well with some This Morning viewers, though. “These animal footballing predictions are getting tedious now,” one said on Twitter.

“Might start claiming that my kitchen tap is psychic so that I can get my two minutes of nutter fame on. Silly Alpaca genuinely thinks Iran are going to win.”

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