Dublin Zoo has weighed in on Ireland’s World Cup hopes, and its red pandas are backing the Boys in Green ahead of tonight’s clash with Czechia.
Ireland are in Prague for the crucial World Cup qualifying play-off, taking the first step toward their first World Cup since 2002.
After a rollercoaster campaign, highlighted by Troy Parrott’s heroics against Portugal and Hungary, fans are hoping luck and perhaps a little animal intuition, is on their side.
In a fun pre-match ritual, Dublin Zoo gave its red pandas a choice between two feeding buckets during an enrichment activity, each labelled with one of the competing teams.
The pandas’ natural foraging instincts would determine a ‘winner’ and one bucket quickly proved more popular than the other.
Red panda Jasmina went straight for the grapes representing Ireland, prompting excitement from social media followers.
‘Ahead of tomorrow’s Ireland vs. Czechia showdown, our red pandas were given a choice from two feeding buckets during an enrichment activity — Ireland or Czechia.
‘One bucket proved more popular than the other with Jasmina choosing grapes for Ireland!,’ they added.
‘Do you think this is a good sign of things to come?’
View this post on Instagram
As expected, the post went viral, with fans flooding the comments.
‘Right we’ll take it. We’re winning the lot,’ one wrote.
‘Haters will say this was fixed,’ another added, while a third penned: ‘Clever animal.’
While the choice is purely playful, it has captured the mood of Irish optimism ahead of a big night in Prague.
Whether it’s a good omen or just a bit of fun, fans are embracing the moment as extra magic before kick-off. Jasmina has picked her side, now it’s up to Ireland to follow suit on the pitch.
