How accurate is Shaheen, the World Cup predicting camel? We take a look

In just under a week, football fans the world over will find out who will take home the 2014 World Cup.

And with only three major games to go, we thought it was time to check in with our very own resident animal soothsayer: Shaheen, the camel.

Discovered by local newspaper Gulf News, the Dubai-based beast has been predicting the winners of the key matches right from the start of the tournament.

Despite rumours he was slaughtered (the internet is a cruel place), Shaheen is alive and well and still predicting matches.

SUCCESS RATE

But is the furry beast any good? He started off with a bang, but then had a string of misses. Of the 27 matches he has predicted so far, Shaheen has been right 17 times. That's a success rate of 63%. He was in top form during the round of 16, where he predicted seven of the eight winners correctly.

To compare, the legend of World Cup 2010, Paul the Octopus, had an 80% success rate in the final stages.

Hosts Brazil face Germany in the first semi-final on Tuesday, and according to Shaheen, they should progress.

However, in two of Germany's previous clashes, Shaheen picked the opponents (France and Portugal) to win, so  perhaps Brazil has something other than losing star player Neymar to worry about.

What do you think, should Shaheen stick to being a camel?

 

FULL LIST OF PREDICTIONS

GROUP STAGE

WHEN

PREDICTION

Brazil v Croatia

June 12th

RIGHT

Spain v Netherlands

June 13th

RIGHT

England v Italy

June 14th

RIGHT

Argentina v Bosnia

June 15th

RIGHT

Germany v Portugal

June 16th

WRONG

Brazil v Mexico

June 17th

WRONG

Spain v Chile

June 18th

WRONG

Uruguay v England

June 19th

WRONG

Switzerland v France

June 20th

RIGHT

Argentina v Iran

June 21st

RIGHT

Belgium v Russia

June 22nd

RIGHT

Croatia v Mexico

June 23th

WRONG

Italy v Uruguay

June 24th

RIGHT

Ecuador v France

June 25th

WRONG

Algeria v Russia

June 26th

WRONG

 

 

 

ROUND OF 16

 

 

Brazil v Chile

June 28th

WRONG

Colombia v Uruguay

June 28th

RIGHT

Netherlands v Mexico

June 29th

RIGHT

Costa Rica v Greece

June 29th

RIGHT

France v Nigeria

June 30th

RIGHT

Germany v Algeria

June 30th

RIGHT

Argentina v Switzerland

July 1st

RIGHT

Belgium v USA

July 1st

RIGHT

 

 

 

QUARTER-FINALS

 

 

Brazil v Colombia

July 4th

RIGHT

France v Germany

July 4th

WRONG

Argentina v Belgium

July 5th

WRONG

Netherlands v Costa Rica

July 5th

RIGHT


OTHER PREDICTING ANIMALS