Since the untimely death of Paul, the world's greatest tentacled football pundit in 2010, fans have been searching for the next big animal expert. The latest contenders for the crown hail from Sichuan, China.

Officials in the province's panda breeding base think that a team of baby pandas will be able to successfully predict results during this summer's World Cup.

SBS news reports that for the group stages, the pandas will choose fruit from one of three baskets - one each for a win, loss, or draw; while during the next stage they will predict the victor by climbing one of two trees which bear the nation's flags.

It will prove a tough challenge, but if they succeed, they'll surely go down in history with other World Cup animal legends like Paul and Goleo, the World Cup lion.

Paul the octopus, a resident of the Sea Life Centre in Oberhausen, Germany gained international fame by correctly picking the winner of eight matches during the 2010 World Cup.