The 2018 FIFA World Cup begins on Thursday, June 14, and as with other big sports events, predictions are being made. Sports analysts and fans around the globe have made their best-educated guesses about who will win. There are also picks being made by animals with psychic powers who may be worth keeping an eye on as the games begin. Achilles is just one of such animals with a gift for making predictions. Now all eyes are on the clairvoyant cat as his home country is set to host the biggest Soccer tournament in four years.

Achilles the psychic cat

A cat named Achilles seems to have psychic abilities in terms of sports predictions. Achilles is a deaf white cat that hails from St. Petersburg, Russia. The feline is considered highly-skilled when it comes to registering sports picks, though, and undistracted by noise. During a special event at his home in the heritage museum in St. Petersburg, Achilles was on display to make his predictions. To do so, the cat was placed on a table with two separate bowls of food. Each bowl represented a team from an opening game in the World Cup tournament with a flag for the team's country next to the bowl.

Achilles officially made his picks for his home country's game. Russia, which is hosting this latest installment of the tournament, faces Saudi Arabia in the opening round.

After sniffing around for a bit, Achilles used his special abilities and chose Team Russia as the opening game's winner. A video posted on Twitter shows off the big event which had plenty of spectators gathered to watch Achilles do his work.

Achilles' pick seems to line up with the oddsmakers' favorite to win the matchup too.

According to popular sports odds website Odds Shark, Russia is a -222 to -285 moneyline favorite to win. The Saudi Arabians are +800 underdogs at multiple sportsbooks. The two teams will meet in Moscow in the opening game of the tournament scheduled for an 11 AM matchup.

Achilles' prediction powers

As Fox News mentioned in their report, the cat may just have his sports picks down when it comes to soccer (or football).

Achilles made picks for the FIFA Confederations Cup last year. He predicted the winners of the matches in that tournament, including a prediction of one match to end as a draw between the two sides.

The cat's veterinarian has vouched for Achilles as "unbiased" in his picks too. Veterinarian Anna Kondratyeva stated that "he probably feels with his heart and a special cat sense," suggesting that the cat is "deaf to any comments" from fans. Millions of fans will be watching the big soccer tournament.

While the United States failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, there will be plenty of spectators from the states still rooting on other countries or simply watching for the excitement of it all.

In all, there will be a total of 32 teams competing in the upcoming World Cup tournament. As they do, Achilles the cat will try to make some more of his "purr-fect" predictions.
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