FIFA WC oracle “Paul the Octopus” dies

Paul the Octopus died on 26 October 2010. Paul became internationally famous for correctly predicting the winner of Germany’s seven matches at the 2010 World Cup, as well as the final.

Paul was a common octopus living in a tank at a Sea Life Centre in Oberhausen, Germany, despite originally being from Weymouth in England.

During the media stunts, Paul was presented with two boxes containing food in the form of a mussel, each box marked on the outside with the flag of a national football team in an upcoming match. Paul ate the mussel from the box with the flag of the winning team in four of Germany’s six Euro 2008 matches, and in all seven of their matches in the 2010 World Cup. He correctly selected a win for Spain against the Netherlands in the World Cup final on 11 July by eating the mussel in the box with the Spanish flag on it. His predictions were 100% (8/8) correct for the 2010 World Cup and 86% (12/14) correct overall. Paul was retired after the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Paul died in his sleep due to natural causes, as reported by Stefan Porwoll, manager of the Oberhausen Sea Life Centre in Germany.