Disastrous news for England fans ahead of the crunch last-16 match with Germany Sunday: an octopus in Germany with a perfect track record of predicting World Cup matches has plumped for a German win.

Two plastic boxes containing tasty morsels, one with a German flag and one with an England flag, were lowered into the tank that houses Paul the octopus at his home in Sea Life in Oberhausen, western Germany.

A two year-old octopus "Paul", the so-called "octopus oracle" predicts Germany's victory in their World Cup last 16 clash against England. Credit:Reuters

Paul immediately climbed into the German box to a huge roar of approval from the crowd.

Earlier in the tournament, the mollusc medium correctly predicted Germany would beat Ghana and Australia in their group D matches and was also right to predict they would lose to Serbia.