Meet the animals predicting winners of World Cup in Russia

A psychic elephant, a baby polar bear and a Derbyshire pig make predictions about the football teams clashing in semis and winner of the tournament.

The Elephant Zella picks up a football with the Senegalese flag on it in Stuttgart, southern Germany, on June 15, 2018.
AFP

The Elephant Zella picks up a football with the Senegalese flag on it in Stuttgart, southern Germany, on June 15, 2018.

A psychic elephant had bad news for German football fans on Friday: Zella the elephant predicted that 'die Mannschaft' would be knocked out of the soccer World Cup in the early rounds.

By picking a ball out of a basket with her trunk, Zella predicted two draws in Germany's opening matches followed by defeat against South Korea. 

But Stuttgart zoo director Thomas Koelpin had reassuring words, saying that her predictions for the European championship were much more successful in the later rounds.

If that's true, World Cup fans can expect a shock result, with Senegal to be crowned champion on July 15. 

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Senegal is winning it

"Here Zella has another bold tip: she thinks Denmark will come third in the World Cup, runner up will be Uruguay and the winner will be Senegal. That's a real underdog tip, she's not looking at the favourites but more at the betting odds," Koelpin told Reuters.

Optimistic German fans might prefer to listen to Nanook the baby polar bear, who lives in the western German city of Gelsenkirchen. 

She showed a preference for a cardboard box full of fish marked with the German flag. 

"As for the Mexicans, their box was ripped apart a bit - you could interpret that as showing that we are going to defeat them," zookeeper Markus Tekampe said.

Pig predicts semis line-up

Meanwhile, Mystic Marcus, a Derbyshire pig, has predicted the semifinalists will comprise Argentina, Uruguay, Belgium and Nigeria, BBC reported.

The animal is said to have correctly predicted result of Brexit vote, Donald Trump's election victory, the winner of the previous football World Cup, and Wimbledon tennis finals.

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