Gareth Southgate lookalike offers his prediction on England’s clash with Senegal

England’s World Cup destiny is in the hands of the football Gods – but you’ll be happy to hear that a Gareth Southgate lookalike reckons we’ll win the next game.

Neil Rowe, 48, from Surrey, has praised the men’s team for ‘turning it on’ and booting Wales out of the tournament last night.

He’s ‘quietly confident’ the boys will beat Senegal in the round of 16 and continue their adventure in Qatar – but is a bit more dubious over a potential upcoming clash with France.

Despite not being the England team’s real manager, Neil was mobbed by fans outside the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium last night.

In a TV interview, he answered questions in the style of Gareth, who is hoping to take the Three Lions to victory this year, after getting them to the semi-final in 2018.

Speaking afterwards, Neil said he was wearing a Southgate-inspired waistcoat because he ‘did this a bit in Russia in 2018 and it went a bit viral then and I thought I’d wear it again for a bit of fun’.

Neil Rowe, a Gareth Southgate impersonator, being interviewed by Lebanon media channel Al Mayadeen (Picture: PA)

Everyone wanted a picture or interview with Neil last night, it seemed

Will the real Gareth Southgate please stand up (Picture: FIFA via Getty Images)

On the 3-0 win against Wales, he said: ‘It’s great they turned it on.

‘I was at the USA game and we were a bit disappointed with that but we turned on the style a bit in the second half.

‘It would have been nice if our Welsh brothers and friends could have gone through as well, but we had to do our job.’

Offering a prediction for the rest of the tournament, Mr Rowe said: ‘I always thought let’s get to the quarters and take it from there.

‘So Senegal I’m quietly confident we can do our stuff against them, but then it’ll be France, won’t it, you never know.’

Neil has officially been a lookalike since 2018 and says ‘it gets a bit manic’.

Neil reckons France would be tough to beat if it swung that way (Picture: PA)

Gareth Southgate hugs Marcus Rashford after a fantastic performance last night (Picture: Kieran McManus/Shutterstock)

‘I’ve been doing 20 years in the Barmy Army and they call me Southgate and it’s a bit of a giggle’, he said.

Fans will have to rely on the real Gareth Southgate in Qatar as Neil flies home on Wednesday – but, fear not, he’s hoping to return by the weekend.

It comes as more than a few England fans admit they’ve got sore heads this morning following the Wales match.

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Neil was mobbed by fans outside the stadium last night – despite not being the real England manager.