It’s an old cliché that football fans think they know better than the manager, and know more than them. But nobody was better at predicting results at the World Cup than Paul the Octopus. The resident at Sea Life Centre in Oberhausen, Germany, the English born Octopus was used to predict key matches at Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Whilst he made 2 incorrect predictions during Euro 2008, 2 years later Paul correctly predicted the results of all 7 of Germany’s matches, including their semi-final defeat to Spain, as well as the final. This even led to Paul getting death threats, with fans wanting him to be cooked and eaten! In October 2010, he passed away, but we are told he died of natural causes. (Cue the conspiracy theories!)

Now though, the creators of video game Football Manager have made their own predictions. The Mirror have reported that the popular game makers have used their database of information to predict the outcome of all matches at the World Cup, all the way to foretelling who will lift the trophy come July 13th.

The PC game has predicted that, after beating Costa Rica and Italy, and drawing with Uruguay, that England will finish top of the group. The Italians will miss out on the group stage, and join Mexico as the shock nations to miss out on the knockout stage. Goals from Phil Jones and Frank Lampard guided England to a 2-0 win over the Ivory Coast in this simulation, setting up a quarter-final match against Brazil.

But the rematch from the 2002 World Cup quarter-finals will have a repeated score line according to Football Manager, as Steven Gerrard’s second half goal will be cancelled out by Hernanes. Hulk will then score an extra time winner, as the Three Lions get chucked out of the tournament by the hosts. Gerrard will be England’s top scorer with 2 goals, whilst Leighton Baines will be the nation’s highest rated player, with an average rating of 7.92.

Brazil will later go on to win their 6th World Cup, defeating Spain 1-0 in the final, thanks to a Thiago Silva goal. Argentina and Belgium will apparently fight it out for third place. These predictions made by the Football Manager team are a lot more complicated than Paul the Octopuses’ were, but never the less, they have given it a good go.

So what do you think? Can you see their predictions coming true, or have they got it all wrong? Share your thoughts and forecasts below!

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Thomson Sport