World Cup predictions are big business. Most rely on sportsbooks or even AI forecasts these days, but now and then, an animal dips its toe (limb?) into the ring. In 2010, Paul the Octopus became famous for predicting World Cup winners in South Africa. Now, we have a new animal oracle in our midst, this one of the Cyprinidae family.
A goldfish named Swimbappé, a play on French soccer star Kylian Mbappé, has become one of Toronto’s most popular FIFA World Cup side quests, predicting match winners from a soccer-themed tank at 225 Wellington St W, so anyone can stop by to see the fish that apparently, well, knows ball.
The prediction process is pretty simple: flags for the competing countries are placed in the tank, and whichever flag Swimbappé swims toward first becomes the winning pick. The results are then posted on Swimbappé’s Instagram page, @swimbappe, and his record isn’t too shabby. The little goldfish correctly predicted 10 of 20 match outcomes during the tournament’s opening week, including wins by Germany, France and Argentina. There were a few misses, though some came from games that ended in draws after Swimbappé picked a winner.
Still, fans love him.
“Consulting the fish is still more reliable than most sports analysts,” one Instagram user said, while another joked, “All hail the all knowing goldfish.”
Another user said what we’re all thinking, “I, for one, welcome our new fish overlord.”
Toronto is hosting six matches total at Toronto Stadium, ending with a Round of 32 match on July 2. And with four more Toronto World Cup matches to come, Swimbappé has more opportunities to show that he’s the top vertebrate when it comes to game predictions.