Nigeria to send Messi and Argentina home – says Achilles the cat

The ‘psychic’ cat has cast his prediction before the big Group D match

The omens don’t look good for Argentina and Lionel Messi before their final group match against Nigeria on Tuesday – if a “psychic” cat is to be believed.

Messi and his teammates have had a rough time in Russia so far, drawing 1-1 with Iceland and getting thumped 3-0 by Croatia.

And it isn’t going to get any better according to Achilles the cat, who has been predicting winners and losers in the tournament from the comfort of the St Petersburg Hermitage museum.

The cat, who is deaf and regarded as psychic, previously predicted outcomes during the 2017 Confederations Cup.

This time around it has successfully chosen Russia to beat Saudi Arabia and Egypt, Iran to beat Morocco and Brazil to emerge victorious against Costa Rica – although that final result was almost a given.

When the opportunity came to pick between Nigeria and Argentina, via two bowls of food placed in front of him with a flag above each, Achilles decided the Super Eagles would win by a nose.

The trend for animal predictions become global news in 2010 when Paul the octopus correctly forecast Germany’s matches and correctly picked Spain as winners.