But in Singapore,  Mani, a World Cup-forecasting parakeet, predicted a different outcome: the bird sees the Netherlands winning its first World Cup championship, setting up a Mani-Paul showdown for Sunday.
Paul's prescient picks in the World Cup — he has yet to predict a match wrong — have propelled him to international fame from obscurity in an aquarium in the western city of Oberhausen.
TV stations in Germany, Great Britain, Taiwan and elsewhere broadcast live pictures, complete with breathless commentary, of his final decision.
Millions watched as the eight-legged oracle descended upon on a tank marked with a Spanish flag, sitting for only a few minutes before grabbing a mussel and devouring it, while completely ignoring the Dutch tank — indicating a Spanish victory in Sunday's final match in Sunday's final.
It was the first time the 2 1/2-year-old floppy octopus had been tasked to pick a game in which Germany wasn't involved, as the Oberhausen Sea Life aquarium bowed to demand. He correctly called Germany's wins over Argentina, England, Australia and Ghana and the country's loss to Spain and Serbia.
He also predicted Friday that Germany will win over Uruguay in Saturday's match for third and fourth place.
Paul first developed his abilities during the 2008 European Championship in which he predicted five out of six games involving Germany correctly. But while he had only a community of local fans two years ago, his World Cup prognostications have brought him something like stardom.
He has his own Facebook fan pages and a list of admirers that includes the Spanish leader.
His handlers say he is coping with fame well.
"Paul is such a professional oracle — he doesn't even care that hundreds of journalists are watching and commenting on every move he makes," said Stefan Porwoll, the Sea Life aquarium manager.
Spain's defeat of Germany in the semifinals prompted some Germans to wonder about how he would taste grilled. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero fretted about the safety of "El Pulpo Paul," as he's known in Spain, and offered Paul protection.
"I am concerned about the octopus," Zapatero said. "I'm thinking about sending in a team to protect the octopus because obviously it was very spectacular that he should get Spain's victory right from there." In response to hundreds of angry e-mails from disappointed Germans, the aquarium actually did take extra precautions, Porwoll said.
"I even told our guards and people at the entrance to keep a close look at possible for football fans coming after Paul for revenge," he said. He added, however, that the number of love declarations and requests for predictions outweighed the hate mail.
One reporter from Greece asked if Paul could predict the end of the financial crisis and German TV stations have offered the eight-legged psychic lucrative contracts, he said.
In the Middle East, Arabic news sites offered detailed information about Paul's picks — drawing one suggestion that Paul be sent to Iraq to choose between bitter rival, the current Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki and his main challenger Ayad Allawi.
Paul even made waves in the business world. Gary Jenkins, an economist with London's Evolution Securities, hedged his market analysis note on Friday, conceding "unless Paul says differently."
Animal rights group PETA weighed in, saying that Paul's tank is too small and that he should be set free. Porwoll noted, however that born-in-captivity Paul has never had to deal with any natural enemies and dumping him into the Atlantic would likely be the kiss of death. In captivity, he can be expected to live to age three or four, he added.
While Paul is no doubt the world's most famous animal oracle these days, he is facing competition.
 

While the spectacle was going on in Germany on Friday, Singapore's famous parakeet did his own thing.
A crowd of soccer fans leaned forward as Mani crept out of his small wooden cage and choose between two white cards — one hiding the flag of the Netherlands, the other Spain.
If the bird's many new believers are right, Holland will win its first World Cup championship Sunday. Mani grabbed a card in his beak Friday and flipped it over to reveal the Dutch flag.
The 13-year-old parakeet has become a local celebrity after its owner, M. Muniyappan, claimed Mani accurately forecast the World Cup's four quarterfinal games and Spain's semifinal victory over Germany.
"He's a special bird," Muniyappan said.
Muniyappan, an 80-year-old, said Mani has helped him make forecasts for five years at a table in front of a restaurant in the Little India neighborhood, but this year's World Cup is the first time the parakeet has attempted to predict the outcome of sports competitions.
"People usually want help picking the lottery numbers, or when to get married," said Muniyappan, who was born in India and moved to Singapore in 1953. "Then gamblers started asking about the World Cup." Muniyappan said about 30 people a day now pay for his services, up from about 10 a day before Mani shot to fame.
Singapore's ethnic Chinese, Malay and Indian populations, especially the older generations, often seek out fortunetellers for advice about health or their children's marriage and job prospects.
For 10 Singapore dollars ($7), Muniyappan and Mani can see into your future. Ali, a 31-year-old customer, said he was having financial problems and wanted to know when his luck would improve.
"I've come to him before to know when my luck will change," Ali said. "I believe in him and the bird." Not all onlookers were happy with Mani's World Cup pick.
"I'm disappointed because I want Spain to win," said Jimmy Wong, a 20-year-old student. "Now I'm not sure which team to bet on."