The Thai pygmy hippopotamus Moo Deng, who in 2024 conquered social networks after predict Donald Trump’s victory as president of the United States, predicted this Tuesday, July 14, that the French and English teams will compete in the grand final of the 2026 World Cup.
The famous hippopotamus, which lives in the Khao Kheow zoo—about 110 kilometers east of Bangkok, in Thailand—was put to the test to choose the two teams that will compete in the final of the tournament next Sunday, July 19.
To know his prediction, he was given the choice between two watermelons with the flags of the teams that will face each other in the semifinals.
In the first round, Moo Deng decisively headed towards the fruit that symbolized France and he ignored the one that represented Spain.
In the second round, the animal approached, although with less conviction, the watermelon with the flag of England. Meanwhile, his pond companion devoured the fruit that had the Argentine flag on it.
The images were spread on the zoo’s social networks, where the moment is observed when the hippopotamus “chooses” the teams that will supposedly reach the final.
Moo Deng—whose name translates from Thai to “Hopping Pig”—is a 2-year-old female pygmy hippopotamus. which, after its birth, became an internet sensation.
He previously predicted the victory of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, in the elections held in November 2024, So his fame crossed borders and he even has his own line of promotional products at the zoo.
But Moo Deng is not the only animal who has become famous for predicting results. Other animals, such as the octopus Paul, who guessed correctly in 2010 that Spain would win the World Cup held in South Africa, have also monopolized the cameras.
With information from EFE.