Russia to defeat Portugal - Nika the psychic polar bear predicts the Confederations Cup

Remember Paul the Octopus? The beloved sea creature predicted World Cup matches in 2010 with uncanny accuracy.

Well Paul has a successor in the animal football prediction game: a polar bear named Nika.

Mexico benefit from previous NZ game

The two-year-old is a resident of the Moscow Zoo. She was rescued as an orphan in a village in eastern Russia after, according to local residents, her mother was lost to poachers.

Nika has taken on the mantle of the official animal predictor of the Confederations Cup, which is currently underway in her home nation.

So far, Nika has made two predictions and been correct once — she correctly chose Germany to defeat Australia and also selected Portugal to prevail over Mexico (which ultimately ended as a draw).

And now she's come out with a fresh batch of predictions, including a victory for her home country over Portugal in Wednesday's Group A clash.

Nika has also picked New Zealand to upset Mexico in the day's other match.

Blair Metcalfe

For Thursday's Group B games, Nika has chosen Cameroon to beat Australia and Germany to defeat Chile.

You can follow along with all of Nika's predictions at her YouTube page.