On June 10, German media outlet sport1 reported that "Paul the Octopus," famous worldwide for its FIFA World Cup predictions, will return to the public eye 16 years later. This time, however, it will not be a real marine creature but will be resurrected in the form of artificial intelligence.
German television channel RTL II announced that it will launch "Paul 2.0" during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, predicting the results of some FIFA World Cup matches through short video programs.
Unlike the octopus in 2010, which "predicted" match results by choosing food boxes, the AI version of Paul will not analyze team strength, tactical data, or expert opinions, but will make judgments based on various interesting facts.
For example: "Which team has more tattooed players?", "Which team has a higher percentage of married players?", "Which country has the most bizarre football records?" AI Paul will make its match predictions based on these amusing data.
The program producers stated that statistical data and professional analysis are not the basis for AI Paul's predictions; it emphasizes entertainment and topicality more.
The first prediction program of "Paul 2.0" will air on Thursday local time, just before the opening match of the FIFA World Cup.
Many old fans will be familiar with Paul the Octopus.
During the 2010 South Africa FIFA World Cup, Paul the Octopus, living at the Oberhausen Sea Life Centre in Germany, rose to fame for accurately predicting consecutive match results. In that FIFA World Cup, it not only successfully predicted the results of all 7 German team matches but also accurately predicted the eventual champion.
Paul predicted Germany would beat Australia, Ghana, England, and Argentina, and also accurately predicted Germany's loss to Spain and its victory over Uruguay in the third-place play-off. Most surprisingly, it also predicted that Spain would beat the Netherlands in the final to win the FIFA World Cup.
With an almost "magical" accuracy rate, Paul the Octopus quickly became the focus of global media attention, hailed as one of the most famous "prophets" in FIFA World Cup history. Media from all over the world flocked to Germany for interviews, and Paul even had its own merchandise and social media buzz.
In October 2010, Paul the Octopus died at the age of two. Due to its enormous influence, Germany specially erected a memorial statue for it. Today, its urn is preserved in the German Football Museum in Dortmund, Germany, becoming a unique memory in FIFA World Cup history.