Billy the British Shorthair cat has correctly predicted the winners of all 19 World Cup 2026 matches so far, becoming a viral sensation online – and his owners couldn’t be more delighted
A ‘psychic’ moggy has spookily predicted the winners of every World Cup match so far.
Billy, a one-year-old British Shorthair, shocked his owners – Linka Lin, 33, and Mark Kelly, 35 – by correctly calling the result of all 19 games of the competition. Ever since the tournament kicked off in America, Linka has been showing the moggy the flags representing both nations in each fixture, with Billy making his selection using his paw.
To date, he’s maintained a flawless record – accurately forecasting last night’s triumph for Argentina over Austria. Linka, from from Newry, County Down, Northern Ireland, said: “As a cat he doesn’t seem to be bothered that he’s an online influencer. To us he’s still our cat, still Billy.
“Of course people have different interpretations of the videos online but we’re very happy to give such a feeling and boost of confidence for people…”
Linka added: “Of course, it’s going to be harder and harder to get it right with time and the level of expectation will be heavier but I’m pretty confident he can handle that. I guess he probably will find it surprising he has had more treats lately than ever.”
Linka rescued Billy at just three months old from the charity USPCA, dubbing him Billy Heartnose due to the distinctive markings adorning his snout.
“He communicates with different body language and meows to let us know if he wants something.”
Billy will walk Linka to the door if he wants to go outside or wants a treat. She said: “We know Billy is very very smart and we were thinking ‘how can we capture his personality and smartness?’
“We started with Billy doing the ‘this and that’ quiz – asking if he prefers Pepsi or Coke, or rice or noodles. And then also I came home from an event with lots of little flags with me and I was trying to play with him and the different flags.
“It just so happened the World Cup had started so we thought ‘why not’. We didn’t expect some of the videos to get picked up by people online.”
Linka says Billy can sometimes make his predictions very quickly, whereas others he takes some time to think.
“There was one incident where the whole thing was interrupted as there was a fly in the house and he couldn’t concentrate,” she said. “It’s very positive and encouraging reactions online and we’ve had a lot of really kind messages.
“Sometimes Billy will pick a country people don’t want and they will comment saying ‘I forgive you, you’re really cute’. There were some borderline threatening comments like ‘you better to be right’ but overwhelmingly it’s been very good.
“We find there are sweet interactions followed by chatting amongst themselves especially between Scottish and English fans.”
Billy shares his predictions @billy_heartnose on Instagram and tunes into watch the action.
Billy’s correct predictions so far:
Mexico vs South Africa: Winner – Mexico
Czech Republic vs South Korea: Winner – South Korea.
USA vs Paraguay: Winner – USA.
Scotland vs Haiti: Winner – Scotland.
Sweden vs Tunisia: Winner – Sweden.
England vs Croatia: Winner – England.
USA vs Australia: Winner – USA.
France vs Senegal: Winner – France.
Norway vs Iraq: Winner – Norway.
Colombia vs Uzbekistan: Winner – Colombia.
Germany vs Ivory Coast: Winner – Germany.
Japan vs Tunisia: Winner – Japan.
Argentina vs Austria: Winner – Argentina.