The World Cup will be starting in Russia on Thursday, and as has become custom on this website, we have taken the initiative to have some fun in trying to predict the outcome of the matches.

Four years ago in Brazil – and two years ago for the European championships in France – we had a parrot named Nico “forecasting” the results, with the bird choosing between the national flags of the participating countries.

This time, we have taken a different path.

For the initial games of the World Cup, we have picked a group of boys and girls aged four to six, and held an afternoon of races at the St Andrews (Luxol) football grounds.

Instead of a finish line, the youngsters raced towards national flags stuck to cones – and the winner of the race is deemed to have predicted the winner of the match.

It was, on the whole, an afternoon of fun for these kids, and we thank them and their parents for their cooperation in making it happen.

The children who took part in the races were: Max, another Max, Zack, Gabriel, Kai, Pippa, another Pippa, Emily, Zoe, Emma, Matthew, Sophia and Maya.

Of course, this is not a scientific exercise, but we are happy that the children enjoyed themselves. We were happy to be with them too.

Footage with the "predictions" start on Thursday.