RIP Paul The Octopus The 2010 World Cup Predictor
The World Cup always delivers drama and excitement, but the 2010 World Cup held in South African was a special one that saw an unusual official on the stands and foretelling the outcome of crucial matches.
Paul was hatched from an egg at the Sea Life Centre in Weymouth, England, and was then moved to a tank at one of the chain’s centres in Germany. Paul’s name derived from the title of a poem by the German children’s writer Boy Lornsen: Der Tintenfisch Paul Oktopus.
Paul the octopus kept football fanatics on the edge as most of them relied on the aquatic pet to tell them the outcome of tough matches.
Paul correctly chose the winning team in four of Germany’s six Euro 2008 matches, and all seven of their matches in the 2010 World Cup—including Germany’s third place play-off win over Uruguay on 10 July. He also correctly chose Spain as the winner of the 2010 FIFA World Cup final.[2] In all, Paul amassed an overall record of 12 correct predictions out of 14: a success rate of approximately 85.7%.
Paul was last checked by staff on 25 October 2010, and was in good health, but the following morning he was found dead. He was aged two-and-a-half, a normal lifespan for the species. His agent, Chris Davies, said “It’s a sad day. Paul was rather special but we managed to film Paul before he left this mortal earth”. Sea Life Centre manager Stefan Porwoll remembered Paul as an octopus who had “enthused people across every continent”
