Achilles, the feline fortune teller, predicts Brazil will beat Costa Rica

Five-times champions Brazil have struggled to get out of the blocks and were held 1-1 by Switzerland in their opening Group E match last week. However, coach Tite can look forward to the team celebrating their first win - if Achilles is to be believed.

Offered a choice of two bowls of food, the clairvoyant cat chose the one with the Brazilian flag. A safe choice, perhaps, given his fellow psychic Timon the meerkat incorrectly predicted that Denmark would beat Australia on Thursday. That game ended 1-1.

Achilles lives in St Petersburg’s Hermitage museum and is deaf, which according to his caretakers, helps him go about making predictions without distractions.

“We’re sure he has a special gift because he is deaf we think if he has nothing, then he (must have) something he has received more (of). And this is his gift,” said Maria Haltunen, the press secretary of the historical museum.

The white feline is one of many animals trying their hand at predictions, including hippos Milya and Glyasik in Kaliningrad, Spartak the lemur in Yekaterinburg and Harry the otter in Sochi.

Asked who Achilles would back for the title, Haltunen said: “Russia, he is a patriot. Therefore the games where the Russian team was playing were extraordinarily important to us. Our director told us that the most important predictions he has already made.”