RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A new animal oracle for the World Cup has arrived, and it's the kind that few would challenge even if its prediction is wrong.
A black jaguar named Poty has made her pick at Rio de Janeiro's BioParque for the highly anticipated World Cup Group C clash between Brazil and Scotland in Miami on Wednesday.
Residents and soccer fans watched closely on Monday as Poty took part in a lighthearted forecasting event, which placed her in front of two enrichment boxes representing the two rivals.
The jaguar sniffed both options before confidently selecting the Brazil box. However, she briefly returned to inspect the Scotland choice, a moment experts on Poty say shouldn’t be ignored.
“Maybe it indicates a tough game for us,” said BioParque biologist Caio de Souza Silva. “Maybe it’s a win, but it could also be a more complicated match. Hopefully we don’t concede a goal, but it may suggest a more physical game for Brazil.”
Brazil co-leads Group C with Morocco at 4 points each, but is ahead on goal difference. Scotland has three points and could advance regardless of the result. Morocco's rival will be Haiti, which is yet to add points to its tally.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.