Fifa World Cup oracle Achilles the cat predicts Russia to win first match

Achilles the cat, one of the State Hermitage Museum mice hunters, has predicted the result of the opening match of the 2018 Fifa World Cup between Russia and Saudi Arabia in St.Petersburg on Wednesday. Achilles has chosen the host Russia.

Achilles the cat is a deaf, white-furred Hermitage male cat who is following in the tentacle-prints of Paul the Octopus who became a star in 2010.

Paul the Octopus became the world's most famous mollusc when he correctly predicted all the matches of the German team during the South African World Cup. He went on to predict the victory of Spain in the final.

Paul predicted winners for that years' World Cup by choosing one out of two boxes containing food, while Achilles will be presented with bowls marked with teams' flags.

"The prediction will take place a day before the teams of the host and the guests from Saudi Arabia will meet in Moscow's Luzhniki," the committee said in a statement on Saturday, reports Tass news agency.

Achilles will choose between two cat food bowls with the flags of the participating countries.

The Hermitage cat was right about the outcomes of three out of four 2017 Confederations Cup matches played in St. Petersburg, including the opening and final matches. His "performance" during the World Cup is a joint project on developing tourism of St. Petersburg and the Hermitage Museum.