The Psychic China cat that predicted the Mathc between Argentina and Nigeria has died. He made his “predictions” by choosing between two bowls of cat food bearing the national flags of competing teams.

The cat Baidian’er drew a huge following on social media after he got it right six times in a row – including Croatia beating Argentina, and Argentina’s late win over Nigeria – and photos of the “psychic cat” got thousands of likes.

According to China today his winning streak was cut short on Monday when the cat, believed to be around seven or eight, died at a local veterinary clinic from blood clots resulting from a congenital heart defect.

Palace Museum staff had set up a microblog account on Weibo to keep fans updated on the popular cat’s health after they found him ailing on Friday last week and took him to the clinic.

On Monday, staff broke the news that Baidian’er had died.

“We’re sorry, we have to let him go,” the post read, alongside a black-and-white photo of the moggie.