--- description: A cat said to have psychic powers has predicted the winner of the first game in the 2018 World Cup title: Russia's 'Psychic' Cat Achilles Predicts the World Cup 2018 Opener Winner image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9a33ba71d1838c1f/69893305ab6d77b1686b2f29/ap18164470180482.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Sports](/section/sports/) ## Sports Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Russia's 'Psychic' Cat Achilles Predicts the World Cup 2018 Opening Match Winner by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Jun 13, 2018 11:19 PM CUT  Achilles the cat, one of the State Hermitage Museum mice hunters, lies on a table after attempting to predict the result of the opening match of the 2018 FIFA World Cup between Russia and Saudi Arabia in St.Petersburg, Russia, Wednesday, June 13, 2018\. Achilles chose Russia. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky) Achilles the cat, one of the State Hermitage Museum mice hunters, lies on a table after attempting to predict the result of the opening match of the 2018 FIFA World Cup between Russia and Saudi Arabia in St.Petersburg, Russia, Wednesday, June 13, 2018\. Achilles chose Russia. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)Dmitri Lovetsky—AP by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Jun 13, 2018 11:19 PM CUT A cat said to have psychic powers has predicted the winner of the first game in the 2018 [World Cup](http://time.com/5310099/world-cup-russia-watch-teams-players/ "undefined"), set to kick off on June 14. Achilles, a deaf Russian cat that lives at the Hermitage museum in St. Petersburg, was given two plates of cat food to determine the opening match’s winner. One plate was marked with a Russian flag, while the other had a Saudi flag. After a moment of hesitation, Achilles chose the Russian plate, the Associated Press reports. Following the choice, the cat was dressed in a Russian uniform for a photoshoot. Hermitage veterinarian Anna Kondratyeva said Achilles “loves his motherland and couldn’t vote otherwise.” Achilles became known for having psychic abilities after correctly guessing the winners of multiple matches during the Confederations Cup last year in Russia. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5311747/russia-psychic-cat-world-cup-winner/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5311747/russia-psychic-cat-world-cup-winner/"},"headline":"Russia's 'Psychic' Cat Achilles Predicts the World Cup 2018 Opening Match Winner","datePublished":"2018-06-13T23:19:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T20:34:02.513Z","description":"The cat picked its home country to win the opening match","url":"https://time.com/5311747/russia-psychic-cat-world-cup-winner/","keywords":["Soccer","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9a33ba71d1838c1f/69893305ab6d77b1686b2f29/ap18164470180482.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9a33ba71d1838c1f/69893305ab6d77b1686b2f29/ap18164470180482.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"APTOPIX Russia Soccer WCup Cat Predictor","caption":"APTOPIX Russia Soccer WCup Cat Predictor","creditText":"Dmitri Lovetsky—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5311747/russia-psychic-cat-world-cup-winner/","name":"Russia's 'Psychic' Cat Achilles Predicts the World Cup 2018 Opening Match Winner"}}]}] ```